4A Girls Cross Country: Niwot’s Addison Ritzenhein Sets State Meet Record As Cougars Win Sixth-Straight Title

COLORADO SPRINGS – Records are often broken but rarely are they shattered.

Addison Ritzenhein personified that outlier during the Colorado cross country state championships at Norris Penrose Event Center on Saturday.

In the Class 4A girls championship race, the Niwot sophomore easily won the individual state title with a time of 17 minutes, 8.2 seconds. That blistering mark broke former Air Academy star Katie Rainsberger’s previous record of 17:39.0 by nearly 31 seconds.

“I didn’t even have that in mind, honestly. I just kind of went for it and I was really surprised when I found out,” Ritzenhein said after breaking a record that had stood since 2015. “I am beyond happy and I couldn’t be more grateful. I’m just happy I could do it with my teammates. That’s the most I could hope for. Most of our team are seniors and being able to do this with them one last time, I’m just happy I could do it

“And having so many great competitors like Ella Hagen was also amazing.”

Ritzenhein, the daughter of CU Hall of Famer and former American 5,000-meter record holder Dathan Ritzenhein, wasn’t the only runner to break Rainsberger’s record on Saturday. She just did it by the widest margin.

The aforementioned Hagen, a sophomore from Summit and the defending 4A champion, also came in under the previous record time with a mark of 17:38.0 that would have landed her the benchmark had Ritzenhein, who was runner-up to Hagen last season, not blown so far past it.

In the team competition, the Niwot girls were once again their dominant selves. Last season, Niwot won the team title by an incredible 102 points, placing all five scoring runners in the top six and also finishing with seven individuals in the top 15. This year the Cougars placed six individuals in the top 10 and their team score of 20 matched last year’s incredible mark.

The top-ranked team in the nation, according to MileSplit.com, the Cougars have now won six straight 4A team championships.

“It’s just a really special thing we have at Niwot and I’m really going to miss it when I leave,” Niwot senior Olivia Alessandrini said. “It’s a really tough course and having your best friends run beside you really helps.”

After finishing outside the top 10 last season, Alessandrini placed third with a time of 18:01.2 on Saturday. Niwot senior Sarah Perkins was fourth with a time of 18:07.1. Riverdale Ridge sophomore Payton Meineke took fifth with a time of 18:16.0.

Cheyenne Mountain and Northfield tied for runner-up in the team scoring with 150 points apiece.