2016 Nike Cross Nationals

Brie Oakley Dominates NXN, Casey Clinger Becomes First Repeat Boys Champ

Brie Oakley Dominates NXN, Casey Clinger Becomes First Repeat Boys Champ

No. 1 ranked Brie Oakley of Grandview High (CO) dominated the competition at Glendoveer Golf Course to win the 2016 Nike Cross Nationals race in 17:10.03--over 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Ember Stratton in 17:38.

Dec 3, 2016 by Meg Bellino
Brie Oakley Dominates NXN, Casey Clinger Becomes First Repeat Boys Champ
No. 1 ranked Brie Oakley of Grandview High (CO) dominated the competition at Glendoveer Golf Course to win the 2016 Nike Cross Nationals race in 17:10.1--over 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Ember Stratton of Sunset High (OR) in 17:38.

FULL RESULTS


Oakley left nothing to chance, passing the mile in 5:20, four seconds ahead of Allie Schadler of Rio Rico (AZ) and eighth-grader Grace Ping from Utah. Oakley continued to press, crossing the two mile split at 10:52, 15 seconds ahead of Lauren Gregory of Fort Collins (CO).

Oakley's time is the fifth-fastest ever recorded at NXN. New to the sport, Oakley finished 26th at NXN in 2015, her first cross country season. The senior went undefeated in 2016 and will attend Cal-Berkeley next fall.

Ping's sixth-place finish was an improvement from her 2015 showing (14th) as a seventh grader.

Temecula (Great Oak, CA) finished third in the team standings with 185 points; Davis (CA) was second with 181 points, and Fayetteville-Manlius won the team title--their 10th--with a stunning 41 points.


Casey Clinger of American Fork (UT) won the boys race in 15:28.4 to become the only individual male to ever win back-to-back NXN titles.


A strong pack of individuals coasted through the one mile in 4:52. The race opened up dramatically before the two mile, as Seth Hirsch (Millard West, NE), Clinger, Brodey Hasty (Brentwood, TN), and Sam Worley (New Braunfels, TX) crossed the split 10:00. 

Clinger made the definitive move shortly after that to pull away, and not one athlete in the field could respond. The undecided high school senior from Utah finished seven seconds ahead of runner-up Worley.

​Brentwood (TN) finished third with 163 points; American Fork (UT) was runner-up in 141, and the No. 4 ranked team from Bozeman (MT) scored 105 points to win the boy's team title.