With a mile to Benjamin Anderson was in the hunt.
The Mountain Vista junior was in a chase pack of 10 in the 2023 edition of Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego Cali.
Anderson sat back off the hot early pace and moved up as the race progressed. With the final top-10 places still in question with a mile to go, he found himself in an ideal position.
Anderson capped his impressive 2023 season with perhaps his best performance yet - a ninth-place finish in 15:32.
The result adds him to a very short list of Coloradans to finish inside the top-10, and it makes him the third-returner for next year's race
Anderson raced through the regular season undefeated before claiming the runner-up spot at the 5A Colorado State Cross Country Championships.
He had an off day at NXR Southwest Region then rallied to finish seventh at the Foot Locker Midwest Region Cross Country Championships two weeks ago.
Anderson's finish led Colorado, which was represented by three more athletes.
The Classical Academy's Matthew Edwards finished 29th in 15:56.
Leading Colorado on the girls side was Riverdale Ridge's Payton Meineke, who finished 16th in 18:08. Cherry Creek's Emily Cohen finished 22nd in 18:22.
For Meineke the race capped a breakthrough season - a year ago she finished 27th at the State Championships. This year she finished fifth.