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What's better than celebrating your birthday?
Celebrating your birthday the day after running a personal best.
And winning the 2024 edition of Desert Twilight in Gilbert, Ariz.
Addison Ritzenhein definitely put together a weekend worth celebrating.
The Niwot junior and defending Nike Cross National Champion absolutely dominated the field, torching a 16:41 - a 39-second victory, which was also three-seconds faster than when she won here last year.
Ritzenhein's performance was her fifth-consecutive victory this season, and it led a wave of Colorado girls into the top-10.
Finishing second was Riverdale Ridge's Payton Meineke, who ran 17:20, which was just ahead of El Dorado freshman Gianna Rahmer, who finished third in 17:25.
Last year Rahmer finished sixth at NXN as an eight-grader.
Colorado put six inside the top-10.
In the team competition Niwot tallied 80-points to take the title. Highland took second with 123, while Mountain View took third with 141 - which was just ahead of Fairview and Cherry Creek's 143.
Editor's Note: Fairview took fourth on the sixth-runner.
Photo by Tim McDonald
While Ritzenhein and Niwot swept the girl's side of things, Rio Rancho's Charlie Vause denied Niwot a clean sweep of the Sweepstakes races.
The defending New Mexico state champion ran a massive PR, clocking 14:42, which was just ahead of Niwot's Rocco Culpepper, who finished second in 14:44.
As impressive as Vause and Culpepper's performances were, Coronado sophomore Oliver Horton definitely turned heads - again - with a 14:45 third-place finish.
Editor's Note: Another glaring performances prime for a Colorado Future Stars feature is Northfield sophomore Ayuub Hassan, who finished ninth in 15:03.
Meanwhile, US No. 2 Niwot made light-work of the team race - they tallied 69-points to run away with a 48-point victory over Rio Rancho, who finished second with 117. Coronado took third with 138.
Of additional note, Niwot had a 1-5 split of just 39-seconds, and averaged 15:09.