Sean Fries, Maddie Gullickson Overcome Icy Footing, Cold Winds To Win Individual Honors

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

Logan Hanningan-Downs/Kylie Graham Photos

RESULTS/VIDEOS | INTERVIEWS

SIOUX FALLS – Temperatures were expected to be cold in Sioux Falls on Sunday. 

Snow? That wasn’t part of the forecast.

The day after the National Junior College Cross Country Championships were run in a blizzard in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Yankton Trail Park in South Dakota was hit with the first snow of the season on Saturday just 24 hours before this year’s Nike Cross Regional Heartland, making conditions a bit more difficult for individuals and teams attempting to qualify for Nike Cross Nationals.

Both the snow and strong wind gusts proved to be no match for the toughness of the Wayzata XC Club girls team.

Eight days after winning a fourth consecutive state title at the Minnesota Cross Country State Championships, the No. 7 ranked Wayzata XC Club continued its regional dominance for a fourth consecutive year, winning the Nike Cross Regional Heartland team title to qualify for its ninth Nike Cross Nationals. 

And for the first time since Abbey Nechanicky in 2022, Wayzata XC Club added the individual title, too, with Maddie Gullickson winning the girls championship 5-kilometer race in a personal best 16 minutes, 49.5 seconds.

In a top 10 match-up with No. 9 Chargers Running Club SD, Wayzata came away with a 50-87 win. 

“We’ve all raced in tough conditions,” Gullickson said. “We all knew we could do it and we all believed in each other. We all came out here to race for our teammates with that goal of going to Portland.”

Much like her state title performance in Minnesota, Gullickson led most of the race, but had a bit more company to work alongside with. Through the first mile, Gullickson, in a group of five girls, went through in 5:14, opening a seven-second lead on the chase pack. By mile two, the lead group became three with Gullickson, South Dakota eighth-grader Brianna Reilly and Wisconsin state runner-up Peyton VanDeest. 

With a kilometer remaining, Gullickson broke away from Reilly and VanDeest, finishing 14 seconds in front for the win.

After crossing the finish line, Gullickson awaited her teammates, who bunched up together and kept ahead of Chargers Running Club. 

Jazleen Malherek-Osorio worked her way from 25th at mile one, to 18th at mile two, to finish ninth overall, giving Wayzata two finishers in the top 10. Miley Clark, Alissa Ledman and Lila Golomb collectively ran a strong second half to all finish in the top 32.

“Every team is special, but this team is just all here racing for each other,” Gullickson said, who raced on two of the three previous regional championship teams. 

“We all want the best for each other…Just coming out here and being able to toe the line with them is so awesome. I’ve been a part of it racing and not racing and it’s so fun both ways.”

Chargers, led by South Dakota 1A state champion Ellie Maddox in fourth, maintained its second-place position  throughout the race, earning the second auto qualifying team spot to Nike Cross Nationals.

Because Gullickson and Maddox were members of team qualifiers, five spots remained open for individuals. 

VanDeest finished second and Reilly, South Dakota 2A state champion, finished third after falling off pace with Gullickson. Lauren McCalla, Wisconsin Division 1 state champion, finished fifth and freshmen Karstin McCabe and Hannah Genrich secured the final two spots, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively. 

Sean Fries Dominates Boys Race

Sunday’s forecast called for a freeze; Sean Fries if you will.

The Minnesota 3A state champion froze his competition and delivered a memorable championship performance to punch his first ticket to Nike Cross Nationals in a 14:55 winning effort. 

“It’s a big moment for me,” said Fries, who extended his unbeaten season to seven wins. “Looking forward to giving it my all in a couple of weeks and seeing what happens.”

Fries’ aggressive racing tactics were no match for the rest of the field in the latter half, opening a nine-second lead at mile two after going stride-for-stride with his competitors during the first mile.

Miles Lechtenberg led through the first mile in 4:45.2 with Fries, Wisconsin Division 1 champion Grady Lenn and Iowa 3A champion Quentin Nauman all in the mix. Fries took the lead after completing the first of the two-lap race.

“Kind of just trying to out-dog everyone,” Fries said. “Do what I do best, run a gritty race and see what happens from there.”

Finishing 10 seconds behind Fries in second was another Iowan, Canaan Dunham, followed by both Lenn and Nauman in third and fourth. 

Lechtenberg finished fifth but didn’t become the fifth individual to make the Heartland team. Instead, he was the low stick for SFL Patriots, who won the team title with 134 points a year after finishing second. 

The sixth and final individual spot went to Lucas Tanner, who finished second to Lenn at the Wisconsin state championships eight days prior.

Lincoln Pius X Thunderbolts snagged the second and field automatic team spot, scoring 209 points and made history by becoming the first Nebraska team to qualify for Nike Cross Nationals. David Krier was the team's top individual in 14th.