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Mountain View runners celebrate after the 2022 5A boys state cross country race at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Orem senior Tayson Echohawk (right) and Mountain View senior Liam Henniger compete during the 2022 5A boys state cross country race at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Mountain View runners celebrate after the 2022 5A boys state cross country race at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Orem senior Tayson Echohawk wins the 2022 5A boys state cross country race at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Mountain View sophomore Kyle Steadman wins a sprint to the finish during the 2022 5A boys state cross country race at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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The Orem boys cross country team poses for a photo with the second-place trophy after the 2022 5A boys state cross country race at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Runners take off from the starting line at the beginning of the 2022 5A boys state cross country race at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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What are the key ingredients to a state championship cross country team?

Mountain View coach Mike Strauss, who led the Bruins to their second straight 5A boys state title on Tuesday at the Regional Athletic Complex in Salt Lake City, thinks that’s a great question.

“I think it’s the momentum, you know?” he said. “When the kids come together, it’s something where you can kind of feel it coming over the years. Each year the kids get a little bit better. Then once you start getting a taste of the championship and winning and being successful, it just kind of snowballs. They share it with each other, especially in high school cross country. There’s a fad element to it, you know what I mean? Everybody’s doing it. It’s the same thing with winning, so why not get on board?”

Orem’s Tayson Echohawk, who was second in the 5A boys race last season, was on board with claiming the gold medal in 2022. Echohawk had his good luck sore throat, so he knew everything would turn out all right.

Echohawk said as a sophomore, he had a sore throat the day of the state mile race. He won that day. On Tuesday, he woke up with a sore throat.

“I remembered how I had to push myself even though I was an underdog in that race,” he said. “I wasn’t supposed to win so definitely thinking about that race helped a lot.”

All five Mountain View runners finished in the top 15 as the Bruins rolled to an easy team win, scoring 48 points. Orem was a distant second with 104.

Liam Heninger was second (15:05.2), Parker Barnes eighth (15:20.7), Kyle Steadman tenth (15:38.7), Mack Waite 13th (15:47.1) and Isaac Sohler 15th (15:48.1) as the Bruins dominated the team scoring.

“This group is special because they do everything together,” Strauss said. “They go through the ups and downs together and ironically, it’s always the downs that bring them the closest. Those ugly days, those long workouts when it’s hot, that’s where they really come together and they become a team.”

Lehi totaled 140 points to finish fourth and Maple Mountain scored 228 to log an eighth place team finish.

Echohawk and Heninger broke away from the pack and squared off for the final half-mile of the race.

“It was the second mile and I was trying to push my lead, but he stuck with me,” Echohawk said. “Then with a half mile to go I can slowly feel him falling off. My brain was telling me, ‘You’re tired.’ But I’ve been talking to my family and learning from experience, just trying to train my mind to beat those times. I knew it was going to be hard, but if you want to win you’ve got to fight, so that’s what I did.”

Echohawk has yet to decide where he will compete in college but said he had a great visit recently at Northern Arizona, one of the powerhouses in college cross country.

“I went into this sport to learn how to push my body and unlock new barriers in my head,” he said. “So I knew that his field (of 5A runners), they can push me every day we race.”

Echohawk turned in a time of 14:53.7 on the 5K course, the second-fastest mark of the day behind 6A boys winner Daniel Simmons of American Fork (14.49.8).

For complete results from the state cross country meet, go to runnercard.com or uhsaa.org.

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