Proud Pioneers: Lehi boys cross country team captures 6A state championship
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- The Lehi boys cross country team poses for photos following their 6A state championship win on October 27, 2026
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- The American Fork boys cross country team poses for photos after winning second place at the 6A state championships on October 27, 2026
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- American Fork’s Chase Hejny works his way toward the finish line during the 6A state championships. October 27, 2026
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- American Fork’s David Webb makes his final push toward his second place finish at the 6A state cross country championships. October 27, 2026
During his more than a decade coaching the Lehi boys cross country team, Chris Dorton has seen a lot of ebbs and flows to the program, along with more than several challenges, all of which made Tuesday’s team championship win for the Pioneers immensely satisfying.
While not placing a single runner higher than ninth place, Dorton’s team exemplified a true team effort in capturing a rare state championship for his program.
“This is huge,” Dorton said after accepting the team championship trophy with his runners. “I don’t think we’ve had a state title in cross-country for around 30 years or so. We’ve had many challenges since I’ve been here, and especially the split that happened with Lehi and Skyridge, and so it took a minute, but we’ve started building up again into what we accomplished today. It’s all about the boys and the hard work and dedication they’ve put in to arrive at this moment.”
As mentioned, Lehi’s championship was not due to one or even two top runners placing high on the individual standings, but with a true team effort.
“American Fork had three players in the top 10, which is amazing, but we managed to have our first and fifth guys have just 14 seconds between them, which is how we did it,” Dorton said. “They all just went right after another and they ran amazing. It was so fun to watch them come in just one right after another, picking each other up, and then pushing each other all the way to the finish. It was it was fantastic.”
Top finishers for the Pioneers were Owen McMullin, who finished ninth with a time of 15:32.65, Brayden Barlow, who finished 10th (15:39.04) and then Evertt Quist, who finished 11th with his time of 15:39.26.
Together they managed to accumulate a team total of 61 points, which was just five points higher than American Fork (66), a program that has grown accustomed to finishing on top.
“American Fork is such a great program, and we have so much respect for them, so to be able to finish ahead of that team is an amazing accomplishment,” Dorton said. “We knew that we were going to be able to be in the mix, but it wasn’t until maybe midway through the season where they just continued to prove that they they deserve to be mentioned in the top. And then, at that point, there was a lot more belief starting to happen and the boys really dug into the idea that we could pull this off today.”
As for who led the charge, Dorton mentioned everyone, although the focus was primarily on his team captains.
“Our team captains for the boys are Everett Quist and Brooks Christensen. They did an amazing job at just keeping the guys grounded the whole season, and keeping the culture together,” Dorton said. “Not everyone has to be the greatest of friends, but as you’re on the cross-country team, everyone of our varsity athletes and JV athletes were close. We had one of the best teams that we’ve ever had culturally this year. Everyone was supportive. Everyone had this dream, and so it was just really fun to watch.”
Team Scores
Lehi, 61 points
American Fork, 66
Riverton, 82
Herriman, 103
Davis, 111
Westlake, 180
Lone Peak, 183
Mountain Ridge, 238
