On Dec. 13, the first annual Brooks Cross Country National Championships took place in Balboa Park, California. After longtime race organizer, Foot Locker, announced that it would no longer be hosting the championships, Brooks, another shoe company, stepped in to take their place. The championship featured the top 10 finishers from the four Brooks regional championships — those being the South, West, Midwest and Northeast — as well as another 10 wildcards.
The meet began with the girls 5k. With two-time reigning champion, Elizabeth Leachman, from Texas, absent due to injury, the field was open. From the start, sophomore Natasza Dudek, from Michigan and junior Blair Bartlett, from New Jersey, took the lead, slowly building a gap on seniors Jayelyn Williams, from California and Abigail Hennessy, from Massachusetts. Just past the mile and a half marker, Williams caught up to the lead duo, using a downhill to her advantage. By mile two, Dudek, Bartlett and Williams had a 9 second lead on Hennessy and the rest of the chase pack. With 800 meters left in the race, Dudek began her kick, pushing ahead of Williams as Bartlett followed along. Dudek held onto her lead through the finish line, capping off her undefeated season with a time of 16:55. Bartlett, in her first season running cross country, finished closely behind her in 16:57. The top five was rounded out by Williams, Sophia Szolosi and Hennessy. Dudek’s performance, along with her victory in Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) earlier this month, marked the first time a female won both high school national championships. Dudek’s sister, Zofia finished first in 2019, marking the first time a sibling duo has won the race.
The team competition featured a close race between the Northeast and Midwest. Both teams’ top five runners placed 13th or higher. Both teams also featured two top five finishers, with Dudek and Szolosi from the Midwest, while Bartlett and Hennessy represented the Northeast. The score remained within five points for the whole race, but the Midwest ultimately came out on top with a score of 34-37. The West finished in a distant third with 70 points and the South followed with 78.
In the boys race, junior Marcello Mantecon, from Florida, took the lead from the gun. Over the first mile, the whole field was largely packed together until Mantecon started building a gap 2 kilometers into the race. Mantecon held this lead until the 4 km mark, when a pack consisting of Jackson Spencer, Caden Leonard, Yohannes van Meerten and Sean Fries caught up. In the final stretch, the race came down to a kick between Spencer and Mantecon, with Spencer edging him out for the win by just 0.2 seconds, running a time of 15:10. Leonard followed closely in third place and van Meerten and Fries rounded out the top five. Spencer, a senior from Herriman, Utah, was in 20th place for the first mile of the race before moving up to second and ultimately passing Mantecon in the final mile. Like Dudek, Spencer also won NXN this year, the first time a male accomplished this feat since Lukas Verzbicas in 2010.
In the team competition, the South won with a score of 34. Despite the second place finisher, the Midwest, featuring stronger back-end talent, the South utilized their top end talent of Mantecon, Leonard and sixth place finisher Paul van Laningham to secure the win. The Midwest took second following a tight race with the West, scoring 45 points to their 49. The Northeast brought up the rear with 102 points.
In 2026, Spencer will be joining 2024 champion, Charlie Vause, at Brigham Young University (BYU) and Williams will be running for Stanford University. With Dudek, Bartlett and Mantecon returning next year, the 2026 Brooks Cross Country Championships is shaping up to be another competitive year. Brooks will most likely return to sponsor the championships in 2026, hosting a new batch of aspiring champions and continuing the legacy of the 46-year-old meet.
