By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp

What began in the heat and humidity of July and lasted through the blustery days in New England, finished off on a mild 60 degree day in San Diego, California. On Saturday, the 2025 high school cross country season came to an end for the five Connecticut runners who had earned their tickets to compete at the Brooks National Cross Country Championships (formerly Foot Locker). 

Held at Balboa Park in San Diego, California, the same location as the Foot Locker Championships, Brooks followed a similar qualifying format to Foot Locker. The top ten finishers at four regional meets—Northeast, South, Midwest, and West - qualified for the national championship race, along with ten additional “Golden Ticket” qualifiers from select races throughout the season for a total of 50 qualifiers in both girls and boys races.

Connecticut State Open champion Chase Gilbert of Lyme Old Lyme was the only CT girl in the field. She finished in 18:16.1, 26 seconds faster than last year over the 5000m course, but finished 30th, four places farther back. She will compete for the University of Virginia next year. 

Natasza Dudek of Michigan, whose sister Zofia won the Foot Locker Championships in 2019, won the girls race in 16:55, holding off New Jersey’s Blair Bartlett. 

Connecticut boys were led by Nathan Lee of the Brunswick School in Greenwich who also repeated as a national qualifier. The senior, who has committed to Harvard University, moved up from 32nd last year to 17th in a time of 15:47.2. He was the NEPSTA Division 1 Cross-Country Champion and was barely outleaned for the Northeast Regional championship two weeks ago. 

Also placing highly was Griswold’s Tycen LaBelle. The junior finished 32nd in a time of 16:12.9 in his first trip to Balboa Park. He was the State Open runner-up and 3rd at New Englands.

State Open champion Sam Leone of East Lyme finished 36th in a time of 16:16.7. He will be staying in New England next year and will compete for the University of Massachusetts.

Teddy Hojlo, a teammate of Lee at the Brunswick School, took 46th in a time of 16:41.8. 

In the boys’ race, it was a photo finish as Jackson Spencer of Utah edged Marcelo Mantecon of Florida by just two-tenths of a second for the title.

Check out Connecticut’s history at the National Cross Country Championships since its founding in 1980 on our RECORDS page.

Race Results

Girls Race Video

Boys Race Video

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