On Saturday, Oct. 29th, Cross Country athlete Nolan Hoffman (23’) raced to the finish line for the last long stretch of the 4A State Championships, neck and neck with Porter Middaugh from Battle Mountain High School.

Hoffman finished strong in an impressive first place for the boys race, earning an incredible title. He ran a 5K (3.11 miles), ending with a final time of 15:31.40.

This year’s 4A Cross Country State Championship was in Colorado Springs at Norris Penrose Event Center.

In order to make the state meet, teams must make top four and individuals must make top 15 at the regional meet. There are 20 schools that make the State Championship.

“Before the race… I was so nervous,” Hoffman said. “That’s the most anxiety I’ve had [before] a race [all] year.”

Megan Carder (‘23) was at the race to support Hoffman, and she added that just before the race, the crowd went dead silent as nerves set in.

Hoffman finished the first mile at about five minutes. Over the next two miles, he moved to the front of the pack.

He has been running for all four seasons of cross country — since his freshman year. This year Hoffman is the captain of the boys team and a top runner for MHS.

Hoffman said he’s constantly outside running with his friends and really enjoys it.

He held the 5K record from the conference meet at Mead High School this year. Hoffman was 46th in 4A with a time of 15:48.10. He then won regionals, qualifying him for state.

In past years, he came in at 44th and 50th at the state meet.

The crowd was surprised and supporters such as Carder (‘23) were thrilled when Hoffman pulled into first place on Saturday — it was truly anyone’s race to win, considering the impressive rankings of each runner.

Middaugh came in behind him 0.3 seconds later.

Cross Country coach Parsons said, “As a runner he is really driven to be his best, very self motivated and disciplined.” He said there has never been a time when Hoffman has not “[put] in the hard work”.

“No matter who comes out [to run] if they’re willing to work they’ll get better,” said Parsons. Hoffman put in that work — running all year, pushing to be the best, and ultimately, it paid off.

Hoffman has been offered a spot at many colleges, but has not committed to any as of now. He will pursue running after high school and is looking forward to seeing what his future brings him.

Currently, he’s hoping to win some track state titles and keep pushing to become better and better.