The race
Karli Branch finished a two-year climb from a 58th-place finish as a freshman to winning the Class 5A girls’ title as a junior. Branch, who was 20th last year, broke from the pack with a mile to go and won by 16 seconds.
The winner’s quote
“I had beaten a lot of the girls in our classification, so I knew I could compete if I really wanted to.”
Individual top 10
1. Karli Branch, Jr., Corner Canyon, 17:51; 2. Heidi Sumsion, Fr., Springville, 18:07; 3. Camille Winterton, Sr., Skyline, 18:15; 4. Kiana Campbell, Sr., Maple Mountain, 18:23; 5. Carlee Hansen, Fr., Woods Cross, 18:24; 6. Willow Collins, Fr., Corner Canyon, 18:28; 7. Katie Duckworth, Sr., Olympus, 18:32; 8. Abby West, Sr., Wasatch, 18:40.1; 9. AnnaBeth Templeman, Fr., Springville, 18:40.6; 10. Grace Burnett, Jr., Skyline, 18:45.
Team scores
1. Skyline 76; 2. Maple Mountain 80; 3. Corner Canyon 85; 4. Springville 117; 5. Olympus 121; 6. Timpanogos 131; 7. Timpview 179; 8. Bountiful 211; 9. Wasatch 222; 10. Woods Cross 225; 11. Viewmont 274; 12. West 375; 13. Box Elder 385; 14. Alta 409; 15. Murray 423; 16. Cottonwood 428.