Triumphantly exhausted, Benji Anderson collapses onto a grass field in San Diego. For the first time, the junior from Mountain Vista High School is a cross country All-American.
That’s the title given to the top 15 runners at the annual Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships. Every year, 40 boys and 40 girls make the pilgrimage to nationals after strong regional performances to compete against the best runners in the country.
Representing the Midwest region, Anderson, from Highlands Ranch, finished ninth overall among boys with a time of 15:32. In that brief, singular moment with himself after the race, Anderson knew he’d done something special.
“A lot of emotions in my head. Disbelief,” Anderson said. “I really surprised myself. I was going in there just going to give it everything I had, and once I crossed the finish line knowing I was in the top 10, it was such a great feeling of relief knowing I did something I didn’t think I could have done.”
The top five finishers are First-Team All-Americans, the next five are Second-Team All-Americans (Anderson) and the next five are Third-Team. Everyone else is an honorable mention.
Of the top 10, Anderson was one of four juniors. He’ll be the third returner for next year’s national race with the other top-10 runners graduating. In the last 44 years, seven Colorado athletes have finished inside the top 10. Anderson is the first runner from Colorado to accomplish it as a junior.
Mountain Vista Cross Country Coach Jonathan Dalby
“Being a Foot Locker Cross Country All-American is a huge deal, and one of the most challenging accomplishments in all of high school sports to achieve. For Benji, this honor happened because he is a great teammate, but also because he had the support of the other boys and girls that a a part of Vista Nation XC. That kind of mutual support, along with hard work, consistency and living the athlete’s lifestyle is what helped Benji be successful in San Diego. It was a team effort and Benji was motivated by his friends and teammates back home at Mountain Vista to do his best.”
After finishing seventh at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional in late November, Anderson was determined to finish strong at nationals. He admitted that he did not have his best day at the high school state competition in October.
After finishing undefeated in the 2023 season, he was runner-up in the 5A state finals. Now, as an All-American, Anderson still has his senior year to continue building a legacy at Mountain Vista High School.
“It’s such an incredible feeling,” Anderson said. “It’s kind of like a medal or a trophy. It kind of shows off your hard work to people who don’t really understand. So for me, I know how hard I worked, but it gives other people an opportunity to see what I’ve done. One thing that really stands out to me is my parents can see that. I know it makes them proud. It kind of shows off the hard work my coaches and parents have done to help me, too.”
As Anderson recovers and prepares for his senior campaign, he still has a few goals on his list. For one, he wants to win another cross country team championship with Mountain Vista. He’d also like an individual championship for himself.
He’d like to try and qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals in 2024 also, but he had a rough showing at the Nike regionals this season, so he pivoted to Foot Locker. Anderson hopes to remedy that next year.
But a return to the Foot Locker Cross County Nationals is on the list also.
“I think I come in as the No. 3 returner, so who knows? Maybe go after that national title. That’d be pretty sweet,” Anderson said. “I just met people who I’ll probably be friends with for the years to come. So, overall, it was just a great experience.”
As a kid, Anderson said he took a vacation in San Diego. However, this trip to compete on the national level was different from heading to the beach and visiting Legoland.
This time, the sponsors, Foot Locker and HOKA, put the athletes up in nice hotels, fed them well, and provided a competitive but collaborative environment for the nation’s best high school runners.
“One cool thing about the whole sport is just the camaraderie,” Anderson said. “A teammate I knew was struggling with a quad injury, and one of my friends, Matthew Edwards (from the Classical Academy in Colorado Springs, who finished 29th at nationals at 15:56) was offering up his Normatec boots (recovery boots for runners). These guys had just met a couple of hours before. Obviously, there’s that competitive side to it, but we all know what we go through.”
Leading Colorado on the girls’ side was Riverdale Ridge’s Payton Meineke, who finished 16th with a time of 18:08. Cherry Creek’s Emily Cohen finished 22nd with 18:22, according to this article by MileSplit.
For full results from the 2023 Foot Locker Cross Country National Championships, visit this link.