The Union Catholic girls cross-country team and Lawrenceville junior Blair Bartlett cemented their legacies at Nike Cross Nationals with two of the greatest N.J. performances in meet history.
Thanks to an incredible kick in the final stages of the race, Blair Bartlett finished as the national-runner up in the Girls Championship Race at Nike Cross Nationals in Glendoover Golf Course in Portland, Oregon.
The Lawrenceville junior crossed the finish line at 16:51.7, coming just a second away from edging Michigan’s Natasza Dudek, who had an epic kick of her own in the final 300 meters to win the national title in 16:50.1.
On the team side, Union Catholic cemented themselves as the greatest team in state history when they finished third overall in the team standings, the best finish by a N.J. girls cross country team ever at Nike Cross Nationals. Union Catholic scored 174 points. Wayzata (Minnesota) won the national title with 142 points, while Niwot (Colorado) tallied 147 points.
The 2006 Colts Neck girls cross-country team, which finished fourth at Nike Nationals, was the last team to make the podium at NXN. Back then, the top four teams made the podium.
Bartlett clocks fastest N.J. time ever at Glendoveer Golf Course
Bartlett’s performance is the second best finish ever by a N.J. girl at Nike Cross Nationals, and it’s the fastest time ever run by a N.J. girl in the history of Glendoveer Golf Course (16:51.7). Colts Neck’s Ashley Higginson won the individual national title at NXN in 2006.
Bartlett’s performance caps off the greatest rookie season in state history and arguably the most legendary season ever by a New Jersey runner.
Bartlett ran with the lead pack for the entire race, going from sixth place in the first kilometer to second place by the second kilometer.
It was around the 2.5k mark where the Lawrenceville junior broke away from the rest of the field alongside Dudek & Jaelyn Williams (California).
However, Williams began to pull away starting at the 3K marker and bulit a four second lead over Bartlett with only 1K left to go in the race.
For the first time this season, Bartlett was facing a real challenge and wasn’t holding a commanding lead in the final mile in the race.
But Bartlett showed her race maturity and toughness. Maintaining her position in second place, the Lawrenceville junior passed Williams with less than 300 meters to go and went stride for stride with Dudek until the very end.
You can watch the full girls championship race at Nike Cross Nationals here.
Union Catholic cements its legacy
Union Catholic turned in a performance equally as memorable as Bartlett’s historic run. This team showed all season that they could go toe-to-toe with any team in the country at national invitationals—even when they weren’t at full strength.
On Saturday, with their best lineup on the starting line, they earned themselves a third-place trophy in the biggest meet in program history.
Union Catholic posted the fastest N.J. girls team average ever at Gleendover Park Course (18:40), with a tight 1-5 spread of 1:33.
Union Catholic led the race at the 3km mark, but Niwot (Colorado) and Wayzata (Minnesota) overtook the Vikings over the final two kilometers. In the last kilometer, Lone Peak (Utah) made a strong push for third overall, but timely moves by Union Catholic’s pack kept Lone Peak off the podium.
Paige Sheppard led the way with a 22nd place finish, improving upon his course PR (17:48.9) by nearly eight seconds.
Cayleigh Kaiser was incredible in her third time at NXN, placing 47th in the nation with a time of 18:17.8. Kaiser jumped 21 places up from where she was at the 1KM mark (68th)
Freshman Harper Telesca, in her first ever Nike Cross Nationals meet, showed tremendous poise, emerging from a tight pack in the early going and consistently working her way up the order throughout the entire race. She went from 113th overall to 76th between the 1km and 2km markers and finished 67th in 18:40.6.
Junior Sophia Thompson, who made her season debut just two weeks ago at Nike Northeast Regionals, clocked 19:12 for 105th overall.
Senior Ella Solorzano, in her final cross-country meet, delivered arguably one of the best races of her career, clocking 19:22.3 for 115th place.
Freshman Eden Solorzano (126th, 19:29.2) and sophomore Saffa Ellis (155th, 20:06.9) had strong debuts at Nike Cross Nationals, finishing as the No. 6 and No. 7 runners.
With Union Catholic’s returning all but one of its top seven runners, the Vikings appear to be a big favorite to win NXN in 2026.
But for now, they can celebrate having cemented themselves as the greatest girls cross-country team in state history and one of the best ever in N.J. high school athletics.
This story will be updated with more details
