State cross country: Make room, Ogden has another pair of state titles
Tigers senior Avery Barton delivers first career title; Boys reclaim 3A throne at Sugar House Park
- Ogden High’s Avery Barton greets the crowd during the 3A girls medals ceremony during the cross country state championships at Sugar House Park on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
- Ogden High’s Avery Barton crosses the finish line in the 3A girls race during the cross country state championships at Sugar House Park on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
- Ogden High’s Daniel Ekstrom crosses the finish line in the 3A boys race during the cross country state championships at Sugar House Park on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
- Morgan’s Charlotte Cox pictured during the cross country state championships at Sugar House Park on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
- Ben Lomond’s Gracie Butler pushes through the final stretch of the 3A girls race during the cross country state championships at Sugar House Park on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
- Ogden High’s Lucia Butte heades for the finish line in the 3A girls race during the cross country state championships at Sugar House Park on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
- Ben Lomond’s True Ferrier and Manti’s Asher Henry, right, finish the 3A boys race together during the cross country state championships at Sugar House Park on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
- Ogden High’s Josh Nielson heads for the finish line in the 3A boys race during the cross country state championships at Sugar House Park on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (CONNER BECKER, Standard-Examiner)
SALT LAKE CITY — Two more state championships are headed for the trophy case at Ogden High School.
Ogden senior Avery Barton delivered the 3A girls individual title, and the Tigers won the 3A boys team title, both on Tuesday in the state cross country championships at Sugar House Park.
Barton, who committed to the University of Utah for cross country and track on Monday, followed up the big news with her first career individual title at 17:49.88, roughly 54 seconds ahead of 3A runner-up Gentry Christiansen.
“It’s an unreal feeling to cross the state champ line,” Barton said. “… This year, my goal was to go out slower and push it as I felt better. I think that was a really good strategy because I felt really good those first 2 miles, and it gave me enough energy to really push that last mile.”
Daniel Ekstrom, leading the charge with Ogden’s first boys state title since 2022, finished third individually (16:23.76) as part of six top-20 finishes by Tigers on Tuesday after finishing 11th as a unit last year.
Josh Nielson (10th, 16:42.53), Boone Burton (12th, 16:53.56), Andrew Francis (15th, 16:57.64), Tate Browning (18th, 17:01.30), Ryker Nicholas (19th, 17:02.11), and Dallin Francis (17:44.77) were all core to the result.
Ogden separated itself from any preconceived expectations set by last year’s finish, Ekstrom said. The senior also didn’t shy away from building an additional trophy shelf to accommodate the new hardware.
“It was definitely our goal to be in the running for state,” Ekstrom said.
“As the season went on, we really worked towards that goal as a team and today we came out on top, which is great. It’s been lots of workouts, taking our easy days easy, for sure, and just having a great mindset coming into all of our races.”
Finishing just shy of first-place Canyon View, Ogden’s girls team were awfully close to closing the gap on Tuesday.
Barton included, the Tigers featured five girls finishers inside the top 25: Clara Geddes (4th, 19:13.91), Lucia Butte (16th, 20:36.71), Molly Ekstrom (17th, 20:47.61), and Ally Stark (23rd, 21:11.01); Shay Ekstrom finished 29th overall, and Georgia Smith rounded out the team’s runner-up finish in 41st place.
Tuesday’s end to the season felt full-circle, Barton said.
“We’d been working for this, dreaming about this and talking about this for months,” Barton said. “I love my team and how hard they push each other.”
Around Region 12
• In 3A girls, Alexis Cox led sixth-place Morgan with a fifth-place individual finish (19:15.41); Misty West finished 27th individually (21:29.56).
• In 3A boys, Seth Hopkin (17:08.99) led eighth-place Morgan in 21st place individually, just four spots ahead of Ben Lomond’s True Ferrier (17:22.82) in 25th.
• Ferrier led the seventh-place Scots, which featured another top-30 individual finish by Daniel Hodges (28th, 17:25.74); Roland Benroth finished 37th. Gracie Butler led Ben Lomond’s girls, finishing in 48th place.
Find full state championship results at sporttrax.com.
Connect with Standard-Examiner sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net, X @ctbecker and Instagram @standardexaminersports.

















