Eagle Valley boys cross-country team earns 3-peat at National High School Trail Championship

Dylan and Tyler Blair continued their summer trail running exploits last month in Salida, Colorado. The rising seniors guided Eagle Valley to its third-straight title at the ninth-annual National High School Trail Championships on July 26.

Dylan Blair completed the 5.4-mile course in 31 minutes, 2 seconds — slicing 50 seconds off of Sullivan Middaugh’s 2022 course record — to win by over a minute. Asher Oates nipped Tyler Blair at the line for second as both runners finished in 32:18. Jackson Filmore (35:27) rounded out the Devils’ scoring trio in 17th place as Eagle Valley combined for 21 points to top the 15-team, 82-athlete field. Logan Drever (41:28) and Patricio Morales (48:14) also competed for Eagle Valley, coming in 57th and 73rd, respectively.

“It’s always fun to win as a team out there,” said Tyler Blair, who has been a part of all three wins. “Good to keep the title again and hopefully we can go for it again next year.”

The twins were part of Team USA’s bronze medal team finish at the International U18 Mountain Running Cup in Slovakia on June 14. Dylan Blair won the individual gold while his brother placed seventh. They both flew to Eugene, Oregon for Nike Outdoor Nationals a few days later to race the 800, 1,600, 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs. After taking a well-earned two week break from running, the brothers jetted off to Flagstaff for the Northern Arizona University cross-country camp. Both Blairs said they enjoyed learning a few tricks from the best collegiate program in the country.

“It was really fun to talk with the guys on the NAU team and just experience that,” Tyler Blair said.

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Under former coach Mike Smith, the NAU men won three-straight DI national cross-country titles from 2016-18 and then again from 2020-22 (they finished second in 2019 and 2023). At the camp, the Blairs were fortunate to hear talks from Smith as well as two of his most accomplished athletes, including American record holder and 2024 Olympian, Nico Young. 

“They brought in the best of the best and gave us a few tips on how to pursue running in the future,” Dylan Blair stated.

“It was really cool to hear about how he got all his success,” Tyler Blair said regarding Smith, who now works as a full-time pro coach. “He talks a lot about teamwork and how you’re not running as an individual in cross-country, but for the good of everyone else. So, I think we’re going to start acting on that and put that more into our team and hopefully we can have a top state finish this year.” 

Last spring, Tyler Blair dealt with a stress fracture during the back half of his track season. After running 4:18 for 1,600-meters and qualifying for state in the 800 earlier in the year, he described the injury as “heartbreaking.” Being able to run in Slovakia, Eugene, Flagstaff and Salida without pain this summer has been life-giving.

“It’s been going really well so far, I’ve been getting back into lifting and everything. I’m so excited to be running again,” he said. “I’m just gaining a lot of fitness and improving a lot at this point.”

Dylan Blair was hoping to execute a controlled effort across the Salida Mountain Trail network on July 26, but Tennessee’s Asher Oates blasted the flat, fast start. Blair went with the Hoka-sponsored high schooler and the pair gapped the field by about 30 meters. As Oates fell off the pace going up the first major climb, Blair surged, building a commanding lead.

“The goal was to just hold it and make sure no one could catch up,” he said.

Blair has developed a reputation for being able to go to the darkest regions of the pain cave. In his U18 Mountain Cup victory — which came on a brutal 5.8-kilometer course, which climbed over 500 meters — he pushed the pace from the gun. The caliber of his competition at Nike Outdoor Nationals forced him to employ a similar go-for-broke strategy in Eugene.

“I guess that’s just becoming kind of a normal thing,” Blair said. “I’ve learned in the past that I can take it out hard and kind of hold on — like, I won’t die as much as the others might.”

Blair said it’s been good preparation for this fall, where he hopes to contend with defending 4A champion Aiden Le Roux, another bold front runner.

“I think I’m actually going to be doing that a lot more this season just because trying to learn and compete with him at state,” he said.

Given the athletes who have competed in Salida in the past, such as former Battle Mountain stars Sullivan and Porter Middaugh and Will Brunner — the 2023 state cross-country champion — Blair’s time certainly sends a message to the rest of the state. In addition to breaking Middaugh’s record, he also finished in front of Le Roux’s teammate, Brogan Collins, who boasts a personal best 5K of 14:17.

“It means a lot,” Dylan Blair said. “(It’s) definitely given me a lot more confidence in my racing. I feel like this season, as long as I stay healthy, it’s going to go the way I want it to go — as long as I do all the little things.”