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Rowland Hall cross country team, fall 2025
Cross Country, Fall 2025

Head Coach Betsy Alexanderson
Assistant Coach Laura Johnson
Assistant Coach Walter Watchman

At the end of July, I began my first day of optional summer training at Rowland Hall with seven athletes: two sophomore returners and five wide-eyed freshmen. All athletes were at varied levels in terms of experience, fitness, and interest. I was ready to get to know each student-athlete and find the best way to get them into 5K racing shape by the end of September. However, as the school year approached, our team roster changed daily and continued to change throughout the months of August and September. We gained athletes, we lost athletes, and we had athletes who for various reasons could no longer attend practice or competition. As a new coach who values the camaraderie of team sport, I couldn’t help but feel disheartened as I watched my new running community seemingly fall apart. No matter the athlete’s consistency in attendance, I noticed a new feeling of lightness and optimism in each of my athletes after a full effort of running. A sense of relief. A reset.

Before getting into the results of the season, I want to encourage Rowland Hall students and student-athletes to join our team next fall as a much-needed opportunity to reset after the mental toll of a full day of academia. Join our team to get outside, to take deep breaths, to feel the endorphins, and to find some peace. Get curious about how your body adapts to the stress of running and how those consistent and structured stresses equate to improvement and personal success. Join us to have some time to run alone while still being part of a team.

We have a phenomenal core of athletes who maintained their commitment by practicing four or five days a week and finding joy in running (I hope). Many saw marked improvement in ways that may go unseen in race results. Here are a few success stories: freshman Florence Morton—new to Rowland Hall and our Most Improved Award winner—learned to break through the mental exhaustion of a full day of academics and find a way back into her body for a composed hard effort on the 5K course. Freshman Brooke Schniatter—our MVP and an experienced competitive runner—learned to avoid training through illness and be patient through recovery, holding on to the belief that there are future races to build fitness toward throughout the year. Returning sophomore Hector Licea Morales—our optimistic Smile Award winner who put in the work at practice every day for over a year—learned that consistency can grant you the opportunity to race at the 2A state meet.

In terms of race results for our boys team, returning sophomore Henley Pritchett improved his prior season result at the Region 17 Championships by two minutes and was well on his way to qualifying for state until he got injured. Freshman Cian Ladrido-McHugh found steady improvement due to his dedication to practice attendance starting in late July and lowered his mile pace average from 8:02 to 7:34. Returning sophomore Miles Kiburtz earned state qualification as an individual while juggling mountain biking practice and races all season. Our other state qualifier, Hector Licea Morales, improved from his first result of 31:09 to a final race result of 22:52, which was a two-minute personal best compared to last season.

Our girls team witnessed impressive performances by both Brooke Greenberg and Brooke Schnaitter. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the two were never able to compete in the same race. Brooke Greenberg finished fourth at the Sanpete Invite—our hilliest and hottest course—against the best runners from 3A and 6A, with an impressive time of 18:44. At the All City Championships, Greenberg finished second to the 4A state champion. Newcomer Brooke Schniatter started the season with a medal at the Twilight Invitational in Park City, finishing 4th in the JV girls race with a time of 22:23. After a break from competition due to illness, Schniatter individually WON the Region 17 Championships! She then qualified for the state meet and placed 13th in 2A with a time of 21:02 and with more in the tank.

I want to express my gratitude and appreciation to our team captain and returning senior Dylan Johnson de Lacy, who was my reality check throughout the season. I’m looking forward to working with him and the other cross country athletes again this spring as members of the track and field team. (Please register for track and field on Aktivate as soon as possible.)

For those of you who are interested in joining cross country next year, please email Betsy Alexanderson at betsyalexanderson@rowlandhall.org. I have fun things planned for the summer and would love to have our newcomers involved!

For those who wish to peruse our team’s results—please follow these links:

Fall 2025 Team Members:
Jia Anyan
Fatima Asad
Zaynab Asad
Owen Donigan
Brooke Greenberg
Dylan Johnson De Lacy
Miles Kiburtz
Cian Ladrido-McHugh
Hector Licea Morales
Florence Morton
Noah Ostrander
Rohan Pani
Henley Pritchett
Brooke Schniatter
Songsten Sok-Choekore

Fall 2025 Team Awards:

  • MVP Award: Brooke Schniatter
  • Smile Award: Hector Licea-Morales
  • Most Improved Award: Florence Morton
  • Varsity Letter: Dylan Johnson de Lacy, Miles Kiburtz, Cian Ladrido-McHugh, Hector Licea Morales, Florence Morton, Brooke Schniatter