* Leo Young, Corie Smith, Nico Young, and Riley Chamberlain all ran at the Clovis Invitational over their tenures
Photo Credit: MileSplit
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The Clovis Invitational is always a crucial period in the California high school cross country season, just weeks away from the state championships.
What's more? Clovis is also held at Woodward Park. The course is no doubt full of history, having hosted the California CIF state cross country meet for over 30 years.
For younger and less experienced teams, the Clovis Invitational is a chance to preview the CIF state course and to find competition.
But it's also good for another thing: For a lot of teams and athletes, this meet provides ample opportunities to rewrite history.
Walk with us down memory lane as we recall some of the best moments in the meet's history.
No. 6
Hanne Thomsen Takes an Unlikely Win (2022)
* Hanne Thomsen clocking her watch as she finishes first at last year's Asics Clovis Invitational.
Photo Credit: DeAnna Turner/ MileSplit
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Last year, all eyes were on Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura High School. She was the pre-race favorite.
The Ventura sophomore had just finished off her outdoor season, taking home a CIF state title in the 1,600m and placing first in the one-mile at Nike Nationals, while also opening up her sophomore year with a win at Woodbridge.
But here came Montgomery's Hanne Thomsen, also a sophomore. Thomsen was excited to go head-to-head and test her improvement against such a strong competitor.
However, while Engelhardt did attend the meet to support her teammates, it was confirmed later that she had pulled out due to a bad cold.
That meant it was Thomsen's race to win. She was able to take home the title in 17:04.20, 24 seconds clear of the second-place athlete.
She currently holds the second-fastest junior time in the meet's history.
No. 5
Riley Chamberlain Breaks Freshman Record (2018)
* Riley Chamberlain chases the freshman Clovis meet record.
Photo Credit: DeAnna Turner/ MileSplit
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Great Oak's Tori Gaitan had just come off wins at the Woodbridge Classic and the Bob Firman Invitational.
But at the 2018 Clovis Invitational, Gaitan had to deal with Riley Chamberlain, the Del Oro freshman.
The freshman was ready to show the top competition in the state what she was made of, and that's what she did.
She finished second in 17:12.70 and was the only freshman in finish among the top ten.
Chamberlain not only broke the freshman meet record, but she also ran the fourth-fastest freshmen time in Woodward Park's course history. Now a BYU sophomore, Chamberlain's frosh record continues to breathe on.
No. 4
Three Boys Dip Under The Meet Record (2019)
* Nico Young (left) heading towards his meet record, with Leo Daschbach (right) close behind.
Photo Credit: DeAnna Turner/ MileSplit
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In a race to the finish at Woodward in 2019, history was rewritten by three high school seniors.
Newbury Park's Nico Young, Highland High's Leo Daschbach and Jesuit's Matt Strangio all went for it.
With these elite competitors and some of the top national teams in the mix (Newbury Park and Great Oak), records were certainly on their way out.
Hunting down the previous 2016 meet record of 14:49.90 by Armijio's Luis Grijalva, Nico Young led his two fellow seniors.
Young led, Daschbach followed and Strangio, who was fighting an illness, was holding on to the third position.
With a sprint across the finish, Young toed the line in 14:28.90, solidifying a new meet record. Daschbach followed suit in 14:30.90 and Strangio in 14:49.10.
All three boys dipped under Grijalva's previous meet record.
They each ran three of the fastest times ever recorded on the 5K Woodward Park XC course at that point in time.
Although Young was only a few seconds away from the 2007 course record, he most certainly gave it a scare.
No. 3
Corie Smith Breaks Meet Record (2019)
The year 2019 was certainly one to remember. Buchanan's Corie Smith also had her own record-breaking run.
Hailing from Buchanan High School -- in her hometown of Clovis -- she knew her way around the Woodward course.
The year prior, the Bear's leader won the CIF Central Section cross country title, placed second at the Woodbridge Classic and finished 53rd at Nike Cross Nationals.
At Clovis, a five-year standing meet record of 16:57 by Destiny Collins of Great Oak was finally shattered. Running four seconds faster, Smith clocked 16:53, beating out a tough kick against sophomore Alexandra Klos of Vista del Lago.
They were the only two girls to dip below 17-minutes. Four years later, Corie Smith still holds the meet record and the seventh-fastest time in Woodward Park course history.
No. 2
Leo Young Sets Meet Record (2022)
* Leo Young breaking his brother, Nico Young's meet record at last year's Ascis Clovis Invitational.
Photo Credit: Jeffrey D. Parenti/ MileSplit
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At the first invitational of his senior season, Leo Young led the Newbury Park boys and made a huge statement.
Coming off of a record breaking junior year, Young definitely had his sights set on another year of records.
Both he and his brother Lex did just that, with Leo pulling away from his brother and holding on strong with a time of 14:25.90. That performance broke his older brother's (Nico) meet record (14:28) by three seconds.
On top of that, not only was this run a meet best but it was also one second off of the German Hernandez's 14:24 course record at the 2007 CIF state meet.
No. 1
Newbury Boys Set Team Record (2021)
* Newbury Boys leading the way into the first mile at the 2021 Clovis Invitational.
Photo Credit: DeAnna Turner/ MileSplit
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Having run the course a handful of times, the Newbury Park boys knew they could perform a record-breaking race.
Although the Young's older brother, Nico Young, already led the fastest team average of 15:05 at the CIF state meet in 2019 on the Woodward course, the 2021 Newbury Park boys team were hungry to beat it.
In October of 2021 at the Clovis Invitational, the Panthers dropped a 5K average of 14:44 on the course, cementing new course and national record averages.
Senior Colin Sahlman, led the team in 14:29, with Leo Young (14:33), Lex Young (14:34), and Aaron Sahlman (14:43) following suit to take the next three slots. The Panthers scored 1-2-3-4-9-11-41 with a close to perfect score of 19 points.
Their average was nearly a minute ahead of the runner-up Great Oak's team average of 15:43, where the Wolfpack scored more than eight times that of Newbury.
That December, the Californians were even better at the 2021 Garmin RunningLane Championships, lowering their season best average down to 14:14 -- a national best that no team has ever come close to since then.
Colin Sahlman (14:03.29), Leo Young (14:05.07), and Lex Young (14:05.49) took home the top three fastest 5k times in high school cross country history...which still stand.
Clovis was just the tip of the iceberg.
2023 Asics Clovis Invite Meet Page
* Leo Young, Corie Smith, Nico Young, and Riley Chamberlain all ran at the Clovis Invitational over their tenures
Photo Credit: MileSplit
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