* Calysta Garmer won her second consecutive Tennessee state title over the weekend
Photo Credit: Harrison Wampler/MileSplit Tennessee
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Championship season continues to deliver, with standout performances across the country highlighting another weekend of dominant finishes, record-breaking runs, and clutch postseason moments.
Cool air, fast courses, and gutsy racing, this week's slate carried all the rhythm and chaos that make cross country one of one.
The National Performer of the Week poll will close at 5 p.m. CT on Thursday, November 13, and the winner will be announced shortly after.
Check out this week's five nominees!
*Athletes cannot be nominated for National Performer of the Week in back-to-back weeks*
This Week's Nominees:
Calysta Garmer, The Webb School of Knoxville (Tenn.): A comfortable title defense and a third-straight state crown made for a pretty good Friday. The defending TSSAA AA champions did it again, pulling away from the field at Shelby Farms Park. Garmer cruised to victory in 17:05.62, winning by 23 seconds to claim her second cross country state title and fifth overall. Next fall, she'll take her talents to Furman alongside her twin sister, Jazzlyn, but first, she and the Spartans have their sights set on Nike Cross Nationals.
Carmen Dorsey-Spitz, Moriarty (N.M.): The junior capped her in-state season with her eighth-straight win and first cross country state title. For the second time this fall, Dorsey-Spitz dipped under 17:00, this time at the Albuquerque Academy Cross Country Course. Her 16:57.9 performance broke Gianna Rahmer's (Eldorado) course record of 16:58.01, making her just the second girl ever to run sub-17 on the course.
Lilly Beshears, Rogers (Ark.): In just her second race of the season - and first since the opening week of September - Beshears claimed her second consecutive Arkansas cross country title and seventh state title overall. The BYU commit left nothing to chance, winning by 22 seconds in 17:29.44. She also led Rogers to a runner-up team finish, just seven points behind Bentonville.
Ellery Lincoln, Lincoln (Ore.): The good times keep rolling for Lincoln, as the junior captured her first cross country state title with a 13-second win at Lane Community College in Eugene. She led the Cardinals to the team crown over South Eugene and Jesuit, 94-120-122. For the program, it marked a successful title defense and their second straight championship after a 45-year drought between 1978 and 2023.
Peyton VanDeest, Spearfish (S.D.): She may not have taken the win at Yankton Trail Park, but the South Dakota native gave the home crowd plenty to cheer for as she punched her ticket to next month's Nike Cross Nationals. Finishing runner-up to Wayzata's Maddie Gullickson (last week's NPOTW), VanDeest out-leaned in-state standout Brianna Reilly (Harrisburg) to grab one of the five automatic bids to NXN. It's no surprise she handled the slick, frigid conditions - few in the field know the course as well as VanDeest, and she's never been one to shy away from the cold.
NPOTW's Previous Winners:
Week 1: Sophia Szolosi, Athens (Ohio)
Week 2: Addison Kegel, Billings Central Catholic (Mont.)
Week 3: Brianna Reilly, Harrisburg (S.D.)
Week 4: Sienna Anderson, Summit (Tenn.)
Week 5: Jazzlyn Garner, The Webb School of Knoxville (Tenn.)
Week 6: Kaitlyn Carr, Smithville (Ohio)
Week 7: Leila Hailey, Rockvale (Tenn.)
Week 8: Macy Wingard, Denton-Braswell (Texas)
Week 9: Summer Wilson, Irvine (Calif.)
Week 10: Braelyn Combe, Santiago Corona (Calif.)