Jackson Spencer's 2025 cross country season was one for the history brooks as the senior from Herriman High School in Utah completed an undefeated season across eight races. Spencer won National titles at Brooks XC Championships and Nike Cross Nationals while picking up a UHSAA 6A State Championship as well at Woodbridge and Clovis Invitational wins.
Spencer was coming off a strong junior year on the cross country course in 2024. He'd finish as the UHSAA 6A State Runner-Up after finishing 19th as a sophomore. He'd finish 7th individually in a loaded NXR Southwest Regional and follow it up with his best performance of the season at NXN to finish 7th individually and as the second underclassman in the field behind Southlake Carroll's Caden Leonard (TX). On the track, Leonard would drop massive PRs across all distances running 1:52.23 for the 800m, 4:02.56 for the Mile and 8:51.26 for the 3200m.
Spencer would enter the season ranked third in the preseason COROS Boys Individual Rankings behind Aiden Le Roux (Cheyenne Mountain, CO) and Caden Leonard. His first true test of the cross-country season would be at Woodbridge, where he'd take the individual win by 18 seconds running 13:42 for Three Miles. He'd follow it up at ASICS Clovis Invitational with another dominant victory by 26 seconds in 14:16 for 5000m breaking German Fernandez's course record of 14:24. He'd go on to win the UHSAA 6A State Championship where he'd again dominate the field running 14:29 for 3 Miles to win by 48 seconds.
At this point in the season he had solidified himself at the top of the national rankings, but the conversation for who the best runner in the country was still up for debate. While Spencer had won and dominated the some of the biggest invitationals in the country, he hadn't gotten to race against most of the competition across the country yet. This would soon change as he'd head into the strongest NXR Regional in the country in the Southwest region and picked up a Golden Ticket to Brooks XC Nationals.
Heading into NXR Southeast, Spencer would hold the #2 ranking in the COROS Individual Rankings, but would get to battle with #1 Oliver Horton (Coronado, CO), #3 Yohanes Van Meerten (Flagstaff, AZ) #10 Benjamin Adams (Mountain Vista, CO) and #21 Hunter Robbie (Niwot, CO). If there was any doubt, Spencer proved he was the real deal heading into Nationals taking the individual win in 14:31 pulling away from the field down the stretch with six boys within 6 seconds of him. He'd win by three seconds ahead of Robbie and Van Meerten who both ran 14:35.
He'd now head into both national championships with a target on his back as the favorite coming in with the competition in both having the top athletes in the country looking to prove they were the best. Both races were a battle from start to finish. At NXN, it'd come down to Spencer, Leonard and Van Meerten up front with 400m to go. Spencer would attack the final two hills at Glendoveer Golf Course to give himself a slight lead ahead of Leonard and pull away to the finish line winning in 15:01.
One week later, he'd battle with the top finishers once again at Brooks XC Nationals at Balboa Park in San Diego, CA. He'd put himself in the front pack, but he'd find himself in unfamiliar territory as Marcelo Mantecon (Belen Jesuit, FL) who was fourth at NXN made a move early in the race to have a gap over the field. Leonard would bide his time before making a move to reel back in Mantecon. With about 1000m to go Spencer would lead the chase pack with four others in striking distance of Mantecon. With 800m to go he had caught Mantecon and made his move to the front, but Mantecon wasn't done. He'd come back and take the lead from Spencer with 400m to go as the two would go back and fourth and Spencer would ultimately be able to hold off his finishing kick to win in 15:10 to win his second national title by .2 seconds.
Jackson Spencer after winning Brooks XC Nationals
Spencer proved without a doubt to be the best cross-country runner in the country, showing he had the tools to win no matter how the race played out. He displayed great strength in both national championships attacking the hills to gain an edge over his competition while also having another gear to kick to the finish and show off his foot speed. No matter the situation, Spencer was going to be ready for whatever it took to be the best.
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