Chronicling 20 Years of Deer Creek Cross Country
Introduction:
Deer Creek Cross Country is a program known for great success and over the last twenty years, has found itself at the top of Oklahoma high school running. Whether we're talking some of the fastest individual athletes to ever come out of our state, or some of the best teams, Deer Creek has had an abundance of both. At the helm, is head coach David Riden. Under Riden's leadership, Deer Creek has established itself as a high school program garnering national attention. This begs the question, how did they get here?
Throughout the content of this article, we will break down this success. It is important to note that we will be focusing primarily on State Championship races, and despite this primary focus, a team or an athlete's performance is not defined by a singular meet. With this being said, let's go ahead and jump right into how Deer Creek got to where they are now, starting 20 years ago in the 2004 Cross Country season.
2004:
In 2004, Oklahoma high school sports were separated by 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A. At this time, Deer Creek was labeled as a 4A program. Previous to this date, Deer Creek was labeled as a 3A school. 2004 marked their first year in 4A, which was bound to bring new challenges. This season, the girls program saw a 7th place team performance at the 4A State Championship. Not a bad performance by any means, but nowhere near the success that was to eventually come.
As for the boys, they finished 3rd as a team, losing to Bishop Kelley and Bishop McGuiness. Despite this, they still scored under 100 points. They even managed to have a top five individual performance with Dallin Larsen, placing 3rd in a time of 17:26.
2005:
The 2005 cross country season brought another state performance similar to 2004 for the girls program, this time finishing 8th.
The boys program once again placed in the top 3 teams, this time getting 2nd. Once again, Deer Creek lost to Bishop Kelley, but managed to improve one place better than the year before. In this race, the boys had a top five finisher, but this time it was Adam Young. Placing 3rd, Young ran a time of 17:26.
2006:
Now, we move to the 2006 cross country season. The girls saw massive improvement this year, managing to place 4th overall as a team. Also, placing one girl in the top 20, their highest individual finisher since the move to 4A.
This season was a massive one for the boys program, and was their first cross country state title during Coach David Riden's tenure. Adam Young once again led the way with a 3rd place finish, running 16:54. Deer Creek scored 46 points at the state meet, overtaking Bishop Kelley by 32 points. They also managed to place two other athletes in the top ten, marking a major turning point for the boys program. Their impressive victory over Bishop Kelley, who had beat them twice prior, gave the boys the leap they needed.
2007:
2007 was another great year for Riden's teams. Although the girls finished 8th at the state championship, they saw their first top five finisher since moving up to 4A. This athlete, Hillarie Kessler, managed to run for second with a time of 11:58 (3200 meters). As for the boys program, they backed up the 2006 title with another. At the state meet, the boys won with a total score of 17 points. An utterly dominant performance at any race, especially considering it was a title race. This year, Adam Young managed to win the individual title with a time of 16:15. Following Young, was Dakota Buck (2nd), Jared Clark (3rd), and Mitchell Moore (5th), who rounded out the 4 Deer Creek athletes finishing in the top 5. To score 17 points at a championship race is an incredibly rare feat, and was truly a moment where the boys program took another leap.
2008:
In 2008, the class division in Oklahoma changed to 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, and 2A. Thus, moving Deer Creek up to 5A. On the girls side, they improved their placement at state from the year prior. This time, they finished 6th as a team and had another girl in the top 5. This time, it was Roman Edwards, who ran a time of 11:59.
For the boys, they had a bit of a down year at state and placed 4th overall. Despite the lower team finish, they still managed to walk out with the individual state champion in Dakota Buck, running a time of 16:34.
2009:
The 2009 state championship saw another improvement on the team placement side for the girls. Going from 8th in 2007, to 6th in 2008, and then 5th in 2009. As a team, the girls program was seeing steady improvement.
The boys vastly improved from the previous year. This time placing 2nd, losing to Guthrie by 15 points. Along with the team improvement, the boys also walked away with another individual state champion and an additional top five performance. Taler Buck won the meet, in a time of 16:33, and Aaron White got 3rd, running 16:50.
2010:
As the new decade began, Deer Creek's program continued to roll. The girls once again improved their team placement at state, with a 4th place finish.
The boys once again fell short to Guthrie for the state title, but got much closer than they had in 2009. This time, they lost by 4 points, a very close finish. Taler Buck backed up his previous state title with another, running 16:14.
2011:
The 2011 state championship for the girl's program was a similar outcome to the year prior. Once again placing 4th overall. Despite finishing 4th again, it was clear at this point how the girls program was steadily improving every year. This improvement showed signs of more success to come.
After back to back losses, the boys beat Guthrie to win the state title with 37 points. Led by Taler Buck's impressive 16:07 to three peat, Deer Creek rolled. Blaine Powell placed 4th, with a time of 16:22. After Powell, Deer Creek placed one more in the top then. This athlete, Bryce Balenseifen is certainly a name to remember as we break down these upcoming years.
2012:
A good way to describe the 2012 state championship for the girls program is the calm before the storm. Placing 5th as a team and having one athlete in the top ten, a slightly worse performance from the year prior. Despite this, the time was coming for the girls program.
The boys program once again smoked everyone at the state meet. Bryce Balenseifen won by 9 seconds in 16:17. Along with that performance, Deer Creek had athletes place 8th, 9th, and 10th. Another state title to add to the program's history, and six straight individual state wins from the boys program.
2013:
Led by Sheri Snyder, the 2013 state title was a historic meet for the girl's program. Snyder placed 5th overall with a time of 12:33. Along with this top 5 individual finish, the girls won their first state title under Riden. Scoring 49 points, they beat out Tahlequah by 18 points. This was a truly special day for that squad. Ashton England managed to place 7th overall, bringing two Deer Creek athletes to top ten finishes. The other members of this long awaited state title team were Brianne Kirchgessner (12th), Avery Buck (17th), Kelsie Hancock (18th), Rachel Lewis (23rd), and Amalie Haram (30th).
As for the boys, they once again won the state title. To add to this success, Bryce Balenseifen won the individual title handily in 15:47. Following Balenseifen, Drake DiAngelo got 5th overall, running a time of 16:44. Blaine Powell rounded out the top ten Deer Creek finishers, getting 7th place. Another team and individual title for the boy's program, continuing their consistency.
2014:
The girls program backed up their state title from 2013 in an even better performance. Scoring a total of 41 points, winning by a grand total of 50 over Tahlequah. Also important to note, that this was the first year that 5A girls ran the 5k. The increase in distance proved to not affect Deer Creek negatively, as not only did they win the team title, they placed four athletes in the top ten. In 3rd, Ashton England ran a time of 19:40. She was followed by Hannah Gigstad (4th: 20:22), Brianne Kirchgessner (6th: 20:25), and Avery Buck (10th: 20:43). This year was certainly another big time performance from the girl's program.
For the boys, this season was another state title win, marking their 4th straight. Bryce Balenseifen won, completing his three-peat. His time, 15:19, was an absolutely dominant run that would go down as one of the fastest state championship performances in Oklahoma running history.
2015, 2016, 2017:
These years are marked as major adjustment years for both the girls and boys programs. In 2015, Deer Creek was moved up to 6A, which brought overall better competition. The girls placed 5th at the state championship, and the boys finished 9th. In 2016, the girls got 7th overall, but did have a 3rd place finisher in Elysia Burgos, running a time of 19:03. The boys improved their 9th place finish, this time finishing 7th. 2017 was a year of improvement for the girls, finishing 4th overall and placing two athletes in the top ten. Grabbing 6th place was Elysia Burgos with a time of 19:04, and following Burgos was freshman Aubrey Byers (8th: 19:10). The boys improved to 6th overall as a team at the state championship. Jackson Wedge and Steven Clark placed 4th and 5th respectively, running 16:05 and 16:06.
2018:
In 2018, both Deer Creek programs were back with high level performances. The girls team won state in a close finish, beating Owasso by five points with a total of 87 total. Leading that charge was Aubrey Byers, improving from her 9th place finish the year prior, to now 4th overall. Byers managed a time of 19:04, coming very close to that sub 19 mark. Following Byers, Deer Creek placed two other girls in the top 20. Freshman Ivonnah Viney placed 15th overall, and junior Kendall Edelen placed 17th. This season for the Deer Creek girls program was a great one, and marked their last state championship win since present day (August 2024).
The boys kept the momentum up from the girls state title, winning their own by 28 points, besting Owasso. Steven Clark, led his squad with a 2nd place finish.
This race for Clark was very close, resulting in a defeat by 0.7 seconds. Despite coming so close to an individual state title, his performance and leadership was instrumental in the team state title that year. Following Clark, were juniors Drake Wagner and Jack Reed, running 16:49 and 16:53 respectively.
It is safe to say that this season for Deer Creek Cross Country was a massive turning point since their move to the 6A division.
2019:
In 2019, the girls program followed up their previous state championship with a 3rd place team finish. Not as strong of a showing from the year prior, but still a podium performance. Kendall Edelene led the way with an 18th place finish.
For the boys program, they backed up their state title win with another, outlasting Westmoore High School by 38 points. Most important to note, Deer Creek placed three in the top six of this race. Leading the way was Aj Antonelli with a 3rd place finish running 16:04. Following Antonelli, was Gilbert Velez (5th: 16:15), and Jack Reed (6th: 16:18).
2020:
2020's state title was a tough one for the girl's program. They rounded out the season finishing 9th overall as a team, but did have a top 10 individual finisher in Tabitha Fox (7th place: 19:22).
The boys had a strong showing at the state meet, but fell short of a Gabe Simonsen led Mustang squad by five points. Despite the disappointing loss, the boys did finish 2nd and placed two athletes in the top ten. The first of the two, was junior Gilbert Velez running 15:49 and finishing 2nd overall. This was an impressive race for Velez, who had struggled with injuries for most of the season leading up to this race. The 2nd athlete in the top 10 for Deer Creek was junior AJ Antonelli, finishing 4th in 16:01. Leading up to this performance, Antonelli had displayed a breakout year. Out of anyone else in the state that season, he was the only athlete to rival Simonsen's dominance. Despite the 4th place finish, Antonelli still had a very impressive season, and this was just the beginning of what was in store for his high school career.
2021:
2021 was a massive improvement from the year prior for the girls program. Instead of finishing 9th, they jumped up to 2nd, placing two athletes in the top 10. Tabitha Fox backed up her previous top ten performance with another, placing 6th overall in a time of 18:35. Following Fox, was freshman Sadie Wedge (10th place: 18:52). To place two athletes in the top ten in one of the faster state meets in recent history, was truly impressive. This is especially true, due to both of these athletes not being seniors.
The boys bounced back from their previous 2nd place performance, running for first with a total of 44 points. This total completely blew away the rest of the competition that year, with the closest being Owasso with a total of 113 points. Similar to the girls, this race was a fast one for the boys. Deer Creek placed 2 athletes in the top five, and all five point scorers placed in the top 15. Leading the charge was AJ Antonelli, who like the team, bounced back from his performance from the year prior. Antonelli won state by 17 seconds, running one of the fastest times ever run at a state meet in Oklahoma, with a 15:14. Leading up to this performance, Antonelli had displayed a dominant year, and was the clear favorite to win state. With Antonelli's performance leading the charge, the other four point scorers all performed well. Next up for the team was Gilbert Velez (3rd: 15:33), Graham Mitchell (12th: 16:10), Lucas Cisneros (13th: 16:17), and Spencer Carlson (15th: 16:18). 2021 was truly an impressive year for the boys program.
2022:
This year for the girl's program was another great one. They followed the previous year's 2nd place performance with another. Along with this, Tabitha Fox ended her high school cross country career with her highest finish at state yet, placing 2nd with a time of 18:12. Deer Creek also placed two other athletes in the top 15. These athletes were Sadie Wedge (10th: 18:58) and Madelynn Clark (11th: 19:06). Wedge backed up her impressive freshman year performance with another great performance. Clark placing 11th was also huge for the final results of this season for the girls, especially considering Clark was only a freshman.
The boys had a bit of a down year for their standards. Placing 4th, it was clearly a bit of a rebuilding year considering Antonelli, Velez, and Cisneros all graduated. Many wondered how the boys would do this year, and despite the lower than usual finish, being able to place top five at the state meet in a competitive year is impressive and showed the potential for the next season. Even with the 4th place finish, Deer Creek did manage to place one athlete in the top five individuals. This athlete, Graham Mitchell, had a great performance placing 4th in 15:41. The year prior, Mitchell ran 16:10.
2023:
The 2023 cross country state meet wasn't as great for the girls as the two years prior. Despite this, they still managed a 6th place finish. The athlete leading the charge was Graycie Lucas, running 19:20.
The boys improved greatly on the previous year. This time, they won state with a total of 42 points. This year for the boys was a fast one, and going into this meet they seemed almost unbeatable. A major aspect of this performance was that they did this with an injured Graham Mitchell, who was their leading runner the previous year and continued to be throughout this season. Due to this, many of the other boys on the squad had to step up big time, and that they did. Leading the team was Brody Woodcock running 15:37 and placing 3rd. Following Woodcock was Spencer Carlson (5th: 15:41), Tyler Schwarz (12th: 15:56), Daniel Collins (13th: 15:57), and Micah John (15th: 16:01). This year showed the ability of the Deer Creek boys program to bounce back from hardship and continue to assert consistent state best performances.
This concludes the write up on the last twenty cross country state meets for Deer Creek. Now, we will move into individual athlete's success.
Individual Athlete's Accomplishments:
AJ Antonelli:
x1 6a Cross Country Individual State Champion
x2 6a Cross Country Team State Champion
x1 3200m 6a State Champion
x1 1600m 6a State Champion
Official XC 5k PR: 14:58.7 (Deer Creek School Record)
800m PR: 1:53.15
1600m PR: 4:12.78
3200m PR: 9:19.41
Brody Woodcock:
X1 6a Cross Country Team State Champion
X1 3200m 6a State Champion
X1 1600m 6a State Champion
Official XC 5k PR: 15:15.70
800m PR: 1:52.91 (Deer Creek School Record)
1600m PR: 4:08.02 (Deer Creek School Record) (Note: This time was achieved in late May, after graduation. This means that Woodcock technically does not qualify for the state record, but if we consider all times ran through an athlete's freshman XC season to Summer going into college, then Woodcock does hold the state record).
3200m PR: 9:06.33 (Deer Creek School Record)
Bryce Balenseifen:
x3 5a Cross Country Individual State Champion
x4 5a Cross Country Team State Champion
x3 5a 3200m State Champion
x3 5a 1600m State Champion
x2 5a 4x800m State Champion
x1 5a 800m State Champion
Official XC 5k PR: 15:10.6
800m PR: 1:52.98
1600m PR: 4:11.57
3200m PR: 9:16.20
Tabitha Fox:
x2 6a Cross Country State Championship Team Runner Up
x1 6a Cross Country State Championship Individual Runner Up
x3 6a Cross Country All State
x1 6a 800m 3rd place
x1 6a 1600m 2nd place
Official XC 5k PR: 18:08.7 (Deer Creek School Record)
800m PR: 2:13.54
1600m PR: 5:00.06
3200m PR: 11:06.34
Deer Creek Cross Country State Championship Achievements:
Girls top 3 team finish: 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
Girls team championships: 2013, 2014, 2018
Girls individual winner: N/A
Girls top 5 finisher: 2007, 2008, 2013, 2014 x2, 2016, 2018, 2022
Boys top 3 team finish: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023
Boys team championships: 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023
Boys individual winner: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2021,
Boys top 5 finisher: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 x4, 2008, 2009 x2, 2010, 2011 x2, 2012, 2013 x2, 2014, 2017 x2, 2018, 2019 x2, 2020 x2, 2021 x2, 2022, 2023 x2
It is without question that the Deer Creek Cross Country program is one of consistent success in the midst of change. From seeing hundreds of athletes come through over the last 20 years, to program classification changes, Deer Creek has continued to adjust well. Coach David Riden's outlook on running and his influence of leadership have inspired his athletes year after year, and is a core example of what it means to be a coach. Throughout the last twenty years, Deer Creek has surely risen to the top of high school distance running in Oklahoma, and many of their athletes have gone on to further their running careers at the collegiate level.
Deer Creek Cross Country has a saying, "Process > Outcome" and this encapsulates their program well. Even with the impressive success that they have achieved over the last 20 years, like all other programs, they have had unexpected and disappointing outcomes. So much of the effect running has on our lives is throughout the process, and what shows up on a state meet result is not what defines an athlete or a program. For Riden and his athletes, the outcome does matter, but the art of the process outdoes any outcome they may achieve that season.
As always, thank you for reading.
- Shawn Rutledge
(All photos featured in this article are from @deercreekxc.oklahoma on Instagram)