SAN DIEGO — Thomas Boyden’s state championship performance was a nightmare.
His performance six weeks later at the Footlocker National Cross Country meet was a dream come true.
The Skyline junior earned a 13th-place finish to earn All-American honors, as he crossed the challenging Balboa Park course’s finish line in 15:46.1.
“I hoped I could make the top 20,” he said. “But I wasn’t sure I could. To make the top 20 would have been great, to make the top 13 was like a dream, especially as a junior.”
Boyden finished fifth at the Utah state cross-country meet in mid-October.
“I know some people won’t think fifth was bad, but I knew what I could do,” he said. “I had a super bad race.”
Boyden redeemed himself at the regional meet last weekend, but Saturday’s performance topped anything he’s accomplished, even if it wasn’t his personal record.
“The (Utah) state meet is so early,” he said. “You get this big training block before regionals. That can be good or bad, but I think it helped me. I just dialed in and focused on training.”
The new Footlocker national champion is Cole Hocker, Indiana, 15:13.7, while Jake Renfree, Tennessee, was just behind him, finishing in 15:19.5.
The only other Utah runner to be invited to the Footlocker National Cross Country Championships was Lehi’s Anna Martin. She finished 34th in the women’s race, crossing the finish line in 19:00.6, just two minutes behind the girls national champion, Sydney Masciarelli, Massachusetts.
Boyden said he felt great in the week leading up to Saturday's race in San Diego.
"The whole week I was chillin', and wasn't too worried," Boyden said. "The night before, though, I got super worried. But once the gun goes off ... all the nerves go away."
In fact, Boyden said the key is finding a way to feel enough nervous energy that it provides even more focus and motivation, but not so much that it becomes anxiety.
"If you're super, super nervous," he said, "it can waste mental strength. But some nerves are good because it helps you realize how big the stage is and you can use it to your advantage."
Boyden said he's learned throughout the season of racing that starting conservatively works best for him.
"I'm really good at surges, so that's what I did," he said. "At mile one I was 30-something; I was around 18th at mile 2; and then 14th, then 12th and then 13th at the end. ... I could kind of estimate where I was in the race, and knowing I could be All-American, that was even more motivating."
He said before the season started, he had no idea he could be racing against some of the best prep distance runners in December. But as the season progressed, it not only became a goal, it became something he believed was very much a possibility for him.
"Regionals was the second-best race I've ever run," he said. "Today was obviously the best."