Girls cross country: Niwot's Ritzenhein is the Longmont Times-Call runner of the year
Dec. 8—Niwot sophomore Addy Ritzenhein has already established herself as Colorado's next distance running icon.
Another win, another record, the spotlight grows. She would just prefer to share in it ...
In the fall's high school season, Ritzenhein, named the Longmont Times-Call runner of the year for a second straight time, won every race she was in, including the 4A state championship in Colorado Springs where she demolished former Air Academy star runner Katie Rainsberger's 4A course record at Norris Penrose Event Center.
And yet it wasn't even her crowning moment in these past few months.
Last weekend, the daughter of University of Colorado Hall of Famer and former American 5,000-meter record holder Dathan Ritzenhein became a high school national champ just as her father did more than two decades before. She won at Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Ore.
"It was pretty surreal," said Ritzenhein, who was pictured splotched in mud after her winning time of 17 minutes and 10.40 seconds. "I couldn't believe it in the moment. Working really hard all season and really improving from last year was really special. Especially having my dad and my family there, that meant a lot to me. And running for teammates in general meant a lot."
Despite a running lineage that also comes from her mom Kalin (Toedebusch), who was a high school and college All-American, Ritzenhein said she only began taking running seriously in middle school. How she actually fell in love with the sport isn't what you'd expect.
As she tells it, her family moved from Michigan to Colorado during the pandemic when she was in the seventh grade. Admittedly shy and mainly looking to make new friends, that's when she wanted to give the school's XC team a try.
By the time high school came around, the soft-spoken freshman said she was intimidated when she first joined Niwot's nationally elite girls' team. She credited her teammates for making her feel welcome, then went on to lead the Cougars to a fifth and sixth straight 4A team title and consecutive runner-up national finishes.
"She's really just interested in being on a team and being a leader and contributing to the group," Niwot coach Kelly Christensen said. And though she can be described as introverted to those not in her inner-circle, the coach laughed and pointed out that Ritzenhein has been known to "cause a lot of mischief and pranks. We never see it, (she does) a good job of keeping it from coaches."
After her win at Nike Cross Nationals, Ritzenhein got her biggest taste of the national spotlight. The cameras, the writeups, she's a household name in the running community after only turning 16 in September. She said she is having fun with it.
"I enjoy the spotlight but I don't let it get to my head or overpower me," Ritzenhein said. "I would say the Niwot girls' team as a whole has a spotlight and not just one person. But it's cool to have a lot of people know your name and share your love of the sport."
