A four-story-tall picture of Addy Ritzenhein welcomed Niwot’s cross country team as soon as it checked into its hotel for the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon.

Several banners draped nearly 10 floors down the atrium of the Cougars’ hotel. And one of them was of Ritzenhein, who’d won the prestigious national championship the year before as a sophomore.

“When you’re 16 years old and you see something like that, it adds to the stress of an already highly stressful situation,” Niwot coach Kelly Christensen said. “But she’s navigated it so well.”

Being the reigning Nike national champion and Gatorade girls cross country runner of the year has come with said and unsaid expectations and pressure — none of which Ritzenhein herself will complain about.

Because it also leads to surreal moments that most others will never get to experience. Like when Ritzenhein was invited to ESPN’s annual awards show, The ESPYs, back in July.

Surrounded by athletes and celebrities at the Los Angeles event, Ritzenhein said she was accompanied by her mom and best friend. Among things she got to do was mingle alongside big names like tennis great Serena Williams and Olympic runner Nikki Hiltz.

“It was really fun,” she said.

‘Fun’ is something she desperately tries to keep at the forefront of her booming running career.

In the fall, she won every race she took part in during the high school season, including the 5A state meet at the Norris Penrose Event Center in early November.Her second straight state XC title came a year after she set the 4A course record as a sophomore, and she upped it, finishing with an all-classification record time of 16 minutes, 54.70 seconds.

A month afterward, she took fifth at Nike Cross Nationals.

“It’s definitely been different this year than any of my previous years running. I feel like there was a lot more pressure. I felt like there were a lot more eyes on me this year,” she said. “I had to figure out how to deal with that. And I think I handled it pretty well.”

With everything she’s accomplished in high school, Ritzenhein still has two more track and field seasons and another cross country campaign to add to it.

But even so, college and collegiate running isn’t too far away.

For now, she said she has narrowed her choices down to two schools: Northern Arizona and North Carolina State.

“They have a very strong team culture and I’ve been looking for a strong team in my recruiting process,” she said. “And I really love the coaches. I trust them a lot.”