Here we are! It's almost the middle of the season and the 9th Annual Desert Twilight Cross Country Festival is upon us. Since 2008 the meet has sought to assemble quality fields by pitting the best in Arizona with competitive teams from other States. However, one shouldn't necessarily wait for the Championships and Sweepstakes races to see quality performances.
The Desert Vista Thunder have 37 boys entered in the Large School Open Boys race, six of whom have run under 16:40 for 5k. Sabrina Camino will lead the Desert Vista Girls in the Large School Open race. In the Large School Boys Freshman race, Highland have six boys under 18 minutes, including two under 16:30. The Hawks' superfrosh Caroline McLeskey is also entered with the Girls Large School Freshman with race with the second fastest freshman time in Arizona of 18 minutes for 5k.
For starters, Annie Hancock (Tolleson Union, Sr.) just ran 18:23 for three miles at Doug Conley this past weekend. This Friday she will be racing in the Large School Varsity race. Smokey Hill has an average time of 21:53 across their 1-5 spread. They will venture south from Aurora, Colorado to test themselves on one of the fastest courses in the Southwest.
Also, Maya Smith (Northland Preparatory, Jr.) won the Peaks Invitational and the Four Corners Invitational each by almost a minute. She will be racing the Small School Varsity race at Desert Twilight. Sky Martel (Blue Ridge, Jr.) and Quinn Burdick (Seton Catholic, Jr.) have both run under 16:30 for 5k and the possibility of one or both of them running sub-16, should make the Boys Small School Varsity race interesting.
Rincon University boys and girls are favorites in their respective Championship races. Earlier this season the Ranger boys were first at the Desert Solstice Cross Country Festival. Thomas Leitner (So.) and William Hewings led their squad with two sub-16 minute performances in that race. Cactus Shadows will also be in the Boys Championship race. Last week they won the Boys Invitational race at Doug Conley last weekend with a team average time of 16:37. Hannah Leitner is entered first in her field by almost 30 seconds.
The Desert Vista Girls are in-state favorites in the Sweepstakes races, but their victory is not sealed yet. Colorado will have a strong presence in the Sweepstakes races on Friday in Casa Grande as Air Academy, Peak to Peak, The Classical Academy and Cherokee Trail will add to an already deep Arizona field. From the individual perspective, Allie Schadler is the clear favorite as she opened her season with 17:01 at Desert Solstice. Also, two weeks ago at Woodbridge she ran 16:26 for three miles. The race for 2nd will likely be very interesting. Last time around at Desert Solstice, Sarah Carter (Xavier, Sr.) was 2nd in 17:19 and Abi Archer (Chaparral, So.) was 3rd in 17:32. Last Saturday Morgan Foster (Chandler, So.) overtook Archer at Doug Conley, and could likely be pulled under 18 minutes.
The Desert Vista Thunder are also the team to beat in the Boys Sweepstakes race. They earned 4th place at Woodbridge and are currently ranked 3rd in the Southwest for 3 miles with an average of 15:04 across their 5 scoring runners. Their top runner Habtamu Cheney (Jr.) ran fastest 3-mile time in the State of 14:32 at Woodbridge. Who knows what he'll do in front of a home crowd. The Perry boys are also looking very dangerous this season. They are led by Anthony Haren (Jr.) who ran 14:55 at Woodbridge. Brophy will also bid fair for a podium finish after having won the Doug Conley Invitational, with their Bronco trio of Hociel Landa (Sr.), Luke Mason (Sr.), and Drew Burns (Jr.) all under 16 minutes for 3 miles. Daniel Bernal (Sr.) from Texas' El Paso Eastwood, will be defending his individual Sweepstakes title from last year, and has already run 15:08 for 5k this season. There's also Michael Barney (Saguaro, Sr.) who seems to progress faster the better the field gets. He and Santiago Hardy both broke 15 minutes for 3 miles after throwing down furious kicks through the home stretch at Doug Conley last week. Aron Orar (Phoenix Central, Jr.) still holds the fastest 5k time in Arizona and will have a lot of help as he looks to break that time tomorrow.
This is the biggest Cross Country meet of the year, on one of the fastest courses in Arizona. The meet organizers have produced an optimal racing environment to invite teams from around the country to compete against the best Arizona has to offer and spectators should expect nothing less. Best wishes to all in preparation for tomorrow!