The Division Sectionals/Regionals have been won by a Hoskinson for the last 5 years. DJ Hoskinson won the Regional event his Sophomore year, the last year before it was renamed Sectionals. He then went on to win the first Sectional event before his younger brother Josh took over for him - winning the last 3 seasons including Fridays 3 mile race at Crossroads Park in Gilbert.
By the 1/2 mile mark Josh Hoskinson (Sr., Arizona Lutheran) had a strong lead over Brandon Corke (Veritas Prep), Corwin Steele (Arizona Lutheran), Adam Wong (San Pasqual) and Hayden Shelly (Scottsdale Prep).
By the time the runners hit the second loop Hoskinson widened the lead with Corke in 2nd, Wong in 3rd and Chase Chittester (Glendale Prep) in 4th.
"We've been training a lot harder this year so I was pretty prepared," said Hoskinson. "My coach just said to go out and win."
Hoskinson won the race with a time of 15:35 followed by Corke in 16:19, Chittester in 16:26, Steele in 16:29 and Wong in 16:33.
Hoskinson is ready and looking towards the State Meet when he will face his biggest competitor - Kyle Cajero from Pusch Ridge who will be going for his second State Meet title.
Third place finisher Chase Chittester led Glendale Prep Academy to the Division 4 Section 2 Title with 59 points followed by Northwest Christian with 91 points. Also scoring for Glendale Prep were Shon Washburn (10th, 17:05) Isaac Martinez (14th, 17:26), Rich Keaton (19th, 17:49) and Luke Allen/Calen Firedancing (both finishing 24th with 18:03).
In only her second year running cross country, Charlotte Moore (Sr., Scottsdale Prep Academy) won the individual title in 19:07. Her journey to the finish line started with an early lead by the first quarter mile.
She continued to expand her lead throughout the race by staying ahead of her toughest competitor, Mikaela Martin (Horizon Honors).
"I've been training very hard and trying to be as consistent as I can all season," said Moore after the race. "I was hoping my best to stay with Horizon Honors Mikaela who is their number 1 runner. I just kept pushing as hard as I could until the end"
Half way through the race Moore heard people on the sidelines shouting for Mikaela to catch her but it only motivated Moore to push harder and she continued to push until she finished the race.
Martin finished 2nd with a time of 19:27 followed by three Scottsdale Prep runners - Amber Miller (3rd, 19:37), Haley Everroad (4th, 19:50) and Madison Babione, 19:55).
Scottsdale Prep won the Division title with 20 points with all 5 runners in the top 13. Marielle Debuerre was the final scoring runner finishing in 13th place with a time of 21:03.
Northwest Christian took 2nd with 69 points followed by Paradise Honors with 81 points.