Hopi High School - All photos by Margot Kelly
“We are the Dallas Cowboys of high school cross country” explained one alumni after the Hopi Bruins won their 25th straight high school cross country title. While one may debate comparing them to the Jerry Jones’ team, one cannot dispute their success. To put this in perspective, the high school did not even exist 26 years ago. They have literally won the boys state cross country title every year their high school has existed.
One might have guessed that all 25 year’s worth of alumni showed up for this race. I have been around cross country meets for more than a dozen years now, and I have never seen a fan base turn out like Hopi had today. Nearly every other spectator out on the course during the Division 4 races were cheering on the Bruins. The Cave Creek Golf Course was electric with the energy that they brought.
“They are really great alumni, they are interested and they show real strong support,” exclaimed Coach Rick Baker who has been coaching for all 25 wins.
It’s not the water on the reservation which makes these guys run fast either. “It is survival for us, our ceremonies involve running and kids grow up with a lot of running as a part of life,” explains Coach Baker. “Also no one wants to be the team that breaks the streak, the kids want to keep it going and work really hard to keep it going.”
The Hopi nation is not selfish in their wins. Coach Baker explained that the athletes see their championships as a way to give back to the nation and even mankind as a whole. Coach Baker tells his athletes to pray to their Wuyah and pray to their clans before they race. Winning for them is much more than just another championship to hang on a gym wall. It is a matter of community pride.
While the crowd's energy propelled the boys team (42 points) over strong challenges mounted by Glendale Prep (149) and Pinon (104). The individual that benefited most from the energy was Pinon’s Adriano Joe (photo left) who went out hard and did not relinquish his lead. “I wanted to go out strong and finish strong. I was challenged by the hard pace, but once I got it going I knew I needed to keep it going.” He was never seriously challenged en route to his 16:24 tour of the Phoenix golf course, helping his team to a runner up finish.
The Hopi fan base turned out in equal force for the girl’s race, though they were not able to pull off a repeat. The girl’s race belonged to Spartan’s of Northland Prep Academy and their freshman phenom Maya Smith (photo right).
The Division 4 girl's race had the advantage of being run in the cool of the morning. The low temperatures and low elevation turned out to be the perfect storm for Maya. She led the race wire to wire to finish in a time of 19:25.
Entering the race Maya told Milesplit AZ, “I had no plan really, I just wanted to go out there and run hard.” Whatever the plan was or wasn’t it certainly worked. Coach Missy Acker described Maya as her “renaissance girl,” going on to say, “Maya is just good at everything she tries, music, school and running, she is a pleasure to coach.”
Coaching must come naturally for Coach Acker as her women’s team cleaned up at the state meet. Not only was Maya the individual champ, but Northland Prep Academy gapped the field scoring 37 points, holding off former champion Hopi along with strong challenges from Scottsdale Prep (139) and American Leadership (159).
Coach Acker explained that they have been running up with Division 2 and 3 teams all year. She credits racing against the larger teams for part of their success. “When we came down to run against Division 4 teams the girls were surprised how far ahead they were. They did just fine with the bigger schools but it really excelled when it came time for sectionals. “I tried to tell the girls they could take it easy and still qualify for state, and one of them came up to me and told me they didn’t know how to go easy.” It appears to the field chagrin they did not go easy today either.
