On Friday, October 14, Chandler Prep Academy gathered the
largest cross country running field in the Phoenix area for the Titan
Invitational at Crossroads Park in Gilbert, Arizona. With four sectional races being
held at Crossroads within two weeks, it seemed appropriate to want to become
familiar with the terrain and test the competition.
In the Large School Varsity boys race, a trio of race favorites Rylan Stubbs (Campo Verde, So.), Anthony Haren (Perry, Jr.) and Caden Hercules (Desert Mountain, Jr.) left the field behind by the first go at the hill. Over the next loop, Haren took control of the race with Hercules on his shoulder and Stubbs only a few strides behind. Haren managed to hold off the 2015 champ Hercules, while they pushed one another to the line only a second apart. Their finish times of 15:52 to 15:53 shattered Hercules' standard of 16:09 from last year. Stubbs followed in 3rd and Junior Reece Donihi of the Desert Vista Thunder, finished 4th in 16:25, his first invitational since Woodbridge. Rylan's fellow teammates Kyle Moore (Sr.) and Zackery Prusse (Jr.) backed him with 5th and 7th place finishes respectively and hauled the Coyotes to a team victory.
In the Large School Varsity girls race, Xavier Prep ran as a unit controlling the run through the first loop of the course. By the 2nd mile, Desert Mountain's Stephanie Stewart (Sr.) had broken through the gator pack. "My strategy was to stay with the lead pack and see where I could go from there," said Stewart. Stephanie held strong to her lead and won the race in 18:51, as the only girl under 19 minutes at Crossroads Park Friday morning. Caroline McClelland led the charge in 19:01 for the first four Xavier Gators who finished in places 2nd through 5th, only 48 seconds apart. MJ O'Gara (Sr.) rounded out the top five for the Gators to clinch the team victory with a meager total of 18 points.
The Small School Varsity boys race, Quinn Burdick (Seton Catholic, Jr.) took control of the race early on with Adam Gilbreath (Saguaro, Jr.) and Evan Balizado (Chandler Prep, So.) about 10 seconds behind. Burdick explained, "It's kind of weird 'cause last year I was a middle of the pack kind of guy. I wasn't really up there with the front runners. I decided going into the second mile once I got past this hill to just try my best and it paid off." Quinn powered through the course and dominated the Small School race in 16:40. Balizado overtook Gilbreath in 16:53 to 16:55, and led the Chandler Prep Titans to their first team victory at their home invite. "Going into City next week is gonna' be awesome. Our team is clearly strong," said Balizado.
In the Small School Varsity girls race, Olivia Pitcl (Veritas Prep, So.) led the race early with and though Mary Gibbs (Cactus, So.) stayed right on her heels Pitcl held on through the finish in 20 minutes. Olivia's teammate Bridget Marvin finished 4th in 20:49 with the best one-two punch at the meet, however it was the Scottsdale Prep Spartans that came out on top with a team total of 100 points to Saguaro's 102. "We were a little nervous just because a lot of us have been injured this season, so we feel really happy and so excited that we won this meet," said Katie Wick (Jr.) who finished 21st for the Scottsdale Prep Spartans.
In two weeks many of these teams will return to Crossroads Park for Sectionals on Friday of next week and most of the victors from Titan look very dangerous in their section. They also know that the competition in their respective sections will be slightly different from this past Friday, and likely even more aggressive. Up next are City or in some areas District Championships. Best of luck to all, these last three weeks of the cross country season.