AIA State Meet Recap Divisions 1-4 Boys

The first race of the day was the Division 3 Boys race in which Santiago Hardy (Chinle, Sr.) broke away early from the group and came through the finish in 15:27, the 8th fastest time ever run at Cave Creek Golf Course. Michael Barney finished in 15:56, as the second boy under 16 minutes. Jalen Chee (Ganado, Jr.) finished third in 16:08 as the first non-Senior, a full ten seconds ahead of Chinle's Josiah Tsosie (Jr.). Although Chinle, Saguaro, Ganado, and Tuba City all had two guys each in the top 10, the Sand Devils from Page High School captured the win by pulling their top four runners under 17 minutes. Their scoring five were spread across only thirty-five seconds. The Saguaro Sabercats earned second place as a team with only 99 points.

(Photo by John Hays)

The last race of the morning before the break was the Division 1 boys race, that matched the two fastest teams in the state against each other. The Brophy College Prep Broncos were hungry for their first State Championship title since 2003, while the Desert Vista Thunder were eager retain their title after finishing behind Brophy at Desert Twilight. Several boys including Abdihamid Nur (North, Sr.) and Jacob Lewis (Boulder Creek, Jr.) got out hard through the start of the course. Though Corona Del Sol's Liam Kovatch (Sr.) held the lead through the first mile, Abdihamid and the Brophy super-trio of Drew Burns (Jr.), Hociel Landa (Sr.) and Luke Mason (Sr.) kept their proximity to the front of the field. Nur took back the lead through the third mile and held it through the end in 15:49, in front of Mason, Landa, Habs Cheney (Desert Vista, Jr.) and Aron Orar (Phoenix Central, Jr.), all under 16 minutes. Over the last two miles, the Desert Vista guys had pressed through the ranks to place their scoring five in the top 20 and pick up their third straight Division 1 title and their 8th in school history. (Photo by John Hays)

After the break came time for the Division 4 boys race. The triple threat of Pinon, Wesley Cook (Sr.) Tyrin Begay (Sr.) and Adriano Joe (Sr.) dropped the Division 4 field to finish first, second, and third respectively. The Hopi Bruins continued their winning streak to pick up their 27^th State Championship Title by getting Andre Dennis (Jr.), Jihad Nodman (So.), and Andre Lucas (Sr.) in the top ten and another two, (Dewayne Laban, So. and Steven Baker, So.) in 17^th and 20^th respectively. Pinon managed to hold off Northland Prep by six points for second place. 

                                        (Photo by John Hays)

The Division 2 boys race capped off the 2016 AIA State Championships. Manny Olivo dominated the race finishing in 15:41 as the 8^th and final boy under 16 minutes on Saturday. Though Rylan Stubbs (Campo Verde, So.) held onto second for most of the race, he was overtaken by Christian DeBoard (Gila Ridge, Jr.) for a second place time of 16:08. Stubbs bore down the straight to clock in at 16:16 for 3^rd and Davis Boggess (Jr.) led the charge for the Flagstaff Boys with a 4^th place finish. Flagstaff's top five finished within 39 seconds of each other to compliment the Girls' team victory and sweep the Division 2 Titles for the second year in a row. Campo Verde finished runner-up out of the Division 2 Boys teams.

(Photo by John Hays)