(The Brophy Broncos took 2nd at the D1 State Meet last November.-photo by John Hays)
Brophy Boys
Brophy Boys While the Brophy Broncos graduate two of their all-time greats, they return 4 of their squad from last year. Leading the team will be Drew Burns (Sr.), Jose Acuna (So.) and Anekin Hetman (Jr.). Drew Burns holds a PR of 15:54.14 for 5k and took 13th in the Division I Boys race at the cross country State Champs last year. He's also run PRs of 9:25.13 for 3200m and 4:26.08 for the 1600m. Jose Acuna is a sophomore this year and is coming off a huge breakout season on the track, during which he ran 4:30.03 for 1600m and 9:34.61 in the D1 Boys 3200m at State. Anekin Hetman has near identical personal record times for 5k (16:15.60) and 1600m (4:30.34).
Coach Borboa Says...
Who are your top returners?
The Broncos will be paced this season by senior Drew Burns, junior Anekin Hetman, and sophomore Jose Acuna.
Do you have any impact freshman or incoming transfers?
No transfers. As a coaching staff we are looking to develop a crop of frosh, but almost none of them have cross country racing experience. Perhaps there will be a varsity contributor among them by the end of the season, but we are mostly viewing this group with a long-term perspective.
What meets are you keying in on this year?
Brophy would like to race particularly well this year at the Division I Sectional and State meets. Before that, we will simply be focused on learning from and improving upon each effort. We will not be competing in any meets outside of Arizona.
How has your preseason training been going?
This is a motivated group of young men. The Broncos completed their first ever summer camp in Flagstaff this July, and most importantly all the student-athletes are still healthy as we enter the start of official team practices.
Have you set any goals as a team?
During the Flagstaff camp, the team leaders decided that the primary goal for this year's unit was to have the highest team GPA among all Brophy athletics. That would be an incredible accomplishment at our school. In addition to that, they are also working toward every member of the team PR'ing at least once this season. Our staff will do our best to hold them to those goals as we progress through the fall.