Finally, it came for the Division 1 Boys race with one of the most anticipated matchups of the season between Desert Vista as the incumbent champions and the Highland Hawks looking to challenge the Thunder with arguably their fastest team assembled in school history.
The first mile seemed like it was anyone's game with Jacob Block (Basha, Sr.), Joey Fausel (Pinnacle, Sr.) and Jose Acuna (Brophy College Preparatory, Jr.) leading the way for the rest of the field bunched up behind them. Among the lead pack, Deshawn Malone (Sr.), Zachary Frisch (Sr.), and Braden Rasmussen (Sr.) were pulling the Mesa Mountain View Toros into the team lead with Matt Judd (Jr.) and Will Holland (Jr.) rounding out the five-man spread less than four seconds apart.
(Right: Daschbach leads Sam and Ernest Green up the mid-race hill.-photo by John Hays)
Over the next mile, the top of the field would change drastically with Lee Nasewytewa (Desert Vista, Sr.), Anekin Hetman (Brophy College Prep, Sr.), Leo Daschbach (Highland, Jr.), Sammy Van Alstine (Desert Vista, Jr.), Hunter Krasa (Mountain Ridge, Jr.) and Caden Resendez (Highland, Jr.) each jumping between ten and up to twenty places in the race. Meanwhile, the Highland Hawks had seized control of the race with five guys among the top-ten of the field.
The last mile of the final race of the Arizona interscholastic season would completely subvert everyone's expectations. Daschbach had spent the majority of the season undefeated at home, and despite falling ill the week prior he was determined to make it hard for his challengers.
At the finish line, spectators witnessed a single figure leading two others over the final hill and to the everyone's surprise it was neither Nasewytewa nor Daschbach. Though Nasewytewa and Daschbach had been faster through the regular season, Van Alstine found the necessary gear to outrun his teammate and the returning State Champion and powered through the finish line in 16:03, with Daschbach taking runner-up in 16:07 and Nasewytewa another 2-seconds behind for third place.
Travis Kearney (Desert Vista, Sr.) held off Hetman to score another four points for the Thunder. Dallin Archibald (Highland, Sr.) was the next finisher for the Hawks in 16:29 for 6th place, Josh Lowry (Sr.) followed in 7th place as the fourth runner for Desert Vista. Caden Resendez (Jr.) finished 9th in 16:32, with Kade Saunders (Sr.) and Ernest Green (Jr.)following shortly after to round out the scoring-five for Highland, while Demetrius Love (Desert Vista, Jr.) finished in 16th after having passed 16 runners over the last mile in just his second varsity race for the Thunder.
As projected, it had been a fast and tight race, and in the end the Thunder had pulled off the victory over Highland for their fifth consecutive State Title with a large school record score of 31 points. Both teams had brought their A-Game and made the race one of the closest in State Championship history. When asked about his team's performance Coach Hanson said, "As far as I can tell, it didn't come down to anything I did or anything extraordinary they had, that Highland didn't. I only have three words and that's 'Glory to God.'"