1. Leo Daschbach (Highland, 2020)
Watching this kid crush it week in and week out this fall was a treat and a heck of a way to close out the decade. His 14:14.26 performance at Desert Twilight scorched an undeniable mark into Arizona soil that beckons to future athletes, inviting them to play their hand along arguably the fastest 5km course in the country.
While he drew attention as a national caliber runner through the fall, he experienced some knee trouble in the final weeks of the interscholastic season. This compelled him to close the books on his 2019 campaign for a national title, and yet he did so his terms. Not only did he take the individual victory at States, but he led his boys to collect Highland's second team title in program history.
2. Billy Orman (Tuba City, 2011)
After the aughts, we saw Billy Orman's breakout year on the national scene. He followed in the legacy of other northern Arizona legends like Brian Schrader and Tim Freriks, but he made sure to leave his mark on the State, and even went toe to toe with the best of them at the national level. Back in 2010, Orman opened the decade in dominant fashion.
3. Bernie Montoya (Cibola, 2013)
While Billy Orman was closing the book on his career in Division 3, Bernie Montoya was just getting started. In 2010, Montoya decided to try his hand at running after playing football as a freshman. During a phenomenal breakout season, he finished 8th at Desert Twilight and later overtook veterans Will Firth and Jorge Martinez to win his first State Title.
In the years that followed, Montoya dominated Desert Twilight, won two more State Titles, and ran the second fastest performance ever at Cave Creek Golf Course. He qualified for NXN twice in a row and earned All-American status when he finished 12th as a junior. As a Senior, he ran a near undefeated season and ultimately, he finished 22nd at Nike Cross Nationals.
4. Carlos Villarreal (Rio Rico, 2015)
As an underclassman, Carlos Villarreal was a sprinter and basketball player before he gave distance running a try. As a junior, he made it clear that he was in it to win it and as a Senior, he grew into his national caliber status.
His senior year came just in time for him to run Desert Twilight on a new course practically built to yield fast times, and boy were we in for fireworks. Carlos Villarreal set a high bar for the Arizona boys when he led Marcus Wheeler and Tyler Day under 15-minutes to christen the Grande Sports Academy course. He capped off his Senior season with a State Title and a no. 5 performance All-Time at Cave Creek Golf Course. Two weeks later, he ran his second ever race under 15-minutes for a runner-up finish at the Nike Cross Southwest Regional which earned him a berth to Nationals.
Though he was late to the game as a high schooler, Carlos has only gotten better with time at the University of Arizona. He along with the Schadler sisters, adds undeniable weight to a testimony of one of the greatest programs in state history.
5. Andy Trouard (Salpointe Catholic, 2013)
Having been a swimmer for most of his high school career, Andy Trouard committed to running full-time and cannonballed into the 2012 scene. As a Senior he finished second at two invitationals only to Montoya. Furthermore, Trouard dipped under 15-minutes to win his section title for which he was ranked 24th in the country.
He secured his Division 2 State-Title just barely missing the 16-minute mark, though he had easily dipped under 16 on other challenging courses like Buffalo Park and Rolling Hills Golf Course. Post-season, Trouard made the NXN Southwest Team and then finished 29th at nationals.
While his cross-country career may have been brief, the deciding factors to include Trouard on this list, were his lifetime bests and his consistency during the 2012 season.
6. Marcus Wheeler (Corona del Sol, 2015)
After a phenomenal State Championship season for the Aztecs, Marcus Wheeler expanded on Rodriguez' legacy the following year. Throughout the fall of 2014, we watched eagerly as Wheeler battled it out with crosstown rival from Gilbert, Tyler Day. At the end of the AIA season, it was Wheeler who held off Day for the D1 Boys' State Title though Day would later qualify for NXN.
For this editor, the deciding factors to include Wheeler on this list were his 5km PR and his in-season victories. When Wheeler was firing on all cylinders, he could outlast anybody. Our ultimate regret is that we didn't get to see him fulfill his dreams and he is dearly missed by all of us in the Arizona running community.
7. Jordan Black (North Phoenix Prep, 2020)
We don't have any AIA records prior to this millennium, and so we can't say anything about how Jordan Black stacks up against all other runners in State history. That being said, as far as Division IV goes, he is the only boy to run under 15-minutes and the only boy under 16-minutes at Cave Creek Golf Course.
Honestly if you had told me two years ago that Jordan Black would be sub-15 for 5km, I would have thought that you were crazy. As tall as he is, he had really choppy stride early in his career and you wouldn't think to write home about his knee drive, but he makes up for it with impeccable turnover that shows in his performances.
This season, Black led most of his in-state races from the front while keeping up with the best in the country at Twilight and Nike Southwest. Though it paid off with a fourth-place finish at Twilight, he has yet to qualify for a national level meet which would be the true cherry at the top of his high school career.