A lot of teams were looking for a week off from the rigors of racing after Woodbridge and Desert Twilight. Most of those teams--though not all--took it.
The action from last week was light, but we'll make the most of it here.
We'll start with the Glendale Showcase, which was the largest meet of the week last week in Arizona.
Evelynne Carr of ALA Queen's Creek took the big individual prize at this one. It's not the first time this season she's done that. Adelle Boxberger of Shadow Ridge was the only other competitor under 20 minutes, so it was not a meet overflowing with top-tier talent. Kimi Cahoon ran third, but it's beginning to appear that Cahoon won't have a team around her when the state meet rolls around. It's likely we'll see Cahoon at state, but not Phoenix Country Day.
Team-wise, Shadow Ridge (D1) took a reasonably comfortable win over Northwest Christian, which, in turn, edged Skyline, ALAQC, and Glendale Prep. Of those latter four schools, the news is best for Northwest Christian. As a D4 school, they showed well at this meet. You could make a case for this one being their best showing of the season to date.
At Ray Wherley, Red Mountain's girls turned aside a threat from a B-ish team from Flagstaff. Red Mountain's Taylor Jacobs took the win in 21:19. Jacobs has run 20-something three times this season, so a 21:19 is indicative of a slower course (as the winning time in the boys race also indicates). Though D3, Snowflake arguably put up the best team showing at this meet. Their result here indicates nobody has jumped ship on Snowflake's state title hopes.
Turning our attention toward the Dave Doerrer-Thunderbird Classic, Greenway had it their way with a small field (only Mingus Union and a B team from Xavier College Preparatory also had team scores). Lucy Turley of Greenway took the short-course win in 18:01, 36 seconds ahead of Makena Bliss of Mingus Union.
At Juan Reyes, we had a bit of a surprise in the individual race. Jessica Madrid, the D4 phenom, finished a scant seven seconds ahead of Madelyn Palmer of Sunrise Mountain. The next finisher was nearly two minutes back. I'm uncertain how hard Madrid had to work for the win, but it is notable on account of it being that close. Palmer's been running some nice times, and getting faster, on the season, so it's not a fluke that she was there.
Team-wise, Corona del Sol ran away with the win by a prohibitive margin. That doesn't make CdS a certifiable D1 title contender, but it was a clear statement even so.
At the very small Kingman Academy Invitational, Katie Bell of Lake Havasu ran to her fifth meet title of the season. My hunch is that number probably places her at the top of all Arizona athletes at this point. For the most part, Lake Havasu has stayed within walking distance of the Colorado River thus far this season. It's probably about time Bell felt the itch to go chase somebody down from some other part of the state.
From Saguaro/Fountain Hills/Notre Dame and Valley Vista vs. Paradise Valley, I'm not seeing a lot in the way of stand-up-and-take-notice results, but Evangeline Dunckley of Saguaro did post a 40-second win with a 19:41 at the former meet. With a small field, it's hard to determine where that time puts her in the greater scheme of state standings, but it was definitely enough to dominate the meet where the time was laid down. It was her home meet, so that makes it doubly noteworthy.