They are possibly the greatest girls team to ever come out of Arizona. At least Xavier College Prep is the best team Arizona has seen on the Cave Creek Golf Course. In 2005 the State Meet moved from Anthem Park to the Cave Creek GC. The course was a little longer and had two different finishes with two different shoots. The following year (2006) the course was re-aligned to what we see today.
That year Sandra Day O'Connor was the fastest team with a combined total time of 1:39.41.60 minutes and an average time of 19:56.32. Lindsay Prescott won the event with Camille Olson in second, Jade Riley in 4th, Eleina Eisenhauer in 6th, and Kailey Rumbo in 15th. Sound familiar?
In 2007 Mountain Ridge took over as the top team with a combined time of 1:36.24.15 and an average time of 19:16.15. The Bishton twins led the way with Nadya in 1st and Nastia in 2nd.
In 2008 Xavier College Prep was the top team of the day with a total time of 1:39.15.90 and an average time of 19:51.18. The team of Jessica Tonn, Sarah and Katie Penney, Catherine Fakler, and Megan Cannon ran fast but not fast enough to unseat Mountain Ridge.
That all changed on Saturday as the Xavier team ran much faster than any other team ever has on the Cave Creek Course. The overall total time of 1:32.42 was four minutes faster than any other team had previously run giving the team an average time of 18:32.30.
Something great must be happening in Arizona Cross Country because the Desert Vista and Highland girls also had outstanding times putting Desert Vista in the #3 all time spot (on the Cave Creek Course) and Highland in third. The Desert Vista girls finished with a total time of 1:36.49 and an average of 19:21.76 while the Highland girls finished with 1:37.09 with an average of 19:25.90.
Xavier College Prep
The Xavier team and their coaches (above) accepting the first place trophy!
Senior Jessica Tonn (pictured right) won her second consecutive cross country state title in 17:28.20 breaking the course record previously set by Nadya Bishton (17:28.25) by .05. Tonn started the race a litte conservatively and reached the first mile in 5:35, "I wanted to go out a little slower rather than going out fast because at Mt. Sac I went out way too fast" said Tonn referring to her 5:10 first mile at Mt. Sac. "I wanted to be at 5:30 but at the two mile mark I made it up." she continued.
As Tonn cruised to victory she stopped past the finish line and turned to watch for her teammates, "I was so happy seeing the team finish strong! I saw Sarah; she was right there and she did awesome, then I saw Daylee and then Katie came across, "said a very proud Tonn. "They all did awesome! I knew they would!" She continued.
Freshman Sarah Fakler (pictured right) looked very comfortable crossing the finish in second place in 18:02.70. "I tried to stay up with Jessica; it was my goal," said Fakler with a huge smile on her face. "I just really wanted to get second right behind Jess so we could win state," she continued.
Taking 4th place was junior Daylee Burr (pictured left) who finished in 18:39.40 behind junior Kylee Kieser of Casa Grande. Burr was unable to compete last fall due to a season ending injury but she was ready Saturday. "All the work we put in and the strides and stuff we did; I think it really helped," said Burr after the race. With about 50 meters to go in the race, Burr dug deep and gave it everything she had to move from 5th to 4th place at the finish, "I was motivated just because it was State and it was for the team."
4th for the team and 7th at State was junior Katie Penney(19:01.40, pictured left) who looked strong and determined throughout the race. "The race went by pretty fast but half-way through the second mile I was kind of feeling it but when I saw the finish line I knew I could do it," said Penney about her race. Last year Penney ran full out and spent a lot of time in the tent after the race. "I think I ran a little more conservatively this year," she continued. "This year I ran smarter and I was fitter."
5th place for the team and 17th at the State Meet was junior Christian Andreen (19:21.70, pictured right). "I went out a little too fast on the first mile," said Andreen after the race. Like her teammates, Andreen had a great run and she also improved her time from last years State meet by a little over two minutes. "The race went by really fast," she continued. "The whole race was almost like a dream………it was kind of cool."
Freshman McKenna Gaffney (fondly referred to by some teammates as "McSpeedy") (pictured left) was the next runner for Xavier. Her time of 19:52, in her first State Meet, earned her the 25th spot. "I was a little nervous at the beinning," Gaffney said about her race. "It started out pretty quick but after about a mile and a half I got my breathing back."
Sophomore Breanna Perrone (pictured right) was an alternate last year for the Xavier Team and finished 32nd in her first State Meet on Saturday with a time of 20:09.80. "We all worked really hard over the summer and State is where it pays off" said a Perrone about he team after the race.
After the awards freshman McKenna Gaffney shared some thoughts about her team leader Jessica Tonn. "Jessica is the sweetest person," said a very bubbly Gaffney. "She brings spirit uppers for us; little goodie bags to get our minds off of the meet the night before and she puts stuff on our lockers at school and she says a prayer to us and she gets us motivated before the race. It is really going to be really sad to see her go. I've only known her for 5 months and I don't want her to go."
The Desert Vista Girls with their coach (below) accepting the team trophy for second place! Desert Vista had the second fastest total and average times of the day!
