In the fall of 2003 the team at the top was Catalina Foothills with runners like Ben Reed, Galen Garcia and Will Holt. They were unbeatable, winning Los Mezquites, Doug Conley and the Arizona State Meet, but most of them were seniors and graduated. The following year, Coach Doug Keen took over the program and began rebuilding.
Last Saturday Catalina Foothills returned to the top again with a new team of runners, a total time of 1:22.03 and an average time of 16:24.52. The split between Catalina Foothills 1st runner and 5th runner was just 26 seconds.
The Catallina Foothills team, like many other teams, wanted to be the best in Arizona but a second place finish at the Queen Creek Twilight Meet behind Mesa Mountain View and third at the Doug Conley Invitational behind Mesa Mountain View and Alhambra was not what they were hoping for.
A few weeks later the team headed to Mt. Sac and finished 11th in the sweepstakes race. Rex Woodbury summed up the feelings of the team after the race, "We're disappointed but it was still a great experience to run in such a competitive field!"
"Mt. Sac was a real eye opener," said Coach Keene. "It was a tough field with a high level of competition. It takes a year or two to get use to being in the sweepstakes race. The first time there you tend to do a little star gazing."
They team is really close. They train together, hang out together and even finish each other's sentences (ok I made that part up). But they are close and they all have their eyes set on the Nike Southwest Regionals on November 21st in Tempe. It's been their goal from the beginning. The trip to Mt. Sac made the team realize what they needed to do........work harder.
Coach Keen could not ask for a better team to coach. "I love coaching this team! They are really supportive of each other and are very mature and very accepting of difficult decisions." He is referring to Rafael Gomez not making the state team. Not only did Gomez accept it, he had no problem with it. It was for the team.
He also likes how inclusive his team is. "They welcome incoming freshmen because they all know the freshmen are the future success of the team. They mentor the younger runners."
At the State Meet Coach Keen was at the bottom of the hill about 3/4 of a mile from the finish. He saw his top 5 run by him in the top 15 but what was more impressive to him was how solid the entire team ran. All 7 of them were in the top 24.
I was unable to interview the team in person because the awards took place while I was photographing the final race of the morning session. I contacted Rex Woodbury and asked him to have each runner email me their feelings about their fist place win.
REX WOODBURY (JR)
3rd at state with 16:08.70
"It feels great to know that all those early morning practices, long runs, and hard intervals pay off in the end! We really want to establish ourselves as the best in Arizona and hopefully we can bring our performances to a new level at Nike in a few weeks."
DYLAN SOUZA (JR)
6th at state with 16:19.10
"I was very pleased with the race at state. It felt good to run the first two miles with my teammates and know that we were having a strong performance. We were disappointed with our race at the Twilight Invite and were missing 2 of our top 5 at Doug Conley, so we really wanted to be firing on all cylinders and show everyone what we were capable of!
ANDY LACY (SR)
10th at state with 16:26.70
"The race at state was bittersweet, knowing it was my last cross country state meet! However, it felt great to defend our state title and run well as a team. We have very high goals for ourselves and work hard to achieve those goals."
Here is what you don't know!!
Two days before the State Meet, senior Carson Woodbury came down with a 103 degree temperature. Friday he was feeling better but still felt wiped out. He wasn't sure if he should run but Coach Keen left the decision up to him. He had earned the spot on the team and if he wanted to run he would have the full support of his coach and his teammates. His teammate Rafael says it best!
RAFAEL GOMEZ (SR)13th at state with 16:32.70
"Well it's needless to say that I am very pleased with my team's performance on Saturday. Everyone just had such a solid race and we did what we had set out to do. Despite this, there is something more remarkable worth mentioning about Saturday's race. I would like to recognize my teammate Carson Woodbury, who acted very selflessly by giving up his spot on the state team (a spot he was completely entitled to by his consistent performances throughout the season). Carson fell very ill only two days before the state race. He had time to recover, and would have been on that state team if he had chosen to, regardless of his sickness. Yet he decided to opt out of the race and give his spot to me as I had originally not made the cut to be on the state team. He said he would rather miss out on running his senior year on the state team rather than see the team suffer from the possibly poor performance he would have given while sick. I think it's attitude like Carson's that really embodies the soul of my team, and has allowed for us to rise in the ranks and be able to be competitive against the best teams in the state of Arizona."
ROSS THARP (SR)15th at state with 16:34.70
"It was nice that our whole team was able to work together and run really well in order to pull off a win. It just helps to prove how good and dedicated our coach Doug Keen is and that all the training we put in all year has finally paid off. We are just going to have to work even harder these next few weeks if we want to compete and have a chance to win at nationals.
We really ran this race for one another. One of our team leaders and seniors, Carson Woodbury, became very ill Thursday and we had to replace him with another runner. We knew it was hard for him to give up his spot at state senior year, and we wanted to have a strong showing for him."
MAX WARNEKE (JR)
21st at state with 16:40.90
"The race was tough but it was good to see so many teammates close by and know that they're working hard too. Everyone did their part and contributed to the team effort. "
MIKE WHETZEL (JR)
24th at state with 16:48.20
"I feel very proud of our team because this is something we've been working towards for a long time. We all just came together as a team and ran one for our seniors, knowing its their last XC State Meet!
CARSON WOODBURY (SR)(Photo by Derrick Woodbury)
"I became ill very suddenly on Thursday. The first thing I did was call my friend and teammate to tell him about my situation and that he might need to run at state in my place. Ralph (Rafael Gomez) was our eighth man at the time, but close behind the heels of everyone else. I rested throughout Friday, but I wasn't feeling up to a hard race. I made the decision not to run Friday night. It was not a difficult decision to make. I was not going to be one hundred percent ready to run and I wanted our team to be as strong as possible. I knew I could count on Ralph to run a great race, despite the short notice (because he didn't plan to run at state Ralph ran hard workouts on Monday and Wednesday of that week). On top of that, I didn't want to run a bad race and end my senior year on a low note. I will be running at the NXN Southwest Regional race in two weeks and that will be my opportunity to run a great last race.
I am extremely proud of our state title. The team ran a fantastic race and I was thrilled to just be there and cheer them on. The most powerful moment was after the race when I congratulated an exhausted Ralph. Between ragged breaths, he said he did it for me, in my honor. It almost brought me to tears. That was my state championship in a nutshell." ;)
Coach Keen
"It was sad for Carson because he is a senior and worked hard all summer for this. He is a real leader with a tremendous work ethic. He is at practice every morning at 6:00 AM and never complains."
One thing that all the team members were unanimous on was this: "All of this wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the guidance of our phenomenal coach, the best coach in Arizona, Doug Keen."
-The Catalina Foothills Team