Highland junior Timothy Willford in the varsity boys race at The Casteel Invitational at Mansel Carter Oasis Park in Queen Creek. Willford won the race in a new personal best of 15:45.7.
RECAP: Highland asserts dominance at Casteel Invitational
RESULTS | VIDEOS
QUEEN CREEK -- In their final tune-up before the postseason ramps up, Highland proved they are the team to beat in the state on both the boys and girls side at The Casteel Invitational at Mansel Carter Oasis Park in Queen Creek. The Hawks swept the team battles and featured both the individual winners.
Junior Timothy Willford won the varsity boys race in 15:45.7. It is Willford's first win of his high school cross-country career after finishing fifth twice earlier this season and is a new personal best. Willford now moves from No. 11 to No. 5 in the Division I state rankings for the 5,000 meters.
"Feels awesome," Willford said. "I mean, it's confidence-boosting. It's good."
Following Willford was his teammate, senior Jonah Alexander at 15:57.3 -- also a personal best. Rounding out the rest of the top five was Page senior Quentin Davis (third, 15:58.4), Highland senior Josh Howard (fourth, 16:03.4) and Mountain View Mesa senior Tyler Judd (fifth, 16:08.5).
Davis, who came into today's race ranked No. 7 in Division III, leapt up four spots with his performance.
In total, the Hawks placed five athletes in the top 10. Highland continued their winning streak -- the Hawks have yet to lose to an in-state opponent this season -- as they finished in first in the team scores with 20 points.
Mountain View (73 points) and Page (78 points) were second and third.
WATCH: Highland boys talk Casteel Invitational win, preview postseason
Next week marks the beginning of the postseason for most high schools in the state. Highland will have a group of athletes competing in the Mt. Sac Invitational next weekend on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22, but the main focus has shifted to the championship portion of the season.
With their top five projected to finish in the top 15 at the state cross-country championships next month, the Highland boys are the clear favorite in Division I.
On the girls side, Highland was just as dominant.
ALA Queen Creek senior Evelynne Carr, the No. 2 runner in Division III, won the varsity girls race in 18:22.4. Carr has consistently been at the top in every race this season, with three individual victories and top three finishes in all of them.
Carr is 10 seconds off Salpointe Catholic senior Kylie Wild, who she raced once this fall at The Fountain Hills Invitational on Sept. 10. There, Wild ran 17:59.19 to finish in second place in the small school girls race while Carr was third at 19:18.08. Those two will certainly be the ones to watch at the state meet in November.
WATCH: Carr discusses another first-place finish at Casteel
But after Carr, it was all Highland -- literally.
The Hawks had athletes finish 2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10, with the Baugh Sisters leading the way. Cloe, a sophomore, was second at 18:30.1 while her older sister, Emma, a senior, was third in 18:44.4.
Seniors Kayla Case (fourth, 18:58.5) and Lindsay Schlink (fifth, 19:04.5) finished out the rest of the top five. In all, Highland had a 1-9 split of 1:04.8 -- showing off their depth in the process.
The Hawks, who also are undefeated against Arizona schools like the boys squad, came in first as a team with 20 points. Mountain View (91 points) and ALA Queen Creek (98 points) finished second and third.
WATCH: Highland girls post-race after team victory at Casteel
The postseason is soon, and the Highland girls are one of the marquee schools. They are No. 1 as a team in Division I and currently have their scoring five all in the top 10. They have seven runners in total in the top 20 in the division.
Desert Vista has made strides over the course of the season, cutting into the Hawks' lead in Division I. But the Thunder are still 57 points off the Hawks in the team projections. This places Highland atop the divisional, and state, hierarchy as district and sectional meets loom on the calendar.
"I wouldn't really say it's pressure," Emma Baugh said. "It's more excitement. We're really excited to just go out and race."
The first postseason meets start this week. Check here to see the upcoming schedule.
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- 24 performances met the MileSplit US Second Team standard.