Salpointe Catholic senior Kylie Wild in the Division III race at The AIA State Cross Country Championships at Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix. Wild won the race in a time of 18:40.0.
Wild wins 3rd consecutive title at AIA DIII State XC Champs
The senior from Tucson adds to her illustrious career with another championship, Chinle puts three in the top 15 to win team title
PHOENIX, AZ -- Since arriving on campus as a freshman at Salpointe Catholic, Kylie Wild has been one of the top runners in Arizona. After working her way up to a fifth-place finish at the state cross country meet in her first year at the high school level in 2019, Wild was poised for a breakout track season.
Then, the COVID-19 pandemic stopped everything. Just like that, opportunities to race evaporated.
Wild remained determined despite there being no racing. That fall, when racing returned, Wild was quick to show the rest of the state her ability as she notched six total wins that cross country season, capped off with a state title.
Three years and five individual state titles later, Wild is now one of the most decorated runners in Arizona prep history -- despite the lost season of competition. Wild claimed her third consecutive title in Division III at The AIA State Cross Country Championships at Cave Creek in 18:40.0.
"This is my last race wearing the Salpointe jersey for cross country, so it feels special," said Wild.
From the start, Wild jumped to the front as her and ALA Queen Creek senior Evelynne Carr came through the first mile at 5:48.7 and 5:48.8. The highly anticipated matchup between Wild and Carr, the top two runners in the division, was living up to the billing as only .01 separated the two.
Then Wild put on a display of running that reminded everyone why she is a multi-time state champion.
"After that, I tried to take the lead at about a mile and half," Wild said. "Then I just tried to keep moving up from there."
Wild tacked on 10 seconds to her lead between mile one and mile two, as she came in at 11:47.5 and Carr at 11:57.4.
As she crossed the finish line, Wild looked like she was barely breaking a sweat. Carr did not finish the race as she had to step off the course after the second mile.
Chinle senior Temyra Bia picked a fitting day to record the best race of her career she ran a a personal best of 19:14.5 to come in second. Greenway senior Lucy Turley was third at 19:40.0.
The rest of the all-state team:
Team
Chinle, which came in as the third ranked team heading into the meet, put together arguably their best collective race of the whole fall at the state meet. Temyra's young sister, sophomore Tumayah, was seventh at 20:07.4.
While the pair's performance, with sophomore Janessa Segay in 15th place at 20:39.5 and junior Reshila Curley in 16th at 20:43.7, it was the Wildcats' No. 5 runner that proved to be difference: senior Lakendria Cly.
Cly ran the race of her life as she shaved off 46 seconds off her personal best to come in 31st at 21:37. It's been quite the progression for the senior, who started the season in the 26 minute range in the 5k.
Salpointe Catholic (91 points) was second and Snowflake (127 points) was third.
