Flagstaff girls, Gilbert boys win
The top Division II and IV cross country schools from around the state competed in the Arizona Interscholastic Association's high school state championship meet at Cross Roads Park in Gilbert on Friday.
To kick off the four race event in the morning, Flagstaff girls cross country won the Division II state championship for a sixth consecutive season. Led by the girls individual state champion, sophomore Mia Hall, the Eagles cruised to victory; their top five runners all finished in the top 16 of the race.
In Division IV, Northland Prep girls cross country edged out Northwest Christian for the state championship. It was the Spartans first state title since 2017.
On the boys side, Gilbert knocked Flagstaff off of their five year state title run in Division II, narrowly edging the Eagles in the team competition. Taking the individual state title in the boys race was Casteel senior Dayton Carlson.
Veritas Prep, in a close battle with Glendale Prep, won the state title in Division IV boys thanks to junior Jon Barney and senior Nicholas Logan who finished in second and fourth, respectively.
The Division I and III boys and girls state championships took place Thursday.
Division II
Boys:
Finishing Friday's race with the fastest time in the state, at all four divisions, was Carlson; his 15:06 final time was a comfortable 18 seconds ahead of the second place finisher, Flagstaff senior Max Davis.
As for Carlson's team, the Broncos finished in fifth place. Ironwood Ridge, with 143 points, finished in fourth and Campo Verde, at 136 points, ended the race in third.
Only 15 points separated second place Flagstaff and first place Gilbert; the Tigers had three runners in the top16 spots of the race.
Leading the way for Gilbert were juniors Terrence Keyes and Javier Garcia, who finished in third and sixth place, respectively.
Winning the state championship "feels great," Garcia said. "We've been training for this for awhile and we knew we had to bring our A game."
Despite Flagstaff's recent history of state championship triumphs - they had previously won eight of the last nine state titles - Gilbert, as the season went along, believed it could capture the state title.
"I don't think we actually started believing in it until halfway through the season," Gilbert junior Jefferson Sees said. "When we actually started winning races we were like 'man, we could take this to state and win it.'"
Girls:
Becoming just the third girl at the state meet in all divisions this year to finish with a time under 18 minutes, Hall's performance on Friday morning highlighted another dominant performance from Flagstaff at the Division II AIA state championships.
Followed by senior teammate Allie Thurgood, who also placed in the top 10,
Hall credits her older sister - Hana - for her improvement from last year.
"She's way faster then I am, so she helps me a lot," Hall said. "I'm always behind her so it helps me so much. "She motivates me a lot."
Hana and Mia finished first and third at the state meet a season ago for Flagstaff in their fifth consecutive state title triumph. A year later, Hall continues to lead that legacy of success for the Eagles.
"It was exciting for the team to win a sixth title," Hall said. "It's not something that happens all the time."
Following Flagstaff on the leader board was Catalina Foothills in second place with 79 points, Casteel with 98 points, Desert Mountain with 127 points and rounding out the top five was Sunrise Mountain at 143 points.
Division IV
Boys:
The battle atop leader board at the Division IV state championship meet was fierce.
North Phoenix Prep brothers Sammy and Richie Johnston found themselves in a tightly contested race for first place with junior Jon Barney from Veritas Prep.
With Sammy holding a consistent, but slight, lead over Barney and his brother through 21⁄ miles, Richie's
2 strong finish in the final minutes was enough for the senior to pull away with the individual state crown.
Richie finished the state meet with a winning time of 16:03, besting Barney's second place finish by 12 seconds.
But in the team competition, it was Barney's school that prevailed, as Veritas won dits first state title in school history (records date back to 1974).
"It feels good," Veritas Prep junior Nicholas Logan said after securing the state title. "We've been working for it for awhile."
Finishing behind Veritas and Glendale Prep in the team standings were Northland Prep in third with 101 points, Northwest Christian in fourth at 139 points and Pusch Ridge Christian in fifth at 142 points.
Girls:
Similar to the Division IV boys meet, the girls meet also featured a tense conclusion as Morenci senior Kayla O'Connell overtook Round Valley junior Jessica Madrid for the lead just a handful of feet before the finish line.
Madrid, who had led for the vast majority of the race, was two spots ahead of O'Connell until the final stretch. Glendale Prep sophomore Madeline McBee, who finished in third place, was neckand-neck in between Madrid and O'Connell for the majority of the race.
McBee finished only five seconds behind Madrid.
In the Division IV team competition on the girls side, Northland Prep scored an impressive victory over second place Northwest Christian.
With five racers finishing in the top 22 spots of the state meet, the Spartans team effort earned them 54 points and a 22- point cushion over the Crusaders.
Winning the state championship "feels awesome," Northland Prep senior Eliza Moyer said. "It feels unbelievable actually."
Surprisingly enough, the first month of the season wasn't smooth for Northland. Moyer's injury, among a number of other obstacles, had slowed down the Spartans to start the year.
"Our average time today was 21:15, where as in the beginning of the season it was around 24 minutes," Northland sophomore Meg Moyer said.
But the Spartans improved as the season went along and had a strong showing at the sectionals meet prior to Friday's state championship. The result showed Northland that they could come away with the title.
"That really gave us that confidence boost that we needed to win," Eliza said.
In third place behind Northland and Northwest Christian was Glendale Prep with 96 points. Valley Christian, 119 points, and Pusch Ridge Christian, 127 points, finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively.