Cibola’s Cain settles for 8th at state
PHOENIX — Cibola senior Thomas Cain was hoping for an individual title at Saturday’s AIA CrossCountry State Championships, but wound up settling for the third top-10 finish of his career.
The on-paper favorite entering the Division I boys race based off of season-bests, Cain slipped to eighth Saturday at Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix.
He still posted the day’s top time among local runners (16:11), which was five seconds out of Division I’s top five and 18 seconds behind champion Leo Daschbach of Highland.
“I was trying to hang in there through two miles; coach (Kris Norton) said come through as relaxed as possible, and that’s what I did,” Cain said. “At about (the) two-and-a-half (mile mark), I wanted to make my move, but somebody else took off and I tried going with him and he just got the better of me.”
“He put himself in a position to win it up until (then),” Norton said. “I think he knew he wasn’t feeling his best, just one of those days. But we’re pleased with the effort. He ran tough, ran strong and gave it a nice shot today.”
Cain was a seventh-place finisher at last year’s Division I state meet and took fourth in Division II the year before. But that doesn’t mean he’ll leave high school title-less — he won the D-I 3,200 meters state crown in track this past spring, and of course could add another later this year.
But Cain still has the cross-country season to finish out. In fact, he said his biggest goal this year wasn’t to win state but to qualify for NXR Nationals, which he’ll have a chance to do in two weeks at regionals.
“If anything (not winning Saturday) will make him hungry again,” Norton said. “There’s always a danger when you’re winning, it’s so mentally hard to stay hungry when you’re getting all the praise and attention. We definitely can use it to our advantage.” Cain concurred. “I just think failure is the best thing that can happen to a person,” he said.
As a team, Cibola’s boys finished ninth with 263 points — senior Jake Smith took 22nd in 16:41, senior Nicholas Garren took 66th in 17:37, sophomore Jacob Avelar took 85th in 18:00 and sophomore Samuel Jarvis took 105th in 18:32.
“One of our original goals was to be in the top 10,” Norton said. “We were a little beat up, but the kids still stepped up and made sure it happened. I’m pleased with the effort.”
On the girls side, Cibola lost its top runner — sophomore Ashley Valenzuela — to cramps late in the race. Norton said she was in contention for a top-20 finish up to that point, and with her receiving a “did not finish,” sophomore Aylin Quintero (46th in 21:14) was the Raiders’ top finisher.
Senior Brianna Higgins (84th in 22:17) and sophomore Kenia Zepeda (91st in 22:36) both finished in the top 100, while senior Ariana Ames (102nd in 23:06) and senior Truley Flores (113th in 23:40) rounded out the Raiders’ top five.
“I think overall they just had solid performances throughout the team,” Norton said.
Division I girls team results were not available as of press time Saturday.