Jaso leads Kings at state for 3rd year in a row
PHOENIX — A year ago, Michael Jaso became the first Kofa boys cross-country runner to place top-25 at state in eight years. On Saturday, the senior took it a step further.
Jaso shaved 11 seconds off last year’s state time to end his prep cross-country career with a 15th-place finish in Saturday’s Division I race at the AIA Cross-Country State Championships at Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix, the second-best showing among local Division I runners.
“My goal was actually top 15,” said Jaso, who finished in 16:25. “I just really tried to push the pace starting out because usually if I start out strong I end pretty well.”
This was the third straight year that Jaso led the Kings to state as their No. 1 runner. As a sophomore, he placed 30th in Division II and Kofa finished 33rd as a team. Last year, he was 25th in Division I and Kofa 12th.
This year, Jaso was the 16th-place Kings highest finisher by 50 spots and became just the third Kofa boys runner in 20 years to crack the top 15 individually — joining Ricardo Valdez (11th in 2008) and Adrian Ramirez (3rd in 2006). Jaso’s rise over the years is especially impressive given how it started.
He attended Cibola as a freshman and was a member of the Raiders’ wrestling team, but not cross-country. When he transferred to Kofa as a sophomore, he knew he’d have to sit the wrestling season out, so he decided to take up a new sport.
“I would occasionally run to cut weight and stuff, so when I wasn’t able to wrestle (as a sophomore) I thought, ‘Why not cross-country?’” Jaso said. “I enjoyed running a bit and I ended up doing really well, so I just wanted to take it from there. I really love the sport.”
Kofa, which has qualified for state as a team six straight years but been noticeably better the last three with Jaso, was obviously glad to have him.
This year, the Kings made it to state with only Jaso back from last year’s top four runners.
“I’m most proud of my team,” said Jaso, who hopes to run at Mesa Community College next year. “I think we’ve all come a long way and most of these guys were like JV runners starting off and now they’re running really well.”
Junior Jose Valtierra (65th in 17:37) and senior Jose Medina (91st in 18:12) both earned top-100 finishes for the Kings on Saturday, while junior Bianse Duarte (107th in 18:34) and sophomore Nathan Lopez (119th in 18:58) rounded out their top five.
Other local results from Saturday:
• For the Kofa girls team, which was making its first state appearance in four years, senior Yulissa Avila led the way with a 69thplace finish in 21:56 — the second-fastest time posted by any local girls runner Saturday. Avila’s finish was her highest in three career state meets.
Junior Miriam Heras (112th in 23:30), Elexia Ramirez (116th in 24:19), Airlin Chavarin (126th in 24:56) and Elsie Serrano (150th in 28:30) were the Kings No. 2-5 finishers.
Kofa’s finish in the team standings was unavailable as of press time Saturday.
• San Luis’ boys team, making its third straight state appearance and fifth all time, finished 20th out of 22 teams, up from last year’s last-place finish. Senior Alexis Morales (97th in 18:17), the only Sidewinder who’s been a member of all three recent state-qualifying teams, posted his best career state time and became the first San Luis runner to place in the top 100 since 2007.
Seniors Kevin Evaristo (134th in 19:27) and Gabriel Castillo (135th in 19:31), and sophomores David Nunez (136th in 19:31) and Michael Munoz (137th in 19:32) finished just seconds apart to round out the Sidewinders top five.
• Seniors Kitty Hummer and Jennifer Sesma represented Yuma High at the Division III level; both were making their second career state appearances, having qualified with the team as sophomores in 2015. Hummer finished 102nd in 23:19, while Sesma was 131st in 24:31.
• San Pasqual junior Alfonso Aragon was the only local qualifier at the Division IV level. He finished just outside the top 100 in 19:32.