MENDEZ

Though it wasn’t the fastest time posted by a local runner (it was fourth-fastest), it was the only meet all year in which Mendez didn’t own that honor.

“It was a great way to cap off a great career for him,” VanderBaan said of Mendez’s season as a whole. “Once he got going he came on strong and had a great couple of races there.”

Though this was Mendez’s third season as a member of the varsity crosscountry lineup, he wasn’t a prominent name locally in 2016 or 2017. That was largely because of the rich talent in the area — all seven boys runners who received Yuma Sun/Yuma Rotary Club recognition last year placed top 70 at state, including five who placed top 25.

But all seven were seniors, leaving this year’s Runner of the Year award completely up for grabs

heading into the 2018 season.

“I knew coming in that (Mendez) was going to have a good shot to win the district title,” VanderBaan said. “I knew (Cibola’s Jacob) Avelar and Julian (Gutierrez) and (Kofa’s) Jose (Valtierra) were going to be tough competition coming back, but we talked about it. I told him to be thinking about (being the best) all year long.”

And in the end, he was the best.