Xavier Prep rolls as Xcountry gets underway
The Arizona high school running factory known as Xavier Prep (Phoenix)
came flying over the Silverado Golf Club cross-country course
over the weekend to sweep up the top spots in the girls side of the
Scottsdale Running Club Cross Country Festival, finishing first and
second in the Gold Run and 1-2-3 in the Black Run.
There were
several races taking place on the same weekend, but this race draws
some of the best individual runners in the state. It also has an
unusual format, offering two varsity-level races and two JV-level, with
team scoring based n the top five times from either race.
Led by senior sensation, Jessica Toon,
Xavier put the rest of the state on notice again this year. Toon
finished in 17:01.15 in the Gold division, and no doubt has her sights
set on a second straight state 5A-I championship. Teammate Sarah Fakler wasn’t far behind in finishing second in 17:37.65, and Queen Creek’s Ashley Workman came in third at 17:44.70.
In the boys’ competition, it was pretty much all Mountain View HS and
Desert Vista HS – with the notable exception of Queen Creek’s
outstanding senior, Sherod Hardt,
who is expected to vie again this year for the 4A-II state title. He
picked up the individual title by winning the Gold Run in a time of
14:55.15. Mountain View’s Tyler Bingham finished second (15:06.60) and Desert Vista’s Albert Kombe was third (15:31.70). In the Black Run, Mountain View went 1-2-3.
More results from the Gold division: (Girls) 4th) Lacey Kalinen (Pinnacle HS) 18:01.15 5th) Brianna Decker (Mountain View) 18:07.60 6th) Marissa Opatz (Desert Mtn) 18:08.60 7th) Christen Collins (Pinnacle) 18:09.25 8th) Sarah SchmidtDaylee Burr (Xavier) 18:30.00 10th) Kailey Rumbo (Sandra Day O’Connor) 18:47.85. (Mtn View) 18:20.35 9th)
(Boys) 4th) Will Firth (Brophy Prep) 15:34.15 5th) Christian Markey (Arcadia) 15:35.00 6th) Ben Williams (Mtn View) 15:35.95 7th) Matthew Xuereb (Brophy Prep) 15:37.10 8th) Ryan Dykstra (Desert Vista) 15:38.90 9th) Spencer Frame (Mtn View) 15:40.10 10th) Brock Ghelfi (Brophy Prep) 15:40.20. BLACK RUN (Girls): 1st) Brianna Perrone (Xavier Prep) 18:48.05 2nd) Mekenna Gaffney (Xavier Prep) 18:52.75 3rd) Christian Andreen (Xavier Prep) 19:20.45 4th) Dana Stull (Pinnacle) 19:26.95 5th) Kaitlin Hurley (Sandra Day O’Connor) 19:37.55. (Boys) 1st) Blake Cowan (Mtn View) 16:04.15 2nd) Jerod Destories (Mtn View) 3rd) Jameson Jarvis (Mtn View) 16:15.65 4th) Sean Gormley (Desert Vista) 16:16.70 5th) Trey Kennedy (Desert Vista) 16:18.70.