By Raymundo Frasquillo
PHOENIX – The Ken Lester-coached Morenci Wildcats got quicker, placing sixth of 27 teams in the Division IV state cross country meet in Phoenix Nov. 4. Last season, the Wildcats finished the Cave Creek 5,000 meter course 20th of 27 teams.
Photo By Raymundo Frasquillo: Morenci sophomore Cameron Bailey-Garcia finished 21st (17:57) during the Division IV state meet Nov. 4. He cut two minutes, 18 seconds from his 2016 state meet clocking (20:15).
Morenci totaled 234 points with sophomore Cameron Bailey-Garcia coming in 21st at 17:57 (sectional – 19:10.28; personal best 17:26.5, Oct. 11), junior Vincent Cruz in 33rd with 18:09 (19:00.25; 17:46.0, Oct. 17), sophomore Jordan Mares in 54th with 18:41 (19:02.33; 18:02.5, Oct. 11), sophomore Dante DeAnda in 62nd with 18:56 (19:31.58; 18:22.2, Oct. 11), and junior Matthew Silvester in 64th with 19:02 (20:01.09; 18:41.0, Oct. 18, 2016). Junior Gabriel Baca was 93rd with 19:35 (20:28.31; 19:02.0, Sept. 29) and junior Anthony Chanez 115th with 20:05 (19:56.31; 18:35.0, Oct. 20, 2015).
Section II team champion Bisbee ended ninth with 263 points, section runner-up Thatcher eighth (256), section fourth place Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic 11th (386), section fifth place Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian 12th (433), and section sixth place Tombstone 24th (545).
The section individual champion, Pusch Ridge senior Ben Black, placed third with 16:53 (17:41:53; 16:11.0, Sept. 29); section runner-up, Thatcher junior Hunter Stailey, was ninth with 17:15 (17:54.10; 16:33.0, Oct. 17); section third place, Bisbee senior Erick Estrada, was 45th with 18:25 (18:06.65; 16:32.2, Oct. 12, 2016); section fourth place, Bisbee senior Alexander Gribble, was 53rd with 18:41 (18:24.37; 16:45.0, Oct. 18, 2016); and section fifth place, San Carlos junior Anthony Hopkins Jr., was 24th with 17:57 (18:24.64; 17:32.4, Oct. 11).
Section placers 6-10, Thatcher senior Garret Hunt was 22nd with 17:58 (18:34.71; 16:34.7, Oct. 12, 2016); Bisbee senior Dante Lumpkin 32th with 18:07 (18:35.98 (16:57.0, Oct. 17); Bisbee senior Uriel Hernandez 59th with (18:40.83; 19:04.5, Oct. 17); Sells Baboquivari freshman Stephen Hendricks 53rd with 18:27 (19:49.90; 17:45.9, Oct. 17); and Saint Augustine sophomore Seth Watson 72nd with 19:08 (18:51.86; 18:11.0, Sept. 29).
Photo By Raymundo Frasquillo: Morenci sophomore Jordan Mares came in 54th (18:41) at state or 1:10 sooner than in 2016 (19:51).
Bisbee sophomore Brandon Olivares, 11th in section, was 74th with 19:10 (18:57.06; 16:57.0, Oct 17) and Tombstone senior David Perry, 12th in section, was 49th with 18:33 (18:58.32; 17:16.0, Oct. 17).
The other Bisbee entrants, junior Joel Enriquez and senior Steven Puzzi, ended 105th with 18:51 (20:23.92; 19:04.5, Sept. 29) and 162nd with 22:00 (21:53.59; 19:57.3, Sept. 29), respectively.
Thatcher’s other scorers included sophomore Talon Brown, 65th with 19:03 (19:43.76; 18:46.0, Oct. 17); junior Jaiden Stailey, 76th with 19:13 (19:59.61; 18:04.0, Oct. 12, 2016); and sophomore Tyler Bierman, 84th with 19:23 (19:55.08; 18:56.0, Oct. 17).
Matt Orr was 132nd with 20:19 (20:23.68; 19:21.2, Oct. 11) and sophomore Brandon Udall 136th with 20:25.0 (did not run in sectional; 19:30.0, Oct. 17).
San Carlos’ sophomore Keshaun Noline ended 75th with 19:02 (19:16.01; 17:41.3, Oct. 11).
Joseph City junior Talon Smith was the individual champion (16:39) of 200 runners posting times and Keams Canyon Hopi junior Jihad Nodman the runner-up (16:46).
Flagstaff Northland Prep finished first with 57 points, Hopi second (68), Whiteriver Alchesay third (149), Many Farms fourth (160), Chandler Prep fifth (190), Phoenix Northwest Christian seventh (255), and North Phoenix Prep 10th (269).
Girls
Photo By Raymundo Frasquillo: Senior Paige Morales finished with a personal meet-best time of 21:47 for 32nd of 156 runners. Her previous three clocking were 22:38 in 2016, 29:52.90 in 2015, and 29:39 in 2014.
Morenci senior Paige Morales, fourth in the sectional, finished 32nd of 156 individual runners participating in the Division IV state meet. Morales clocked in with 21:47 (sectional 22:49.57; personal best 19:51.9, Oct. 31, 2015). It was her best time in four consecutive state meets, finishing 22:38 for 38th of 169 during 2016, 20:53 for ninth of 156 during 2015, and 20:39 for eighth of 138 during 2014.
Section II team champion Thatcher placed ninth with 251 points during the 2017 division state meet. Section runner-up Bisbee ended 15th with 329 points, section third place San Carlos 18th (410), section fourth place Pusch Ridge 19th (419), and section fifth-place Saint Augustine 17th (409).
Two-time section champion, Thatcher senior Lily Richardson, came in ninth with 20:46 (21:10.37; 19:26.6, Oct. 31, 2015); section runner-up, Bisbee freshman Kierra Lumpkin, 22nd with 21:12 (21:44.23; 20:09.0, Sept. 29); section third place, Pusch Ridge freshman Emma Garnand, 38th with 21:58 (22:45.38; 21:43.0, Sept. 16); and section fifth place, Tombstone junior Angel Valencia, 44th with 22.20 (23:06.54; 21:36.9, Oct. 17).
Section sixth through 10th, Thatcher sophomore Elliana Windsor was 61st with 22:50 (23:14.65; 21:14.1, Oct. 12, 2016), San Carlos freshman Shanaya Victor 60th (48th) with 22:49 (23:64.65; 23:05.0, Oct. 20), Saint Augustine freshman Brenda Torres 37th (31st) with 21:57 (23:30.04; 21:07.0, Sept. 29), San Manuel freshman Victoria Zazueta 62nd with 22:55 (23:54.49; 23:43.6, Oct. 14), and Willcox senior Wren Klump 42nd with 22:08 (23:59.53; 21:43.7, Oct. 31, 2015).
Section 11th through 15th, Thatcher sophomore Hailey Udall was 89th (71st) with 24:05 (24:03.69; 22:24.8, Oct. 12, 2016), senior Corinne Bryce 68th (54th) with 23:08 (24:09.61; 22:40.0, Sept. 19), Bisbee freshman Brynn Lumpkin 20th (18th) with 21:07 (24:19.16; 21:01.0, Oct. 17), Tombstone senior Anastasia Graham 84th with 23:46 (24:21.58; 22:43.7, Oct. 11) and Baboquivari sophomore Autumn Nelson 57th with 22:44 (24:22.52; 22:41.0, Sept. 29).
Photo By Raymundo Frasquillo: Sophomore Dante DeAnda finished 63nd (18:56) at the state meet or 57 seconds faster than last year (19:53).
Sophomore Pasley Layton was 85th (68th) with 23:48 (24:47.75; 23:03.0, Oct. 17), senior Liesl Griffin 90th (72nd) with 24:06 (24:58.0; 22:53.3, Oct. 31, 2015), and sophomore Briley Minor 119th (95th) with 25:31 (26:05.41; 24:25.0, Oct. 17).
San Carlos senior Britney Nosie was 94th (73rd) with 24:17 (24:58.34; 22:57.5, Oct. 11), sophomore Alyssa Martin 102nd (81st) with 24:46 (25:34.72; 25:19.0, Oct. 20), sophomore Heaven Cosen 114th (90th) with 25:22 (26:16.10; 25:30.9, Oct. 21, 2016), and sophomore Aaliyah Haozous 143rd (118th) with 27:59 (27:34.77; 26:17.0, Oct. 20). Junior Celeste Casa was 144th (119th) with 28:00 (27:15.84; 24:01.1, Oct. 11) and sophomore Nicole Allen were 149th (124th) with 29:42 (31:33.19; 26:38.6, Sept. 6).
The individual state champion was Northland Prep senior Maya Smith with a time of 18:01 and Saint Michael sophomore Ali Upshaw the runner-up (18:56).
Northland Prep was the team champion with 70 points, Hopi second (134), Saint Michael third (137), Scottsdale Prep fourth (165), Glendale Prep fifth (169), Chandler Prep sixth (190), Goodyear Trivium Prep seventh (193), Alchesay eighth (233), and Sanders Valley 10th (254).
