On a day when three Flagstaff high school teams won state cross country titles, and another finished a close second, nothing could compare to the performance put in by the Flagstaff girls team.
Here’s what the fans lining four deep down the finishing stretch witnessed as the runners crested the last rise at Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix and sprinted into the finishing chute:
Olivia Baker, Flagstaff, 18:59.
Taylor Biggambler, Flagstaff, 19:35.
Kylyn Taylor, Flagstaff, 19:45.
The Eagle girls went one, two and three and the race was essentially clinched at that point. All Flagstaff’s fourth and fifth scoring runners had to do was run as they have all season, and the title as theirs. And they did. Freshman Rylan Swain placed 20th and Audrey Ketter 25th to wrap up Flagstaff’s 19th state cross country title. The girls won with 47 points, well ahead of runner up Ironwood Ridge.
An hour later, they made it 20 titles, as the Eagle boys team, behind the back to back individual state titles by junior Alex Bland, easily bested Mica Mountain, 84 to 105. After Bland, who won in 15:54, more than 30 seconds faster than his victory last year, Flagstaff had to wait a bit for the rest of its team.
But when they finished, they showed great pack running. Freshman Uuts Masayumptewa placed 18th and senior Cole Troxler 19th, both at 17:11. Junior Elijah Talkalai was 27th and rounding out the scoring in 33rd was Donnie Dent, who moved up 18 places in the final mile.
Flagstaff wasn’t the only local school to shine Saturday on a mild, partly cloudy afternoon.
Northland Prep’s girls showed its depth in holding off Hopi High to take the team title, 61-78, with McKenna Marino leading the way with a seventh place finish in 21:01 and teammate Jaelyn Weiss moving up six places in the final mile to place 12th.
The Spartan boys ran well, too, finishing a close second to Glendale Prep, 68-71. The Spartan boys, which won the state title last year, were led by the tag team of Delani Hanson and Aaron Nichol, who placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in 16:42 and 17:00.
Coconino and Basis Flagstaff highs had some impressive individual performances. Coconino’s Mary McGinlay placed 11th in the girls D2 race, Basis’ Jasmine Hall fifth in the girls D4 race, Basis’ Everett Evans 19th in the D4 boys, and Coconino’s Robert Moore 24th in the boys D2 race.
Flagstaff girls were the heavy favorite to win the D2 title after a second-place finish a year ago, and they didn’t let the pressure get to them.
Baker executed a near flawless race, even though she later said her ankles were bothering her throughout. She didn’t show any vulnerability. Through the first mile, Baker held a slight lead over Biggambler and Catalina Foothills’ Katherine McNulty, but she surged in the second mile and didn’t let up.
“I made my move right before the two-mile mark,” Baker said. “I felt I needed to make my move then. My ankles felt weak the first mile, but I was too determined to run today. It’s nice to win state in my last year; the team ran great.”
Bland said his winning race didn’t quite go to plan, but he had more than enough to pull away in the final mile and take the win in 15:54, way faster than his 16:30 winning time.
“The race didn’t necessarily go as I wanted, because I wanted to lead at two miles,” Bland said. “When I realized that wasn’t going to happen, I decided I was going to sit and kick, and that’s what I did.”
For Northland Prep’s girls, it was the culmination of a season in which they seemed to improve with every race. Coach Pam Hanson said she was proud of both the girls and boys’ teams.
“They all ran their hearts out, and that’s all I could ask of them today,” Hanson said. “The boys scored 20 points better than last year, and the girls, wow, they did amazing. The girls worked hard all season and did what they needed to do today.”
Marino said the NPA girls improved with every race.
“We worked super hard in all our workouts and getting closer as a team,” she said. “And it really paid off in this race.”
Weiss, her teammate added: “Our team is like a family, and we work so hard to push each other, faster and farther. That’s what helped us win, this race especially.”
NPA’s boys, a team dominated by seniors, had hoped to repeat as winners, but fell three points short.
“There was no pressure on us (to repeat),” Delani Hanson said. “We had talked going into this race about packing in with other people and try to stay with them.”
Basis’ girls finished 6th in D4, and its boys seventh.
Leave a Reply