Eight straight years, Desert Vista Cross Country had swept the Tempe City Meet.
Varsity, Junior Varsity, Freshmen, it didn’t matter. Every race, every year, DVCC boys trounced the other Tempe Union High School teams.
And then last year, due to a last-minute DV illness and a strong Corona effort, the Thunder varsity was narrowly upset.
On Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011, the stars aligned back in their normal constellation and all was right with the world again.
The DV varsity easily beat Corona, 37-53. The JVs topped Tempe, 17-55, and the freshmen were just as dominant as both those squads won for the 10th straight season.
Carter Macey again led the way for the Thunder varsity, completing the hot, hilly Kiwanis Park course in 16 minutes, 18 seconds to earn the silver medal. Fellow juniors Ryan Dykstra (fifth in 16:52) and Ryan Smith (ninth in 17:13), senior captain Nick Kooinga (10th in 17:17) and junior Zach Smith (11th in 17:19) gave DV five of the top 11 runners.
Andrew Hermanski (17:40), Jacob Walimaa, Alec Hoyt and Troy Giordano completed a 1-2-3-4 sweep in the JV race and Austin Aguinaga, Ryan Husser and Austin Tielke finished 7-8-10 to also earn medals.
Kyle Havriliak, Josh Geiger and Duncan Merrill swept the first three spots in the freshmen race and Matt Beeks, Brian Ingersoll and Ethan Tang gave DV six of the 10 medalists.
“It’s good to return to Desert Vista dominance,” said Coach Chris Hanson, making a comeback himself after a health scare over fall break. “To win at all three levels is a huge accomplishment.”
A huge accomplishment – but one that’s almost expected after a decade of dominance that shows no signs of ending.