[This article was authored by Zef Bagby]
On Saturday, September 13, 2014, Desert Vista Cross Country made an early-morning commute to the town of Fountain Hills in order to race in the Fountain Hills Invitational. It was a sunny and windy day; the weather hovered around the low 90s and wind speeds got up to 20mph. However, these factors did not impede the racing ability of the Thunder. The course was mainly grass and circumnavigated the famous Fountain Hills fountain, making this an extremely scenic event.
The second race of the day was the Varsity Boys 5k. In this event were Chris D’Angelo, Nathan Chan, Jackson Snedecor, DJ Johnson, Matthew Anciaux, Josh Tarchinski, and Nick Walrod. From the beginning of the race to the end, our Desert Vista racers ran strong and fast. Together, the boys were able to pull out a win for the team in the Varsity race. Out of these runners, Matt Anciaux ran the fastest with a time of 17:05.10 making it into the top ten. Following up only 0.6 seconds later was sophomore Chris D’Angelo. However, without the contributions of the rest of the Varsity team the Thunder may not have been able to capture the win. The next three times after Anciaux and D’Angelo were Nathan Chan at 17:13.60, Jackson Snedecor at 17:24.60, and Nick Walrod at 17:45.50.
At 8:50 am, the starter pistol fired off, signaling the beginning of the JV race. The humidity and wind tested our Desert Vista runners during this race but it was a test they easily aced. The JV boys ran phenomenally and took 8 out of 10 spots in the top ten. Running in first place was Nick Thatcher with 17:45.00 and in second was Anthony Ramirez with 17.45.50. Close behind was Habtamu Cheney in 4th place, J Iannone in 5th, Joe Kretschmar in 6th, Aidan Schramm in 8th, Ben Macey in 9th, and Jackson Hickey in 10th.
After the day’s races, DVCC was presented the first place trophy for the meet. The cross-country boys cheered and applauded as they accepted the award. Then, as to punctuate the team’s grand win, the iconic fountain sprayed up in the air misting the team and surrounding spectators. What a great way to begin our season!