[This article is courtesy of Senior Co-Captain Clark Scalia]
Desert Vista has now transitioned into the thick of it’s season and has once again risen to not only meet but defy the expectations that have been set for the team. The Thunder competed in two separate meets this weekend with the Junior Varsity competing in the King of the Mountain race in Mesa, AZ while the Varsity (top 7 runners) headed back to California to race in the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, possibly the largest cross-country meet in the country.
In the King of the Mountain meet, the Thunder fielded three teams: Freshmen, Open, and Varsity.
The Freshmen team placed a respectable fourth place in the meet with Noah Werbelow (17:49) leading the group placing 6th, followed by Niccolo Perciballi (18:31) in 15th, Vincent Laurente (18:35) in 19th, and Benton Worthen (18:37) not far behind in 20th place. To round out the top seven Adam Hansen (18:49) placed 22nd, Nick Basha (18:57) 24th, and Mason Krug (19:57) in 32nd gave the Thunder team score of 40 points.
In the Open race the Thunder rolled once again as all top 7 finishers from Desert Vista placed within the first 15 spots in the race. Kicking off the impressive race was senior DJ Johnson (17:00) in 5th, junior Jack Willems (17:11) in 7th, senior Clark Scalia (17:18) in 9th, junior Grant Cuyler (17:33) in 11th, and sophomore Neal Saxena (17:50) in 13th. Closing hard just behind the sophomore were a pair of Thunder runners, with senior Matt Jobe (17:50) barely edging out junior David Neighbors (17:51) with finishes of 14th and 15th respectively. Not surprisingly, Desert Vista won the race with a score of 45 points.
For the final race of the morning the Thunder were able to showcase their depth as they ran a so called “B-team” in the varsity race as the top 7 were heading out to California. “B-team” or not, all 7 boys ran fantastic times and were able to earn 1st place with a team score of 50 points, defeating 2nd place Highland High School by two points. Senior Nick Walrod (16:11) was the first DV runner to cross the finish line coming in 5th place. After Walrod, an impressive pack of DV runners all finished within four seconds of each other with junior Nick Thatcher (16:21) in 9th, junior Michael Tuli (16:21) in 10th, and junior Bryce Schmisseur (16:25) in 12th. Sophomore Lee Nasewytewa (16:32) finished in 14th with freshman Sammy Van Alstine (16:40) in 18th and senior Leo Crowder (16:51) in 24th.
Overall, the Thunder had a very impressive weekend, staking the claim that they are in fact the team to beat in Arizona. This writer is slightly in shock at all the times posted by Desert Vista as nearly everyone was able to run a personal record at this meet. As always thank you to the Coaches and Boosters for dedicating your time and energy and continuing to make this team possible as we would not run these times without your support.
Next week the Thunder again stay in the Valley as they head to the Doug Conley Invitational held at Shalimar Country Club in Tempe on September 24th.
Go Thunder!!!