[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 36th annual Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, possibly the largest cross-country meet in the country.
While the majority of the team took care of business in Mesa, Desert Vista’s top 7 runners headed out to Irvine, CA to compete in the highly competitive Woodbridge Cross-Country Classic. This was the 34th annual race and the ninth straight attended by Desert Vista.
The Thunder ran in the fastest race of the night, known as the “Sweepstakes” Race. To give an idea of the quality of competition, the top finisher in this race posted a blistering 13:58 for the three mile course - that’s 4:39 per mile in case anyone was wondering.
For dramatic effect I will go slowest to fastest finishers instead of fastest to slowest. Coming in 7th for the Thunder was junior J Iannone (16:16) in 181st, junior Askel Laudon (15:40) in 126th, and junior D’Angelo Piasecki (15:36) in 113th, and sophomore Travis Kearney (15:29) in 95th. The top three finishers for the Thunder all broke the 15 minute barrier, which is an impressive feat when considering that no one in the long line of great Thunder Runners has ever accomplished a sub-15 at Woodbridge. Junior Reece Donihi and senior Chris D’Angelo came in right after each other with finishing times of 14:51 (27th place) and 14:50 (26th place) respectively. DV’s top runner of the night, junior Habtamu Cheney, ran the fastest time ever by a DV runner at the 3 mile distance with a time of 14:32, good enough for a 12th place finish. The Thunder also added onto the record with the best team finish ever for the school, earning a solid 4th out of 26 teams at the race.
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!!!