The Desert Vista Boys Cross Country Team gave its top runners the weekend off yet still had a successful weekend once again as they competed at the prestigious Doug Conley Invitational Meet at the Shalimar Golf Course in Tempe on Saturday, September 24, 2016.
The meet has been held yearly since 1982 in memory of Doug Conley, a 1966 graduate of Tempe High school who graduated from ASU in 1971 and became a math teacher and cross country coach at Tempe High. His nationally-ranked CC squad won the state cross country meet in 1973.
The Junior Varsity scored 104 points and posted a second-place finish in a field of 44 teams. The Thunder were led by senior Aidan Schramm with a 6th-place finish and a time of 16:59 over the 3-mile course. He was followed closely to the tape by senior Steven Romero, a new-comer whose PR of 17:02 was good for 9th place. Fellow-senior Matt Jobe posted a PR as well, running a 17:12 that was good for 18th place. Completing the scoring for DVCC were sophomore Neal Saxena in 33rd (17:23) and junior David Neighbors in 38th (17:27). Also finishing in a tight pack were sophomores Milan Patel in 48th (17:39) and Marshall Smith in 49th (17:40), and freshman Noah Werbelow in 50th (17:41).
In the Invitational race with 32 teams competing, the Varsity finished in 3rd place, missing second by a mere 2 points, and first by 15. They were led by sophomore Michael Tuli whose time of 16:16 on the 3-mile course was good for 7th place overall. Next to the tape were freshman Sammy Van Alstine in 16th place (16:27), sophomore Lee Nasewytewa in 21st (16:31), and junior J Iannone in 32nd place (16:51). Senior DJ Johnson rounded out the scoring in 55th (17:13). Also competing were junior Grant Cuyler in 63rd (17:24) and senior Co-Captain Clark Scalia in 72nd (17:32).