[This article is courtesy of Senior Co-Captain Clark Scalia]
Desert Vista headed into its last invite before the championship portion of the season begins next week. DV competed in the 3rd Annual Titan Invitational held at Crossroads Park in Gilbert, AZ on Friday October 14th. The course is the toughest one that the Thunder have run on yet due to the large number of hills present on the course.
The Freshmen Race was the first one of the morning and as usual, the Thunder freshmen dominated. Sammy Van Alstine came in first, again, with a respectable time of 17:28. After Van Alstine a whirlwind of Desert Vista runners came down the chute with Noah Werbelow (18:16) in 3rd, Nick Basha (18:19) in 5th, Niccolo Perciballi (18:22) in 7th, and Vincent Laurente (18:23) in 8th; all within an amazing 7 seconds of each other. Rounding out the top finishers for Desert Vista were Adam Hansen (18:40) in 14th and Benton Worthen (18:46) in 16th. The Freshmen team handily won the meet, beating Perry by a score of 24 to 50.
Next up for Desert Vista was the Open Race where the Junior Varsity team competed. In first for Desert Vista was junior Jack Willems coming in 3rd with an impressive time of 17:25, an especially fast time given the rigors the course presented. After Willems came senior Clark Scalia (17:44) in 6th, senior Aidan Schramm (17:46) in 8th, junior Grant Cuyler (17:57) in 10th, and sophomore Neal Saxena (18:01) in 12th. To complete Desert Vista’s top 7, sophomore Ryan Hickman and junior David Neighbors both recorded a time of 18:06 with the pair placing 13th and 14th respectively. Though seven of the top 14 runners in the race were Thunder runners, Perry was able to edge out DV for the top honors in the race by a score of 25 to 39. DV still had a great race as they captured second place with a very low team score.
For the Varsity Race DV rested its top seven runners and ran a so-called “B-team”, the quotes are needed as this team has posted several impressive times that are on par with most other teams’ top seven runners. Placing 4th overall in the meet was junior Reece Donihi with a stunning time of 16:25, followed by junior Bryce Schmisseur (16:40) in 8th, and sophomore Lee Nasewytewa (17:00) in 20th. To complete the top seven runners were junior Michael Tuli (17:11) in 25th, junior J Iannone (17:31) in 35th, senior Jackson Hickey (17:41) in 37th, and senior DJ Johnson (17:56) in 48th. DV ended up 4th overall with a team score of 92 points, not a bad showing for a "B-team"!
Overall, Desert Vista had a good showing in a meet that was great prep for the Tempe City Meet on October 19th, a course famous for its heartbreaking hills. Several runners had outstanding performances proving that no spot is safe on this ultra-competitive team. This fact, though stressful for the runners, might be the X-factor that propels DV to another successful season.
A special thank you is in order for the parents, booster club, and coaches who make the success that DV attains possible. We as a team truly thank you all for the love and commitment that you bring to Desert Vista.
Go Thunder!!!!