After a two-week break the Thunder was back in action at the Manuel Alvarez JV Cross Country Championships. DVCC came back even hungrier this time as it had been awhile since they had last raced! Despite the long three-hour road trip to Sierra Vista, the Thunder Junior Varsity were ready to take on the competition!
The course itself is located at Buena High School. It consisted of a mixture of grass and dirt racing with no mud, which allowed for fast racing; however, there were many tight hairpins due to the course’s switchbacks. Sierra Vista is also located at about 4600 feet above sea level, which was an added challenge for the Thunder to overcome.
Starting off for the Thunder were the experienced Seniors with Ceth Reeves (17:59) finishing in 3rd place. Following Ceth was Marshall Smith (18:02) in 5th, Micah Simpson (18:24) in 9th, Nathan Hess (19:42) in 18th, and Tim Mooney (20:27) finishing in 24th place. These scores amounted to another runner-up finish for the DVCC Seniors!
The following race was for the DVCC Juniors, with Nicolo Perciballi (17:29) leading the Thunder in third place. Behind him was Demetrius Love (17:44) in 4th, Mays Jones (18:38) in 10th, with Lucas Young (18:39) right behind in 11th, and Nick Basha (19:13) finishing in 12th place. These placings were enough to etch the Thunder Juniors in for a 2nd-place finish.
Next up for the Thunder was the Sophomore race and another win for Desert Vista with just 19 points! Winning the race was medalist Chris Broze (17:46) with his blistering pace. Following Chris was Jacob Cardon (18:17) in 3rd, Vade Pierce (18:19) in 4th, Connor Donihi (18:52) in 5th, and rounding things off was Noah Patch (18:55) in 6th.
Finally, the Freshman Boys race was a near shutout as DVCC scored a mere 15 points to secure 1st place! Finishing first in the race was medalist Ethan Bukowski (18:08) with a 12 second lead over Gabe Parham (18:20) in 2nd. Also placing for the freshmen was Jonathan Estrada (18:50) in 3rd, Dennis Leung (18:53) in 4th, and Will Perciballi (19:14) in 6th.
Another big thank you to the coaches and staff who made this exciting meet possible. Join the Thunder on Thursday, October 25th at the Tempe Union City meet!
GO THUNDER!!!!