As the season starts to wind down for some of Thunder Cross Country Team, the Tempe City Championship Meet can be a hectic meet. Desert Vista has been dominant in the past years winning multiple times every year on both the girls and boys sides, so the Thunder had high expectations going into this race.
This year was special with the entire Desert Vista team wearing smidge of red in honor of Lauren McClusky, a Utah student athlete who was killed earlier in the week. So the team kept her in their thoughts and prayers before they went to take on the meet.
As always, the City course is one of the hardest on the schedule for many racers. The temperature was still a factor even though the weather is cooling down across the state. Also, the course consists of the biggest hills. This did not deter the Thunder since they train specifically for hills like the ones at the meet. Despite the hardest meet on schedule the Thunder was ready to take some more trophies home!
The meet started with the Freshman race like always with the DVCC boys sweeping the first nine places! Winning the race was Noah Jodon (18:18) by a sizable margin. Coming in close for second was Nolan Billeter (18:35) and Ethan Bukowski (18:35). Following was Johnathan Estrada (18:45) and Zaire Blevins (18:47). This gave the Freshmen Boys another 15-point shutout for first place!
Next up was the Open race for the Desert Vista veteran runners. This race was emotional for many DVCC seniors since this would be their last race ever wearing high school jerseys. Finishing in first place in a close finish was Demetrius Love (17:50.6) and right behind him was Nicolo Perciballi (17:50.7). Next up was 4-year Senior runner Ceth Reeves (17:57), Noah Werbelow (18:31), and rounding out the top five was Vade Pierce (18:39). The Veterans garnered a 1st-place finish with a near shutout of 16 points!
The final race of the evening for Desert Vista was the Varsity race. Finishing first for the Thunder was Lee Nasewytewa (16:43) in dominating fashion. Following behind him were fellow varsity runners Sammy Van Alstine (16:57), Travis Kearney (17:06), Josh Lowry (17:38) and Vincent Laurente (17:53). This topped off the night with another sweep of first place trophies for the Thunder!
Another big thank you for the coaches and staff of the meet. This would not have been possible without them. Also, a HUGE thank you to all of the Senior runners that finished strong with the team even though some of the have never run a varsity race!
Join the Thunder Wednesday October 31st as they take on the Sectional meet at Crossroads Park in Gilbert!
GO THUNDER!!!!