The Thunder Boys Cross Country Team kicked off its 2019 season last Friday September 6th, by traveling to Tucson to compete in the Desert Solstice Cross Country Invitational. Everyone racing, from Freshman to Seniors, gave it their all as they battled over 30 teams from all around the state.
The invitational was located at the Crooked Tree Golf Course in Tucson, Arizona. Fortunately, most of the athletes compete after sun-down allowing for cooler running conditions. Despite this advantage, the course can provide uneven surfaces and dust that is easily kicked up. These variables made for an interesting racing environment.
The lightning quick DVCC Freshman Boys were the first to go out and ran a very competitive race. Stevie Saurini crossed the line first for DVCC with a time of 18:46 taking fourth place. Not far behind was Nick Ferro (19:22) in eighth, Max Worthen (19:43) in tenth, Andrew Postik (20:26) in nineteenth and Jake Schenach (20:30) in twenty-third. With these times and placements, the novice boys took first place as a team.
The DVCC Sophomores took to the starting line shortly thereafter. Nolan Billeter (17:57) and Ryan Hoyt (18:01) took 5th and 6th, respectively. Zaire Blevins (18:21) placed 13th, Will Perciballi was 15th (18:36) and Diego Rueda (18:43) came in at 16th. Despite this great effort, the Sophomore boys fell just short of first place, but can hold their heads high with a 2nd-place finish.
The Thunder Juniors went to work next. Chris Broze (17:44) came in 1st place with Jacob Cardon (17:59) closely behind in 3rd. Vade Pierce (19:06) took 9th, Noah Patch (19:10) in 11th and Adam De La Riva (20:42) brought up the rear for the team in 40th. Similar to the Sophomores, the Juniors fell short but were granted the satisfaction of 2nd place.
Desert Vista’s Senior Squad ran this course for the last time in their high school career. Every person gutted it out. The leading senior, Nicolo Perciballi (17:51) placed 2nd after recovering from a recent injury. Lucas Young (18:42) took 7th, Adam Hansen (19:11) placed 14th and Benton Worthen (20:31) finishing it up in 27th.
Cross Country scoring is quite unique, and this meet was no exception. The way it was scored is described as follows: The Black race is composed of a school's top four runners (1, 2, 3 and 4) and the Silver race is composed of a school's next four runners (5, 6, 7, and 8). The combined results of both Color Races determine a school's placing, with the top-5 used to compute the final score.
In the combined Black/Siver race, DVCC was led by Sammy Van Alstine (16:17) in 6th place, followed by Noah Jodon (16:18.2) in 8th, Demitris Love (16:18.9) right behind in 9th, Ethan Bukowski (17:03) in 24th, and Jonathan Estrada (17:18) in 34th. Also competing were Connor Donihi (17:20) in 35th, Vincent Larente (17:40) in 48th, and Tyler Anderson (17:45) in 52nd. Despite all around vigorous efforts by the boys, the Thunder Boys placed 2nd overall, falling short to Highland (50 to 69 points).
The Thunder will race again at the Doug Conley Invitational and Woodbridge Invitational on September 21st.
A huge thank you to the parents, coaches, and staff involved in the managing of this meet! None of it would be done without them!