The Thunder Girls Cross Country Teams 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.
This was a bit of a toastier night for DVCC. But the sunset and atmosphere created one of the funnest races I've been to in Arizona. For me, this wasn’t one of my best races especially how I felt. But having so many teammates out on the course was motivation and increased my drive. We had pre-race and post-race dance parties. We cooled down with the Highland girls team. The feeling tonight in the air was unity. And it payed off. Our class races did an amazing job and the Varsity girls placed first. Overall, it was the best first meet we could have had and I know i’m looking forward to traveling to California and racing at Woodbridge.
Congratulations to overall girls race winner, freshman Lauren Ping with a time of 17:46 on the 5km course (3.1 miles). She was joined by Varsity teammates Grace Ping, Katy Clausen, Olivia Thatcher, Eve Boardman, Quinn Boardman, Josey Gregory, and Maddy Shoemaker who all earned medal awards for their individual performances. Congratulations to sophomores Ryan Sailors Olivia Bagby, Parker Anderson and Ariada Woods along with Juniors Hannah Garcia and Alicia McManus for winning individual race medals.
The Thunder Freshmen Girls won their team race with a score of 18 points. The freshman were led by race winner Emily Littlefield (20:15), follwed by her teammates Bailee Christofis in 2nd (20:37), Savannah Selin in 3rd (20:37), Chelsea Condon in 4th (21:26), and Bella Klein in 11th (22:41).
The Girls DVCC Sophomore team captured a second-place finish, led by Ryan Sailors (22:07) in 3rd place, Olivia Bagby (22:34) in 4th, Parker Anderson (22:58) in 7th, Ariada Woods (24:14) in 18th, and Faith Rabin (34:26) in 105th.
The DVCC Junior Girls took first place, led by Hannah Garcia (22:18) in 3rd place, Alicia McManus (23:10) in 9th, Katy Spreitzer (26:17) in 35th, Vanessa Atallah (27:16) in 41st, and Madeline Gibson (28:35) in 64th.
The Desert Vista Senior Girls team won their race with the lowest team score of 17. Julia Nelson won the race with a time of 20:48. She was followed to the tape by Allison Estrada (21:10) in 2nd, Jessica Condon (21:39) in 4th, Kyra Mazanec (22:30) in 6th, and Claire Caviolo (24:17) in 18th, all earning individual medals.
The Blue race is composed of a school's top four runners (1, 2, 3 and 4) and the Gold 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 Blue/Gold race, DVCC was led by medalist Lauren Ping (17:46), followed by Grace Ping (18:13) in 2nd, Katy Clausen (18:58) in 4th, Olivia Thatcher (19:24) in 7th, and Eve Boardman (20:10) in 13th. Also competing were Quinn Boardman (20:29) in 18th, Josephine Gregory (20:37) in 19th, and Madeline Shoemaker (20:58) in 27th. The Thunder Girls Team was impressive in winning the Team Championship as they took 1st Place out of 22 Girls Varsity teams, scoring 27 points, with 2nd-place Highland with 82 points. Again, in Cross Country, lowest score wins.
The Thunder Girls will race next 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!