MHS cross country teams qualify for state meet (video)

Both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams at Maricopa High School surpassed expectations and qualified for the Arizona Interscholastic Association Division II State Cross Country Meet, set for Nov. 7 at Cave Creek Golf Course.

It has been four years since cross country qualified for state. Last season, the boys had some standout runners, but the team as a whole was young and inexperienced. On the girls’ side, the team lacked enough athletes to even field a team.

The coaching staff has known there was something special about this team since the offseason.

“Our boys’ team has been a lot more competitive than they were last year,” Head coach Heather Abel said. “Our girls’ team has also done very well and surprised people.”

Earlier in the season, junior runner and team captain John Blodgett said the team was “looking at heading to state this year or next year. I think if we put in the effort, we sure have a shot.”

Following their captain’s lead, the team started to believe they could qualify for state. Heading into the AIA Division II Section II Championship, each team needed to finish ninth or better to make that a reality.

For the boys, the coaching staff expected their top five would need to finish with an average time under 18 minutes to qualify. The team did just that and took ninth place overall to earn a spot in the state meet.

Senior Raven Shaw finished 20th with the team’s top time of 17:02:20 on the 3.1-mile course. Sophomore Sam Coles was 28th in 17:25.10, and Blodgett ran 31st in 17:39.90. Junior Jayden Jensen crossed the finish line in 61st place, and soon after he was joined by sophomore Jose Villagran, who rounded out the team’s top five in 72nd.

“I think we’ll do really well considering the way we’ve been running recently,” Shaw said. “Everyone has been getting really fast, and I think we’ll do really well at State.”

For the girls’ team, their top five finished with an average time under 22 minutes. Their surprising performance was good enough for 8th place.

Senior Jada Wright led the way running the 3.1-mile course in 20:41.90, claiming 22nd place. She was followed by sophomore Megan Carr (32nd), junior exchange student Fiona Thiele (41st), sophomore Adia Carr (56th) and sophomore Teresa Flores (92nd) to round out the team’s top five.

“Honestly, I’m not sure we will finish [as state champions], but I think we’ll do really well,” Megan Carr said.

The state meet will take place on Nov. 7 at Cave Creek Golf Course (15202 N. 19th Ave. in Phoenix). The girls’ team will run first at 12:15 p.m., and the boys will follow at 1:05 p.m.

This story previously ran in the November issue of InMaricopa News.