MHS cross country teams qualify for state meet

The Maricopa High School men’s cross country team scored 72 points and placed third in the team competition while the women’s squad placed fourth at the 3A South Region Championship tournament at Fountain Hills Park on Saturday.

Santino Smith pulled away from the rest of the field in the last mile, finishing in first place overall by over 15 seconds with a final time of 16:55.

The Rams were able to place four additional runners in the top 15. Gary Webb finished in 10th place with a time of 18:18, Travis Moore placed 13th in 18:38 and Chris Collett was 14th at 18:44. Also placing for the Rams were Joe Minea in 35th, Jace Buchan in 36th and Reed Pace in 40th.

While host Fountain Hills High School won the team event with 41 total points, Florence High School took second place with 53 points. The top five were rounded out by Safford High with 83 points and Coolidge High with 107 points. There were nine full teams fielded in the event.

Alyssa Joaquin was the top finisher for the Maricopa High School women. She finished 10th overall in a time of 24:24. She was followed by Talia Davis in 24th and Dara Fife in 26th, the two finishing 10 seconds apart and posting times of 30:26 and 30:36, respectively. Meanwhile, Katie Watson who finished 30th beat teammate Kim Aiello, who placed 31st,by only 37 seconds.

The Rams women finished in fourth place behind event hosts Fountain Hills High School, who placed four runners in the top five for the day.

The finishes qualified both teams to compete at the state finals next week. The final event of the season will be run at Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix on Saturday, Nov. 8. The gun sounds at 9 a.m. for the boys and 11 a.m. for the girls.

File photo