Shamrock runner pleased with state meet finish
PHOENIX — Being the only member running for the Yuma Catholic girls cross country team, junior Adriana Solorzano was expecting a swarm of talented runners at her first Arizona Interscholastic Association Division IV State Meet.
The result was exactly what she anticipated.
Solorzano ended up finishing 45th with a time of 22 minutes, 46 seconds at Cave Creek Golf Course on Saturday.
“It was a lot of competition but I think I stuck in there,” Solorzano said. “I was really nervous. Once the gun went off, I was pretty good. After the second mile, I turned it on and finished it.”
The Cibola boys team (seventh) and girls (11th) were the highest finishing teams for the area schools. The Raiders boys were led by Bernie Montoya (first, 15:14), Jose Garcia (35th, 16:59), Christian Alva (53rd, 17:22) and Keanu Nakasawa (80th, 17:44), while the top Cibola girls had Monica Huston (third, 18:57), Ally Jeffers (53rd, 20:40), Alexandra Aceves (73rd, 21:27) and Shanna Norton (95th, 22:13).
The Gila Ridge girls finished 16th, the Shamrock boys took 18th, the Kofa girls finished 21st and the Kings boys ended up 25th.
“Quite honestly, we looked at it like it was the second most important race of the year, sectionals being the first,” Kofa coach Tom Spanton said. Ruth Hanson finished in 92nd place for the Kofa girls. “We really focused on sectionals and this was sort of icing on the cake and go out and enjoy it.”
However, not everybody enjoyed the time on Saturday. In the second to last race of the day, with the afternoon sun beginning to rise, Yuma Catholic’s Becket Edwards struggled through the race and collapsed 10 meters from the finish. The sophomore was eventually taken to the hospital and Shamrocks coach Ralph Farr said that Edwards was OK by the evening.
“It didn’t feel like it was that hot, but it takes it’s toll,” Farr said about the conditions of the race, which started at 12:30 p.m.
Running in the final race of the day, Gila Ridge’s Madison Haynes also said she didn’t feel well. Haynes, who finished in first place in the section meet, finished in 41st place with a time of 21:28. The junior took 18th place in 20:05 at the 2011 state meet -- running in the second to last race.
“I was trying to beat my time and place from last year and I went down a lot further,” Haynes said. “I was getting really awful stomach cramps after the first 800, so that made my form really bad. I just felt really tired the entire time.”
Haynes joined teammates Melia Harman (58th, 22:06) and Camille Ochoa (69th, 22:23) for the Gila Ridge team. The Hawks’ boys were only represented by junior Jonathan VanDeberg, who finished in 37th place in 17:24.
“Time wise, my splits were right on pace — actually faster,” VanDeberg said.
Yuma High also had runners participating in individuals — Gabby Ruiz (50th, 21:47) and Filimeno Munoz, who took 109th with a time of 18:54.
“I don’t think I did as well as I could have,” Munoz said. “This race was hard and I warmed up too much because I was excited, but I still have next year to make it up. I have a feeling I’ll do really well next year.”
Aside from having Edwards drop just short of the finish line, the Yuma Catholic boys had Jaime Casillas end up in 90th place in 19:56 and sophomore Adam Gump continued his year-long progress by finishing 57th in 18:57 — the top on the team.
“Adam Gump started the year as my fourth runner,” Farr said. “But he has improved with every race.”
