The Falcon cross country team got up and running this past week, taking part in the Chandler Invitational hosted out of Tumbleweed Park on Sept. 4.

For those looking to see the local runners in action here in the early days of the 2021 season, the Falcons are set to host a massive meet this Saturday, Sept. 11, in Fountain Park. The meet is set to begin at 7 a.m. to avoid the day’s worst heat. Around 80 teams are expected to take part in this weekend’s event, with an estimated 2,000 athletes competing across several races.

The recent Chandler Invitational wasn’t exactly a small affair, with about 50 teams taking part in the first race of the season. Athletes competed based on their class, for a total of eight races throughout the event.

For the Falcons, Ryan Schmidt placed 118th in the Freshman race with a time of 23:25.16.

Over to the sophomores, Caleb Lara took 136th at 22:19.42, followed by Nathan Eastman in 145th at 23:01.02 and William Breen in 165th at 24:37.49.

Tyler Irvine-Violette led the Falcons in the race for juniors, taking 61st place overall with a time of 18:49.76. Zion Atwood came in 116th in that race at 21:21.42, with Timothy Lamar at 148th at 23:42.21 and Tyler Lawrence in 150th at 23:51.89.

For the local ladies, freshman Katherine Hampton took 94th in her race at 31:06.78.

For the sophomores, Erin Hooley ended the day with the highest finish for the Falcons, taking 10th place overall at 20:42.58. Sky Alker crossed the finish line in 62nd place at 25:33.80, with Eliana Bartman taking 92nd at 29:07.23.

The Falcons were scheduled to compete in a race at Cortez High School on Sept. 1, but results were unavailable as of press time. Results for the Chandler Invitational were provided by athletic.net. Additional comments from coach Nick Goodman were unavailable due to the holiday weekend.