Fall break can be a tough time to pull a full team together and keep athletes focused, and head coach Marie Cooper said that showed recently for the local cross country squad.

The Falcons hit the road on Oct. 13 to take part in the Fourth Annual Titan Invitational hosted out of Crossroads Park in Gilbert. The timing of this event was convenient, as the Falcons will race there once again soon for the sectional meet.

“Half of the team already knew the course and half the team didn’t,” Cooper said. “But you could tell it was fall break.”

The local squad was allowed to run its own workouts for the first part of fall break.

“Their times showed that,” Cooper said. “They weren’t as strong as they usually are.”

Cooper said she was also missing a pair of varsity runners who were away for the vacation week. All of that, combined with the scope of the meet, meant things were stacked against the Falcons.

“Let’s just say we were very outnumbered,” Cooper added. “There was a large school division and a small school division but, even running with the small schools, there was a lot of competition. It was a big meet.”

Cooper said she expected fall break week to be a rough ride and she’s looking forward to being back on track with regular workouts starting this week.

“We’re actually hosting our own race this Thursday at 5 p.m. in Fountain Park,” she added.

The Falcons don’t have a meet scheduled this week and, with no other home events on the way, she said this would be an opportunity for the Falcons to get in some friendly competition while honoring their veteran members.

“This will be our own 5k and we’ll be making it seniors’ night,” she said. “It’s just one race followed by recognition of our seniors.”

The community is invited out to the event, with senior recognition expected to take place around 5 p.m.

Next Friday, Oct. 27, the Falcons will be back in action at Crossroads Park to take part in the sectional event. After that, it’s on to state.