The Fountain Hills high school cross country team took part in its first meet of the season in Chandler over the holiday weekend, with the Falcons competing against a tough field of 40 teams at the Chandler Invitational on Sept. 2.

The local ladies were only able to field four runners during this inaugural outing, which is one athlete shy of a competing score. As a result, no team standing was announced.

Individually, Ava Kalmbach was the lead Falcon in 56th place with a time of 29:08.

Second for the local ladies was Jaryn Rodriguez at 34:07, with Madison Payne at 35:15. Zayn Wills took the fourth spot at 45:48.

The guys, on the other hand, had eight athletes take the course, with the top five scores contributing to the team’s final standing. Lucas Elwood scorched through the course at 17:46, good enough for 13th place overall.

Second for the Falcons was Justin Nelson at 21:11, with Matt McDonald at 22:32.

Wesley Smout and Jack Radford finished in close proximity at 23 flat and 23:23 respectively.

This brought in enough team points for the local guys to finish in 32nd place overall.

Local fans will want to get up bright and early this Saturday, Sept. 9, as the Falcons host their one and only race of the season. It’s expected to be a massive turnout, with teams coming from all over the state to race around Fountain Park beginning at 7 a.m.