The Fountain Hills High School cross country team competed well at the Division III sectionals last Tuesday, Nov. 2. Both the boys and girls teams missed qualifying for state by one spot, but sophomore Erin Hooley and junior Tyler Irvine-Violette qualified based on their individual performances.

Hooley (21:04.8) finished first overall in the female sectionals race and brought home a gold medal for Fountain Hills. Irvine-Violette finished 14th overall for the boys race (18:51.20). The two are training for the state championship on Nov. 13, and head coach Nick Goodman said that the rest of the team is training with them in support.

Junior Zion Atwood (20:23.2) finished 46th, sophomore Caleb Lara (21:03.1) finished 52nd, and freshman Rylan Schmidt (21:06.9) finished 54th. Junior Timothy Lamar (22:27.1) and sophomores Nathan Eastman (23:24.7) and William Breen (24:00.8) finished between 73rd and 83rd out of 97 male runners. The boys team finished eighth out of 13 teams.

Sophomore Skye Alker (25:15.9) finished 28th, freshmen Shannon Breen (27:19.2) finished 42nd and Katherine Hampton (28:34.6) finished 55th for the girls. Sophomore Eliana Bartman (30:49.0) finished 67th out of 79, and the girls team finished seventh out of 12 teams.

“The cross country team had a phenomenal season in 2021. They raced 13 times during the season with every athlete setting personal records for themselves,” Goodman said. “Being a young team, I have full confidence that they will qualify as a team next year.”