The final finish line of the season has been crossed as the high school cross country team girls take 10th in state and the boys take 13th.

“I thought the state meet went well,” said head coach Chris Davis.

“All the kids ran good times. There were around 22 teams there from Division III, Section III, and some really tough competition, too.”

Over the past few months, the Falcons have held their own against some of the most competitive teams in the state. On Saturday, Nov. 9, the Falcons and the rest of those top-performing schools gathered to take place in the state event, hosted out of Cave Creek Golf Course.

“The weather was nice and cool on Saturday. There was no wind. It was great running weather,” Davis continued.

“The course has quite a few hills, but it’s not that bad. The kids’ times were good for the course.”

Heading into the event, Davis said he was a little surprised by the fact that nobody seemed to be too nervous about the upcoming race.

“They just seemed really cheerful,” he said.

“They were just happy and ready to compete. I thought that was super.”

On the whole, Davis said his squad ran a good race, with most coming out happy with their times.

“A couple seemed to be a little disappointed they didn’t finish higher, but I say if you did your best and ran a good time, then you did well.”

Davis said you can never tell what an athlete might run, no matter what their skill or past performances have shown.

“You never know, when the race begins, how they feel or what’s going on in their minds,” Davis added.

“But I’m proud of their performances. They ran against some good competition, and they just had a little bit better times. All of our kids did a great job.”

Girls

All told, there were 157 athletes representing 22 schools in the girls’ event.

Sierra Jarriel got things started for the local squad in fourth place overall, crossing the finish line at 19:17.

Erica Yost was next for the Falcons at 21:04, followed by sister Brooke at 21:17.

Taylor Johnson finished at 22:54 with the fifth and final scoring position going to Danica Kerr at 22:58.

Next for the Falcons was Emmie Lawrence at 23:11 with Hope Brecto wrapping things up at 23:28.

The Falcons brought in 227 team points, good enough for 10th place and only a handful of points separating them from positions six through nine.

Rio Rico dominated the girls’ event with just 89 team points. Mingus Union took second at 132, followed by Page at 149.

Boys

Over to the boys and there were 165 competitors running for 22 schools at state.

The lead Falcon was Scott Jarriel, taking 46th place at 17:42.

Hayden Brecto was next at 17:58, followed by Garrett Sweetland at 18:07.

Fourth for the Falcons was Evan Cain at 18:25, with Ryder Worden taking the final scoring position at 19:05.

Andrew Cooper finished at 20:30 with Cody Walter crossing the finish line at 20:32.

The boys collected 355 team points, good enough for 13th place overall.

Tuba City blew away the competition at state with 48 team points, taking first place overall. Second went to Rio Rico at 71, followed by Page at 117.