Zion Atwood was one of two boys from Fountain Hills to go to the cross country state meet last fall and he’s no stranger to feeling his muscles ache after a long run. The decathlon he participated in last week was a little different, and Atwood said he was sore and slept for nearly 12 hours after it ended.

Atwood, fellow senior Gunnar Wise and sophomore Sara Dethlefs represented the Falcons in the Brophy decathlon last Wednesday and Thursday, and all three placed in the top 20. Dethlefs competed in a heptathlon since she only did seven events, not 10.

“Usually, you go to a meet and you’re sitting around all day to do two or three events,” Wise said. “It was two very action-packed days, and it was fun getting to do a little bit of everything.”

None of the Falcons had ever done anything like the decathlon, and there were several events they had little experience with beforehand. The Falcons said there was a lot of camaraderie and sportsmanship between the competitors, and someone was always willing to give helpful tips before a new event.

The Falcons excelled at events they knew they were prepared for, and they were surprised by how well they did in other events. Atwood placed second out of 20 in the 1500m (4:39.0), Dethlefs set personal records in five new events, and Wise improved on his 110m hurdle time despite feeling like he messed up on the event.

Atwood and Wise finished 17th (12.31) and 18th (12.38) in the 100m, and 12th (18.75) and 10th (18.61) in the 110m hurdles. Dethlefs took 19th in the 100m hurdles (20.59), and Wise beat his previous record by 23 seconds, even though his steps were thrown off by a crooked hurdle.

Atwood finished 10th in the 400m (55.44), and Wise finished 17th (56.28). Atwood had his best outing in the 1500m, and Wise came in 11th (5:09.95). Dethlefs finished 21st in the 200m (30.61) and placed 10th in her first 800m race (2:49.51)

“The 800m kind of surprised me,” Dethlefs said. “I was not thinking it was going to be one of my better events, but I started off pretty conservative and I ended up finishing top 10 in it.”

Neither Atwood nor Wise placed for pole vault, but they were mere inches away from clearing the bar. Senior Brandon Despain went with the three others and ended up coaching and videotaping them to point out what they needed to work on.

Despain and head coach Kevin Clancy were the only ones there to support the three Falcon competitors. Despain was able to help the most with throwing events, and Dethlefs came in eighth place in javelin (72’) and 20th in shot put (20’.25”).

Wise took 11th in shot put (31’4.75”), 14th in discus (75’8”) and 15th in javelin (87’11”). Atwood placed 17th in shot put (28’5.5”), 12th in discus (77’5”), and 14th in javelin (89’11”).

Wise had a top-10 finish in the high jump, coming in eighth place (5’4.25”). Atwood and Dethlefs each finished 13th in the high jump (5’1”) and (4’0.75”), respectively. Atwood finished 10th in the long jump (17’3”), Wise took 14th (16’9.5”) and Dethlefs took 21st (12’7.35”).

The three Falcons volunteered for the decathlon and talked about how unique the experience was. They competed in new events, but they also traveled from event to event with the same group of 20-30 people.

Dethlefs plays soccer and runs for Fountain Hills, and Wise and Atwood are also two sport athletes that have competed in the cross country and swimming state meets before. All three are in peak shape and enjoyed the competition, but they were exhausted from it.

The Falcons practiced on Good Friday morning last week because they had no school, and Clancy gathered the team together to share the results from the decathlon. Atwood finished 16th, Wise finished 17th and Dethlefs finished 19th overall.

The Falcons traveled to Sedona over the weekend to participate in the Red Rock Invitational on Saturday, April 8, but the results were not available by press time.

The Falcons travel to Notre Dame Prep tonight, Wednesday April 12, and they will start the competition at 2:45 p.m. The Falcons will be at Bradshaw Mountain this Saturday, April 15, for the BMHS Bears Invitational. Field events start at 7 a.m., and track events begin at 10 a.m.