The Fountain Hills High School track and field team went to Payson last week for the Battle of the Beeline meet. The boys got revenge from losing to their biggest rival by five points last year and beat the Longhorn boys by 20 points.

The two schools did not post individual results from their dual meet, but the Falcons were in high spirits after a good showing. According to senior Jentezen Behnke, the Falcon distance runners did well on the 300m, 800m and 1200m races, but they didn’t have any longer distance races.

“They took all our distance away from us, all our distance running events, because we think they were scared,” Behnke said. “They focused more on sprints, and we actually won almost every relay.”

Behnke wasn’t sure about the result from the girls 4x200m relay race, and the Falcons were without one of their fastest sprinters for the race. Junior Jeneya Boone is 2.86 seconds shy of the top school record in the 200m, and she’s getting an MRI done on her knee today, Wednesday, April 5.

The girls team lost, but Payson had around 20 more girls on their roster than Fountain Hills. Boone traveled with the rest of the team and supported other Falcons at Payson. She said several Falcons competed in new events, and others, like junior Erin Hooley, put on a show.

“I think watching them win both of the relays was really fun,” Bonne said. “I think watching Erin putting in the work at the end was something to watch, in my opinion. She came from behind; she caught up and she beat two girls in both of her relays.”

Boone hopes to run in the Sedona Red Rock Invitational this weekend, but her MRI will prevent her from competing in the Brophy Fr. Olivier Invitational and Dutch Decathlon today and tomorrow, April 5-6.

Seniors Zion Atwood, Brandon Despain, Gunnar Wise and sophomore Sara Dethlefs will be the only ones to compete in the optional meet. Dethlefs will participate in a heptathlon and do seven events instead of 10.

The decathlon and heptathlon will consist of sprints, field events like javelin and shot put, and jumping events like long and high jump. The Falcons typically spend practice time in one area, whether it be sprints, field events or jumping, and they don’t overlap too much.

These Falcons volunteered for the meet and have enjoyed a unique practice experience in the last several weeks. None of the four have ever participated in a meet like the one they will be in today.

“It’s really fun to try all the different things,” Dethlefs said. “It’s great to see what you’re good at. Hurdles have definitely been a challenge, they’re really tough, but it's fun. You really get to meet all of your teammates.”

The state meet starts a month from today on Friday, May 5. The Falcons are in high spirits and have been setting new personal records (PR) at each and every race. With a month to go, the Falcons still have time to qualify and improve on their current qualification status until then.

“Right now, this season is looking a lot better state-wise,” Behnke said. “Compared to last year when we only had two individuals, this year, it’s still early in the season and if people keep PRing, I want to say we’ll probably have seven or eight people at least.”

The Falcons have at least four more meets and invitationals before the state meet. The whole team will travel to Sedona and face seven other teams in the Red Rock Invitational this Saturday, April 8.

The invitational will start at 9:30 a.m. and end at 10 p.m. Behnke remembers it as the “Easter meet,” and said that the host school hid easter eggs with candy inside all over the campus and around the track last year.

Next week, the Falcons travel to Notre Dame Prep to face the Saints, Arcadia and Pinnacle on Wednesday, April 12.