Ten schools participated in the Vandal Invitational Cross-Country meet at the Cobre Valley Country Club on Wednesday, Oct. 9. Destiny, Vernon Elementary, Miami and San Carlos duked it out in the Jr. High Races.  And runners from Apache Junction, Ft. Thomas, Miami, Payson, Ray, San Carlos, Thatcher and even Wilcox ran in the Sr. High School races.

The course for the Jr. High Students was 2,000 meters, a little over 1.2 miles, while the Sr. High School runners ran 5,000 meters which measures a 3.1 miles and change. It was warm, hovering around 83 degrees, but cool in the shade with a steady breeze when the Jr. High boys swarmed over the starting line.

Miami runners, Luke Granger and Alex Lott took first and second place. Noah Combs took third place for Destiny, Reston Tesarek of Vernon Elementary came in fourth, and Joseph Mata, Clayton Magboo, Samual Hogan, Colton Hughes and Michael Hogan came in fifth through ninth place to earn enough points for a first place for Destiny in the team competition.

The Pietila sisters Tamia for Destiny and Savannah for Miami took first and third place in the Jr. High Girls race, and Danielle Nelson of San Carlos came in second. Destiny won first place in team competition.

In the Jr. Varsity or open competition, in which both boys and girls ran for time but not for medals Thatcher took the first six places for the girls, but Selena Corso came in seventh for Miami.  Among the boys, Thatcher took first and second place, but Elmer Sign Jr. and Gabriel McIntosh took third and fourth place respectively for San Carlos. Mac Monroe, Ethen Haines, and Austin Mariscal took fifth , sixth^,  and seventh places for Miami.

In the Varsity High School Boys’ race San Carlos Brave, Brian Casa came in first with a time of 17 minutes 28 seconds. Keshaun Noline came in third for the school in 17 minutes 43 seconds for the school. And Wesley Pena came in second in 17 minutes 40 seconds for Thatcher.  Thatcher edged out San Carlos to win the team plaque for the event.

Marissa Barrasa came in second for San Carlos in the Varsity girls’ race behind Aubrie Mercer who ran for Payson. Shanaya Victor came in sixth. Kenia McCabe from Ft. Thomas came in seventh. Jalen Pike and Mycala Stapleton came in eighth and 11^th for Miami.

Cross Country Coach Andre Blake and Miami Athletic director, Shaun Pietila called on the help of Miami Jr. and Sr. High students to coordinate the races, running six separate races between 2 p.m and 5 p.m. without significant delays.