Freshman
Sammy Braun wanted to make her first cross-country meet special, and her Xavier
Prep teammates also wanted to make their first meet of the season a moment to
remember.
Mission
accomplished, and then some.
The Gators
had a stunning performance in the three races of the day on Saturday (Sept. 9) in the Fountain Hills
Invite at Fountain Hills Park.
With Braun
leading the way, Xavier had six of their seven runners finish in the top 10 of
the 5K varsity race, and the Gators posted a team-winning 20 points. Mesa
Mountain View was a distant second with 92 points and Phoenix Mountain Pointe
was third with 99.
Junior Karli
Baker won the 5K junior-senior race, and Xavier rolled to another team triumph
in the 5K freshman-sophomore race as sophomore Kristen Keeble finished in second
place.
The way the
varsity girls came through was even more impressive, considering the fact that
the team’s five seniors were absent because they were taking SAT exams.
It will be
interesting to see how those five are woven into the team’s fabric as the
season moves forward.
“The first
meet is always a test, and this was a very good sign,’’ said Xavier coach Dave
Van Sickle.
“Practice
after practice after practice, you never really know how things will go
together in a meet. One thing we know is the girls are very fit, and it showed.
We have girls who are racers out there, not just runners.’’
 |
Xavier runners are happy after dominating in the Fountain Hills Invite (photo by Don Ketchum). |
Braun fits
into that category, for sure.
She was
elated about her performance. She was timed in 19:09.9.
“I was
nervous,’’ she said. “I had been working all summer to get to this point.
“We have a
great team and we were looking forward to this meet. We communicated pretty
well, especially at the start. We were telling each other, “You’re good, you’re
good,’ when we were trying to get into position. I think we felt really good
about that. And sometimes you don’t have to say anything, you can just feel
each other out there.’’
It was a
sprint to the finish line, and Braun crossed it first, 2.1 seconds ahead of
Mountain View’s Kailey Welch.
How did
Braun approach that situation?
“I just tell
myself, “Don’t look back. Just make sure you finish,’ ’’ she said.
Other Xavier
efforts in the varsity race:
Freshman
Cami Merickel, third, 19:20.1; junior Helen Innes, fifth, 19:27.1; sophomore
Mia Olsen, sixth, 19:31.7; junior Karina Hawkins, ninth, 19:48.9, freshman
Jamie Stelnik, 10th, 19:49.2; and junior Karina Smith, 13th,
20:20.3.
Xavier had
only three runners in the junior-senior race, making the Gators ineligible for
team honors (five runners were mandatory). But the Gators still made a big
statement.
Baker had a
time of 21:29.6. Junior Josie Venezia was fourth at 22:05.2 and junior Megan
Woodbury was 18th at 24:26.1.
Xavier
scored 24 points in the freshman-sophomore race, with Scottsdale Saguaro second
at 110 and Phoenix Horizon third at 111.
Results for
XCP runners in the freshman-sophomore race:
Keeble
second, 20:46.6; sophomore Grace Valandra, third, 21:53.2; freshman Joey
Hernanez, fourth, 21:56.3; sophomore Kaitlyn Lauck, eighth, 22:45.9; freshman
Sophia Healy, 11th, 22:49.5; sophomore Hannah Phillippi, 19th,
23:32.6; freshman Caroline Calihan, 33rd, 25:06.1; sophomore Mikayla
Chavez, 74th, 28:17.4; freshman Emma Chester, 78th,
28:27.8.
The Gators
will have a couple more weeks to tune up for their next meet, the annual Doug Conley
Invite on Sept. 23 at the Shalimar Golf Course in Tempe.