This past November, qualifying members of the cross country team beat the heat and raced at the Nike regional meet in Arizona.

The 15 Greeley West runners competed with high schoolers from all throughout the southwest, including students from Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada.

Runners Ryan Wethington, Ricky Carmona, Johnny Granados, Angel M., Erick Morales, Dylan G., Ali L., Bohden Suntych, Zach Headly, and Tristin Elder qualified for the boys by breaking 20, which is runners speak for racing a 5K in 20 minutes or less. Girls Colleen Cherry, Megan Starkey, Mya Boyd, Brooklyn
Pearson, and Bella Romero all qualified by breaking 24.

The meet ended with success for the team with new personal records for multiple runners, but not without a challenge.

Senior Megan Starkey remarked, “Cool water features were added to the race,” a positive spin on the result of flooding just days before the meet.

The team wasted no time while they were in Arizona and toured the nearby Arizona State University Campus along with the Desert Botanical Gardens.

Running may have been the focus of the trip, but quality time spent with a team stood out most for the runners.

“It was a challenging but fun race- there was a lot of team bonding. It’s always positive,” reflected senior Ricky Carmona.

Proud of her team, coach Lea Sanford commented, “We had a really good season. Running is tough- you have to eat right, go to bed on time- these kids did that this year.”