PHOENIX — Deer Valley junior Randy Espinoza saw the finish line in front of him an nothing else.
He said he felt good on the downhill approach to the finish Nov. 16 at Cave Creek Golf Course. But Gilbert Campo Verde senior Kenny Edwards lurked over his shoulder.
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PHOENIX — Deer Valley junior Randy Espinoza saw the finish line in front of him an nothing else.
He said he felt good on the downhill approach to the finish Nov. 16 at Cave Creek Golf Course. But Gilbert Campo Verde senior Kenny Edwards lurked over his shoulder.
At about 200 yards left, Edwards made his move and passed Espinoza, who could not find another gear. Edwards won the Division II state title in 15.58 while Espinoza placed second in 16:01.
"Kenny snuck up behind me and I just didn't have enough left in my tank to kick," Espinoza said.
Edwards was the only runner preventing a repeat of the Section II meet Nov. 6. Espinoza beat Sunrise Mountain senior Braedon Palmer and the Flagstaff duo of senior Riley Human and junior Max Davis.
Sick for the first two or three weeks of the season, Espinoza said he regained his confidence at Desert Twilight in late September and went on a four-race winning streak from there up to state.
"He ran a good race. And I'm really proud of what he's done all year. The last four races were great," Deer Valley cross country coach Kevin Riegle said. "I look for him to take another 30 seconds off next year and be pushing to be one of the best in the state. As hard as he works and as much time as he puts in, I expect him to have a great track season and a great senior year."
Davis finished third and Human fourth. Palmer entered state with the fastest time in the division and finished fifth in 16.17.
"He puts a lot of pressure on himself and he's never happy unless he wins. He will be disappointed with fifth, although that's a good result," Sunrise Mountain cross country coach Torin Lattie said. "He started off the season with a big win at Fountain Hills. He ran a good time at Twilight. He wanted to run under 15 minutes there and missed that by a little bit. We're going down there next week and he'll take another shot at it."
Espinoza had his own disappointment post-race but did move up from sixth last year and is now comfortable withthe Cave Creek course.
He said he attacks it like any other course, staying right behind the leaders and making his way up before making his move with a half-mile left.
"I think I had a pretty good time. It's a tough course and it's tough to run good fast times out here even when you know the course pretty well," Espinoza said.
Espinoza will also race in the Nike meet in Casa Grande next weekend and also wants to do the Foot Locker West Regional race Dec. 7 at at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif.
Flagstaff rolled to a fifth straight team title, led by Davis and Human. The Eagles' girls also won a fifth straight team title, as senior Hana Hall repeated.
Sunrise Mountain also fared well in both team meets. The boys squad placed third after finishing sixth last year. Junior Justin Pace came in 19th.
A young Mustangs girls squad nabbed fourth place.
"I'm never going to be too disappointed with a finish like that — boys third and girls fourth — but we were hoping to pull off maybe a second for both," Lattie said.
The girls team figures to push Flagstaff more in the next two years, since there are no seniors in the Mustangs' top seven. Three sophomores and a freshman are the top four.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Kaye finished a huge debut season with a fifth-place run. Classmate Grace Deines placed 20th while freshman Lilian Henze debuted in 23rd.
"We were hoping for a little higher but we have a lot to build on for next year," Lattie said. "Kaitlyn didn't run cross country last year but she came out after she had a great track season. And she's instantly one of the top kids in the state. She's a little bit ahead of the rest of our group and that's pushing them further."
Espinoza said Skyhawks have been running as a pack this year and that has led to more intense workouts. For his part, Riegle said Espinoza is the perfect athlete ton coach, doing everything coaches ask and taking care of his body.
Deer Valley's team leapt from 14th in 2018 to seventh this year. Riegle also credited senior Nick Olson, junior Jake Bruch and senior Xavier Rodriguez with the team's improvement.
"Xavier improved a lot and it was nice to get Nick back out. He wasn't able to run much last year, and didn't do much but a couple meets," Riegle said. "Randy improved quite a bit. Jake had a good run today."
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