Compiled by Richard Smith West Valley Preps The high school boys and girls cross country season began last week. West Valley Preps asked local coaches about their teams. Here are their responses.

Cactus Cobras

Boys Coach: Richard Levan (second year) Girls Coach: Breanna Malmos Section: Division III Section III Who are your top returning runners? Our top returning girl is senior Maggie Gibbs. She won the Peoria District meet, placed third at Sectionals and fifth at State last year. Our top return boys are junior Slater Hill and sophomore Gilbert Olivas Jr. Slater was our top runner last year. Gilbert qualified for state as a freshman. Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Our top freshmen are Alex Murphy and Megan Arganbright. I expect both to have a very successful freshman year. What are your primary team and individual goals this season? The best attributes of our team is team chemistry. We may be a smaller team (but growing), but they are a tight knit group, supporting each other. The other thing is their work ethic. They don’t complain, push each other, and don’t ever slack off during the workouts. What are the primary individual and team goals? Our primary team goal this year is to qualify as a team for state. That is something Cactus cross country has not done in many years. Individually, Maggie Gibbs is working hard to contend for the state title in Division III, though the competition will be fierce.

Deer Valley Skyhawks

Coach for both teams: Christopher Zent (Eighth season) 2017 Accomplishments: Boys team placed third in Division II. Randy Espinoza finished 11th as a freshman, while now-graduated Logan Wall-Harris finished 18th. Girls team finished 21st in Division II. Junior Emily Stutesman placed fourth. Region: Division II Section II Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Boys: Brandon Valdez (Soph), part of a trio of freshmen (including Randy Espinoza) that ran 2:04 or better in the 800m last spring. With small numbers and only two returners from last fall, any of our new girls will make an impact on our varsity success. What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Each year, I am blessed to coach great kids who are excellent in the way they conduct themselves in the classroom and at practice. This group is resilient and very coachable. What are the primary goals for this year’s team? We have some big goals for this year. On the boys side, we could be a top 5 team, and medal multiple athletes at the state meet. On the girls side, our young girls look to qualify as a team for state along with Emily Stutesman (pictured above) capturing her first state championship. If things fall into place, we would love to sweep the individual titles at sectional, win the boys sectional title, sweep individual titles at the state meet, and add a boys team title as well.

Glendale Prep Griffins

Boys and Girls Coach: Eric Webdale (third year) Section: Division IV Section I Who are your top returning runners? My top six girl runners are returning from last year 5th place finish at the state meet. Led by junior Ani Durell. Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? I’m hoping to have one or two freshman make varsity and maybe score for us a few meets. What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? I think our teams family atmosphere is our best attribute. They’ve embraced early morning practices and have welcomed the new runners. What are your primary team and individual goals this season? On the girls side I would like to see a top two finish at the state meet and for the guys the goal is to make it to states as a team.

Liberty Lions

Boys Coach: David Ostrus (three year) Girls Coach: Chrissy Borg (sixth year) Section: Division I Section II Who are your top returning runners? Boys: My top returning runners are John Shinske (So.), Dalton Sonnenberg (Sr.), and Christian Andersen (Jr.). Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Boys: Newcomers that will make an impact this season are Landon Andersen (freshman) and Jake Cooper (a junior who ran track but is running cross country for the first time). We also have some other youngsters who have shown a desire to compete with the varsity squad during practices. What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Boys: The best attribute that my team has is a sense of unity and desire to push each other during practice. What are your primary team and individual goals this season? Boys: Our team goal is as we move up to Division 1 for the first year to do something that we have failed to do in my first two years at Liberty, we have a goal to qualify for the state cross country meet. We also plan on being competitive at our district meet which will be a great benchmark, considering we typically have a very strong district in terms of quality cross country programs.

Mountain Ridge Mountain Lions

Boys and Girls Coach: Mark Faust (first year) 2017 Accomplishments: Boys cross country team placed 11th in Division I. Hunter Krasa finished 30th as a sophomore and Kristian Bilecki placed 31st as a junior. Bilecki did not return to the team this season. Girls cross country team finished ninth in Division I. Junior Taylor Mollenhour placed seventh, while junior Emily Simon placed 39th. Region: Division I Section II Who are your top returning runners? Our girls team is senior heavy with the trio of Simon sisters (Emily, Lizzie, Leslie) who have been training hard all summer and are coming into their senior year ready for a big year. Taylor Mollenhour the defending section champion is ready for her senior campaign to defend her title and move up in the state rankings. Our boys are led by a strong Junior class in Hunter Krasa, Gavin Allen and Dermot Broderick. The boys team is a bit younger than the girls but they will be competing for a top 3 placing every week. Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Austen Clayton has come off a great freshman Track & Field season and is ready to compete for a top spot on the boy varsity this year as a sophomore. Freshman Jett Sequin will also make noise and battling every week to make the top 7. Our girls team is senior heavy with 8 seniors but freshmen Taylor Krasa and Bella Margolies will be working to crack that competitive line-up. What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? The core of our team has been running together for several years and know each other very well. They are also experienced competitors and posses a high cross country IQ and will be strong and strategic as they approach each race. What are the primary goals for this year’s team? Mountain Ridge cross country has a strong tradition of excellence and we want to add to that tradition with a strong team finish at state. As long as there are titles and trophies to be won — we want to collect as many as possible; but more importantly if we ensure all of our athletes train with maximum effort and strive to get better each day, the team goals will come into focus with strong individual effort.

Peoria Panthers

Boys and Girls Coach: Jim Kenyon (fifth year) Section: Division III Section III Who are your top returning runners? Kody Romero, Daniel Lee, Jeffrey Moreno. Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? New Kyle Vonnahme and Nawid Amirudin. What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Best attribute is they work very well together. They believe in the team aspect of the sport. What are your primary team and individual goals this season? Team goal is to make state, individually we would like to see several of our athletes qualify for state as individuals. Kody wants to break 17 minutes this season.

Shadow Ridge Stallions

Boys Coach: Arrick Nietert (second year) Girls Coach: Haley Ruebsamen Section: Division I Section III Who are your top returning runners? Boys returning runners: Joe Riddle, Michael Nevarez, Bobby Coss, Aidan Johansson, Alan Winter, Cameron Dietrich, Tristan Munalem. Girls returning runners: Gretchen Kuffel, Julianne Meyer, Isabella Arias, Kaia Wood, Liberty Anglin Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Boys: Eli Levin, Kyle Frazier, and Matthew Riehm (2nd year on the team has made huge gains) . Newcomers Girls: Sydney Durham, Bailey Smith, Lily Combs. What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? We have had an awesome summer. Incoming freshmen to incoming seniors put in anywhere from 150-500 miles. Their work ethic and drive to be the best has been incredible. That example paired with 39 new runners to the program will be a driving force to a strong season here at Shadow Ridge. What are the primary individual and team goals? Our team goals this season are to control the controllables, be competitive in a new division, and let the outcomes of the meets be a direct byproduct of every team members’ hard work, dedication, and commitment to their individual goals. Our individual goals are just that. We have 82 cross country runners on the roster this year. Individual goals are broken up into academic, performance, form, mental and team. Individual goals range from proper lean and arm swing to visualization the night before a race. This year we have a deep pool of runners that are battling it out on both the boys and girls teams. On any given day it could be a shake up in the top seven. Everyone is stepping up and improving themselves and challenging themselves. It is awesome. Sunrise Mountain's Braedon Palmer finishes second during Peoria Unified School District cross country championship on Oct. 19, 2017 at Thunderbird Paseo Park in Glendale. Palmer is back for his junior season with the Mustangs. He placed sixth in the Division II state meet last November. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]

Sunrise Mountain Mustangs

Boys Coach: Torin Lattie (22nd year) Girls Coach: Terry Lattie (sixth year) Section: Division II Section II Who are your top returning runners? Braedon Palmer – He is a junior this year, and was sixth in state last year as a sophomore. He works harder than anyone and is a very determined young man. He will be a contender for the individual championship. Justin Pace – Justin is a sophomore, and exceptionally talented. He was good last year as a newcomer, and is capable of much more.Top returners for girls: Jordan Micheels – Jordan is a senior, and was 19th in state last year. Hoping for a top 10 finish this year. Niki Curtis – Niki is also a senior, and was 40th in state last year. She is working hard and we are expecting a huge improvement. Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Tanner Lattie and Reid Gunnels. Tanner is a senior, has made dramatic improvements over the summer, and should be a solid contributor on the varsity squad. Reid is a sophomore, and has also made great gains over the summer. Both have put in good mileage in the offseason, and improved dramatically even before the season has begun.Girls: Grace Deines – Grace is a super-talented freshman, but also a multi-sport athlete. Even while splitting time between running and softball, we expect her to immediately be able to help our varsity squad achieve their goals. Tatum Jaeger – Tatum is also a freshman, and enjoyed a stellar elementary career. She is not currently 100 percent healthy, but when she is, she will be a solid varsity contributor in her first year. What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? This team has several good attributes. The boys are young, determined, and talented. Their capacity for hard work is what stands out the most. Braedon sets the standard here, and the others are compelled to push themselves as well.The girls are a nice blend of experienced veteran seniors and young sophomores and freshmen. The girl’s best attribute is the leadership and example the talented seniors are providing for their talented under class teammates. What are your primary team and individual goals this season? Team Goals: • Win District•Win Section.• Improve on last year’s fifth place finish at state.These are not all solidified yet for the boys team, but Braedon is making it clear that he wants to win state. He knows who the other cross country contenders are, and he has been working hard to close the gap. All the boys have goal times they would like to run for a 5k.

Valley Vista Monsoon

Boys Coach: Chad Williams (second year) Girls Coach: Karin York (sixth year) Section: Division I Section III Who are your top returning runners? Boys: David Hermosillo, Joseph Martinez, Brandon Morrison. Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Boys: Gilbert Lucero, Humberto Delgado. What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? We worked hard all summer with our preseason training and cross country camp. Their dedication and drive were unstoppable which has resulted in greater speed and stamina. They are in great physical and mental shape with a strong desire to get back to state. What are the primary individual and team goals? Our girls team is primarily made up of new athletes. We need them to trust the process and challenge themselves to get to that finish line faster. Our goal is to have a cohesive program that consistently works to improve race times and to develop character traits that are noticeable on and off the course. Cross country is a mental sport, our athletes have the capacity to be great leaders.