The high school boys and girls cross country season began Aug. 28 at schools across the state.

West Valley Preps and the Litchfield/Goodyear Independent and Surprise Independent asked local high school coaches about their teams. Here are their responses:

Canyon View Jaguars

Boys and girls coach: Angela Janssen (fifth year at Canyon View)
Section: Division II Northwest (Girls finished 15th in Division II)
Who are your top returning runners? On the girls side we have Isabella Velazquez and Jayda Reynoso. On the boys side we have Josue Gudina and Anthony Palmisano.
Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? On the girls:side we have freshmen Taelyn Janssen and Peyton-Rae Isaac. We also have Asilem Garcia and Aniya Smith who both have been on the track team and are now coming out for cross country for their senior year. On the boys side we have Chase Vanhooser and Grant Lahman who both had great first track seasons in the spring and are now trying their hand at cross country. 
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? This is the biggest team we have had in my fifth years at Canyon View so we finally have some depth. Our girls are a close knit group that have some big goals. 
What are the primary goals for this year’s team? Individually, the athletes are always chasing PRs and working for a spot on the varsity squad. As a team we’re trying to improve upon our place from last year at the big meets: districts, sectionals, and state. 

Millennium Tigers

Boys and girls coach: Jim Rafferty (seventh year at Millennium)
Section: Division I Southwest (Boys won Division II title, girls finished 12th)
Who are your top returning runners? Boys – Lexus Garcia (Sophomore)  Girls – Ryan Melara (Senior)
Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Boys – Jacob DeLaGarza (freshman)  Girls - Natalia Lopez (freshman)
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? It’s a very young team, but they have a highly positive attitude.
What are the primary goals for this year’s team? We return only one varsity (top seven) runner from last years boys and girls combined. So coming off of a boys team and girls individual state title from last year, our main goal is just to develop the younger group and get back to being competitive as soon as we can.

Paradise Honors Panthers

Boys and girls coach: Ron Steinhilber (fourth year at Paradise Honors)
Section: Division III Metro (Girls finished 18th in Division III)

Who are your top returning runners? On the boys’ side, our top returning runner is Senior Christian Head, who has been working extremely hard this summer. Seniors Gabe Klenner and Paul Hart, junior Miles Ford, and sophomores Elijah Hartsock and Jayden Tillman will all be in our top group as well.
For the girls, Seniors Lindsey Blaich, Lauren Kucik, Sahara Lara, and Addison Seabaugh will lead the team. Junior Kayla “Squishy” Bedoya and sophomore Taylor Blaich will be in the running for the number one spot on the team. Sophomores Larkin Spelgatti and Teagan Seabaugh will also be in competition for the top seven.
Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? This is a very strong freshman class. Jeremi Richard and Robert Leonardis were very successful at the CAA level in middle school last year. They both could be in our top five this season. Kyla Motts is new to cross country, but she was our top runner at The Peaks Invite on Labor Day weekend. Three more pleasant surprises for the girls could be Maddie Krull, Vivianna Valdez and Lilian Bedoya
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? This is by far the hardest working team I’ve coached at Paradise Honors. I’ve been building the program for four years. I’m finally able to push the athletes to their limits and they can handle it. Had I worked them this hard the past three years I’m not sure we’d still have a team, but now they understand why I work them the way I do, and they are seeing the results of that work.
It’s not just the top runners on the team. Every single member of the team is striving to get better at every practice. The competition for the varsity spots is wide open and everyone wants one. However, despite the competition, they are all rooting for each other to do well. It is a great group of kids who are fun to coach.
What are the primary team and individual goals for this year’s team? These are the best teams that I’ve coached at Paradise Honors. The competition is steep in Division III, but I’m hoping we can have our best finish as a team at states and perhaps earn a few individual medals. I know the athletes will put in the work, we just have to make sure we are peaking at the right time.

Shadow Ridge Stallions

Boys coach: Arrick Nietert (eighth year at Shadow Ridge)
Section: Division I Southwest (Boys finished 12th in Division I, girls finished 11th)
Who are your top returning runners? David Azuelo is our top returning varsity runner. Kaleo Deleon is our second returning varsity runner.
Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Freshmen Ethan Hernandez and Ryker Yeager are leading the charge.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? We have a young team with a lot of talent. We are a much smaller team than we have previously had, but that has really helped to bring the guys together and help us coaches really focus on the team cohesion and the fundamentals that will make for a strong next few years.
What are the primary goals for this year’s team? David should crack the top 20 in state as the season progresses. We are looking to make a lot of progress and drop time.
Our goals this season are to win Dysart district championship and then qualify for state.

Valley Vista Monsoon

Boys and girls coach: Danielle Marshall (first year at Valley Vista)
Section: Division I Southwest
Who are your top returning runners? We have strong returners on both boys and girls side with Tessa Wafel and Jannet Resendiz-Martinez leading the pack. These two girls are hungry, already medaled and on their way to an outstanding season. On the boys side there are Juan Martinez-Resendiz and Brandon Curiel-Garibaldi leading the pack and they have already ran off for the season and they are not coming back.
Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? These boys are fierce and have something to prove. The team has a host of newcomers that will definitely add to the pack and I am super excited to help them learn, grow and watch them incline.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? This season we are focused first on everyone staying healthy and doing all the right things to compete. Of course the individual goal is to get as many of them to state as possible, as for a team we are running to win the Dysart District Cup. It’s a young talented team and they are capable of doing just that. It will be an impressive season ... It’s MONSOON season.