The Fountain Hills High School cross country team had a race in town for the second time this season last Wednesday, Sept. 29. Every Falcon runner that finished the course at the middle school set a new personal record on the 3.1-mile trail, and three Falcons medaled in the dual meet against Westwood.

The boys started first and ran two laps around the course. Head coach Nick Goodman designed the course to be difficult and full of different terrain. The runners ran over track, asphalt, rocks and grass to finish back where they started. Tyler Irvine-Violette finished second with a time of 19:28, about two minutes faster than his previous record, and Zion Atwood finished in fifth with a time of 21:15.

The other Falcons all finished in the top 10 of 14 total competitors. Caleb Lara finished in sixth (22:05), Tim Lamar finished in seventh (24:12), Rylan Schmidt finished eighth (24:13), Nate Eastman finished ninth (25:20) and William Breen finished in tenth (26:16).

“If my athletes feel comfortable on this difficult course, then every other course will seem easy to them,” Goodman said. “It’s all about perspective in racing. Train hard so you can race easy.”

Erin Hooley made the race look easy and she never trailed anyone. Hooley runs the middle school course with both her team and her dad in her own time, so she’s very familiar with the trail. Hooley finished with a time of 21:02, shaving over a minute from her previous time and finishing nearly two minutes faster than the second-place time (22:39).

“It’s hard to push yourself when you’re by yourself,” Goodman said about Hooley. “Had she had some competition, I think [Erin] could’ve run about a minute faster.”

Hooley was the only Falcon to finish in the top five for the girls race. Eliana Bartman finished 10thout of 18 runners with a time of 29:20, and Skye Alker did not finish due to a minor injury. Alker tripped and fell, likely because recent rain slightly changed the terrain of the course, but she was in good spirts afterward. Goodman said that Alker’s injury was the first one on the middle school course in the two years they’ve used it.

The Falcons don’t usually have to worry about rain, and the weather was good for the team in September. They moved practices to the afternoons after August ended and have enjoyed some cool days. The Falcons were happy to run in 80-degree weather and cloudy skies against Westwood.

The Falcons will continue to train and aim for their best times ahead of the sectionals race on Nov. 3. This week, the cross country team will have two meets. Saguaro High School will host a meet on Wednesday, Oct. 6, and then the team has the O’Connor Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 9.