Fountain Hills hosted the second largest cross country meet in the state this past weekend on Saturday, Sept. 10. Fountain Hills High School staff showed up as early as 3 a.m. Saturday morning to prepare for over 2,000 kids and 100 high school teams.

The Falcons competed in the small school division of the Fountain Hills Invitational. Since the first meet of the season was in Flagstaff and 7,000 feet above sea level, head coach Kevin Clancy expected members of his team to improve on their 5K times at home.

The boys beat 11 other teams in their division, and seniors Tyler Irvine-Violette and Zion Atwood finished within a fraction of a second of each other. Irvine-Violette finished 97th (19:58.8), and Atwood finished 98th (19:59).

Freshman Colby Wright was the next Falcon to finish for the boys (22:35.9), and junior Nathan Eastman was close behind (23.25.8). Junior Dylan Romans followed (24:10.3), and freshman Tyler Eastman ran his first varsity race (30:53.1).

Junior Erin Hooley (23:09.5) took 46th place. Hooley also received a medal, and fellow junior Skye Alker was very close to that honor as well. Alker finished in 51st place (23:28.05). Freshman Ally Guerrette dropped about four minutes off her time (28:50.17) and finished next to sophomore Racine Homyak (28:52.3). Junior Eliana Bartman (33:53.67) was the last to finish for the Falcons.

Several groups and clubs, including the Fountain Hills swim and volleyball teams, as well as community members, volunteered at the Fountain Hills Invitational. In the morning, students wore orange vests and used light wands to guide buses, and Clancy’s second-year sports medicine students helped out at the finish line all day. Student government representatives also sold cow bells and rang them to help contribute to the excitement of race day.

“It felt like we had a lot of good people in a lot of places, and that was a huge reason the meet was such a success,” Clancy said. “It felt like everyone was rallying around this big event in Fountain Hills, and we were showcasing our city and beautiful park…. Everywhere you turned, you saw someone from the school or community out there, volunteering or cheering on.”