The high school cross country team hosted its first meet of the season on Saturday, Sept. 14, with the local girls going on to claim sixth place overall and the boys taking seventh out of a massive 25-team field.

When the Falcons host a local meet, fans can usually expect to see a handful of teams arrive, typically from within their own section.

Saturday, however, head coach Chris Davis decided to go big with this year’s invitational, welcoming 25 schools from every section, totaling nearly 500 athletes across four main events.

Fountain Park was alive with activity Saturday morning with cross country athletes, parents and fans crowding the grassy field alongside Plaza Fountainside for the day’s big event.

With the first race kicking off at 8 a.m., the day’s activities did not conclude until around noon. Despite all of the commotion, Davis said that the meet went “very smooth.”

An announcer kept everyone up to date on the leaders and top finishers throughout the morning, calling off names and random bits of trivia concerning runners as they made their way past the crowd.

The Fountain Park course is set up so that fans get an optimal look at the race with athletes starting and finishing at the same location, as well as passing by the same area two more times throughout the run.

“We got quite a few comments from other coaches saying it was a well-organized event and a very safe course,” Davis said.

“It was also nice to see School Board representatives, our superintendent, principal and athletic director out. We had such outstanding community support overall at this meet and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.”

The Fountain Park course begins with runners tackling the open field running along Saguaro Blvd. in a short loop before circling the entirety of Fountain Park twice en route to the finish line.

The boys began the day with 135 runners taking the field. Scott Jarriel led the Falcons with a ninth place finish with his time of 17:36.

Second for the local boys was Hayden Brecto at 18:08, followed closely by Garrett Sweetland at 18:19.

The fourth scoring finish for the Fountain Hills team belonged to Andrew Cooper at 20:03 with Ryder Warden wrapping things up at 20:46.

All told, the boys came in with 210 team points, good enough for seventh place.

Over to the girls (featuring 111 runners) and Falcon Sierra Jarriel led the charge in third place overall, crossing the finish line at 20:15.

Brooke Yost was next at 21:49, followed by Hope Brecto at 23:32.

Kailee Martin and Danica Kerr claimed the final two scoring spots with their times of 24:58 and 25:16, respectively.

In the end, the girls wrapped up with 171 team points, claiming sixth place overall.

“Our kids did a super job,” Davis said.

“Almost every team that beat us was from a higher division and the girls were even down one of their top runners.

“Overall, our times were a lot better this week. I’m very happy with our runners.”

There were so many runners on the day that a pair of open races followed the main events. A total of 157 boys ran in the open event with 106 girls.

The top three finishers for the boys in the open race were Joe Ahmann at 21:53, Cody Walter at 22:07 and Tiger Elwood at 23:28.

As for the open girls, top finishers included Courtney Wise at 25:23, Kelsey Schultz at 26:32 and Michelle Farella at 26:52.

The Falcons will compete in an even bigger event this Friday, Sept. 20, traveling all the way to Costa Mesa, Calif., to take part in the Woodbridge-Estancia-Costa Mesa Cross Country Classic.