Breaking down 2023 Arizona high school cross-country season: Division III
The Arizona high school cross-country season is in full swing. This past weekend was the third weekend of competition, with top meets at the Fountain Hills Invitational and the Battle at the Border in Nogales. Here’s what to expect in the fall the rest of the way from the state’s best distance runners in Division III.
Boys
2022 individual champion: Micah Slivers, senior, Ganado
2022 team champion: Page, 99 points
Top returner: Zach Albanese, senior, Chandler Seton Catholic
What to expect this year: At the state meet last year, this race was the most exciting of the day as Ganado’s Micah Slivers passed Salpointe Catholic’s Michael Urbanski in the final 50 meters to win the title. That won’t happen this year as Slivers is competing at Central Arizona College and Urbanski is on the team at the University of Arizona. That doesn’t mean this will be a boring division – far from it. A pair of American Leadership Academy schools, Queen Creek and Waddell West Foothills, sit atop the division, but it’s close. Page, last year’s champions, returns one of the top underclassmen in Arizona with sophomore Symond Martin. They appear to be on the outside looking in from a team perspective as most of their title-winning squad graduated. It would be unwise though to completely write Page off considering their long tradition of winning as they are one of the most decorated schools in state history for cross-country.
This division features the fastest-returning athlete in the state with Chandler Seton Catholic senior Zach Albanese. He is a safe bet to win the individual title. But there’s another runner to look out for — Eastmark junior Bryson Nielsen. Last track season was a breakout year for Nielsen as he asserted himself as one of the state’s top athletes. With Nielsen running 1:55.80 in the 800-meters, 4:14.71 in the 1,600-meters and 9:19.10 in the 3,200-meters during the spring as a sophomore, his 5k personal best of 16:22 will drop considerably this fall and he should be in contention at the top of the division. Kingman Lee Williams senior Wyatt Pickering is somebody else to keep an eye on.
Girls
2022 individual champion: Kylie Wild, senior, Tucson Salpointe Catholic
2022 team champion: Chinle, 61 points
Top returner: Evangeline Dunckley, junior, Scottsdale Saguaro
What to expect this year: Joining Flagstaff’s Mia Hall, Tucson Salpointe Catholic’s Kylie Wild was the next legendary name to end her cross-country career last fall as she won her third consecutive state title. Wild now is competing at Boston University, and senior Alex Montano has slotted in as the top runner for the Lancers. Salpointe Catholic could take a step back in the team battle for this season, and with that, this division is one of the most competitive in 2023. Chinle won it last season with an incredible performance, and while they do return one of their top runners in junior Tumayah Bia and should be a contender again, it is actually ALA Queen Creek and Gilbert Christian that are the top team teams early on this season.
ALA Queen Creek is led by senior Talya Workman and freshman Tally Call. Gilbert Christian is led by freshman Mila Russo. All three of those will be in the mix at the front. But one of the favorites is Scottsdale Saguaro junior Evangeline Dunckley, who entered the year with the top 5k time in the division. She finished fourth at last year's state cross-country meet and ran the 11th-fastest time in the state for the 3,200-meters on the track in the spring. She looks ready to take the next step.
*all times are sourced from az.milesplit.com
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Prep sports: Division III cross-country season preview
