September 26, 2004
CROSS COUNTRY
Queen Creek's Kari Hardt ran away from the field to capture first place in the girls race at the Los Mezquites Invitational Saturday at Kennedy Park in Tucson.
Hardt won in 19 minutes, 56.92 seconds, more than 20 seconds better than Mountain Pointe's Kristin Phillips (20:18.68). The Pride placed second in the team standings with 70 points, the same total as winner Tucson Flowing Wells, but the Caballeros won the tiebreaker, based on sixth-place finishers.
Mesquite placed third (155 points), followed by Sierra Vista Buena (188) and Rio Rico (190). Higley placed eighth.
Individually, Arcadia's Lucy Caldwell was fifth (20:49) and Mountain Pointe's Emily Hansen was ninth (21:19.02). Mesquite's top finisher was Wesley Madison (18th), while Higley's Ashley Jensen was 23rd.
In the boys race, Westwood won the team title with 88 points, 42 better than Buena. The Warriors had five runners in the top 30, led by Justin Royer in seventh with a time of 17:51.89.
James Bogner of Paradise Valley was the top East Valley finisher, placing second in 16:40.88.
