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CROSS COUNTRY: 4A-II STATE CHAMPIONSHIP - Strong region run qualifies boys squad for state
Second in region, Lessard eyes Top 10 state finish
By ERIC MUNGENAST
Staff Writer
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Eric Mungenast/Maricopa Monitor, Maricopa sophomore Chris Lessard has surged to the front of the pack of the boys cross country team, finishing second at the 4A-II East Sky Region Championship Friday at Gilbert’s Freestone Park, running his best time of the season.
Lessard put in his best time of the season, running the three-mile course at Gilbert’s Freestone Park in 16:10 and finishing 13 seconds behind Phoenix Arcadia runner Brenden Hernandez.
“I was surprised I actually got second,” Lessard said.
He was joined by junior Travis Moore, who finished eighth with a time of 17:13, and senior Gary Webb, who had a 10th-place time of 17:35.
The team finished just 12 points behind Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep, but nine points ahead of Phoenix Arcadia High School, a team coach Duane Anderson said had been the second best team in the region heading into the competition.
“I’m proud of us,” said junior Gibran Aguilar, who finished 13th.
Next up for the boys’ team is the state championship tomorrow at the Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix, which will mark the first state championship competition for either Lessard or Aguilar.
Lessard’s aspirations do not extend to a repeat of his second-place finish, although he would still like to place in the top 10 and earn a medal, something Anderson said is quite possible.
And neither runner is worried about the upcoming race, even with the importance attached to it.
“They just give it a title and a fancy name,” Aguilar said, adding it was “just a race.”
But this will be the final run for senior Gary Webb, who has been one of the team’s better runners.
Webb, who said he’d like to come back next year as an assistant coach, said he would like to end his career on high note.
“I just wish I had one more year,” Webb said.
Webb finished the best out of Maricopa’s returning runners at the 2008 3A State Championship, notching a 64th place effort. Moore was 68th.
The girls’ team did not qualify for the state championship, finishing in seventh place overall at the regional and ending its season.
None of the individual runners placed high enough to earn a trip to the state championship, although junior Angie Martinez came in 20th place with a time of 23:25, while freshman Chelsea Grosse finished in 27th, running the course in 24:02.
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