Dominic Hernandez is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Mountain Pointe High School for AZPreps365.com

Two weeks into the cross country season, the Mountain Pointe boys and girls teams are hoping to post faster times and improve on their slow start when they compete in the 13th annual Desert Twilight XC Festival on Oct. 1 and 2.

It’s been a rough beginning for the Pride runners. The boys team placed 11th in their last meet, while the girls squad finished last. Coach Eric Smith, in his first year at Mountain Pointe, is taxed with learning the personalities and athletic traits of his new squad, along with handling all of the new state and AIA mandated practices in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The boys team features seniors Macadam Vasquez, Jack Piorkowski, Ryan Tso, Jose Celaya, and Marcus Holder; sophomores Savion Galvan, Corey Tso, and Mason Colville; and freshmans Charlie Amodei, Austin Brandon and Davis Celaya.

Vasquez led the way last meet for the team with a time of 18:26.6 on Sept.18. Piorkowski, coming off setting his season record time in the 5,000 meters with 17:37.9 on Sept. 12, will look for the support of the other seniors to help move up higher in the rankings. Holder, coming off a season record time of 19:21.6 on Sept. 12, continues to push the pace to help his teammates get better. The rest of the underclassmen look up to the seniors for help with techniques and work on gaining experience in the meets to keep on improving their skills.

The girls team features seniors Ailish Hanrahan, Erin Greenfield, Halle Yellowhair, Kara Asher, and Zoe McCollum; juniors Ivy Gunderway and Karma Liburd; and sophomores Kylie Stinson, Paige Greenfield and Tatum Kochanski.

Greenfield recorded her season record time of 27:50.2 on Sept. 12, pushing her team to continue performing well. The underclassmen are providing support as well with Stinson getting a personal record time of 24:42.6 on Sept. 12. Gunderway also notched a personal record of 38:48.4 on Sept. 19. 

The atmosphere surrounding all meets is filled with caution because of the current pandemic. This situation has caused many issues with the start of the season and making sure all the players are kept safe. Competitors and coaching staff must remain a safe distance away from each other with the push to try and keep some normalcy. There is a somber feeling around the sport without fans present.