Rayna Maggelet is an ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication student assigned to cover Arizona Lutheran Academy for AZPreps365.

The midpoint of the 2023-2024 cross country season has come, and Arizona Lutheran Academy athletes, are continuing to increase their skills while decreasing their race time in preparation for one of the most critical events of their season in the Desert Twilight Invitational. 

“I’m really excited for Twilight,” ALA senior runner Jack List said. “We’ve had some tough practices in the heat but those are the practices that get you the furthest. Regardless of how we perform this race, what we’re really training for is sectionals.” 

The Desert Twilight XC Invitational this weekend is the largest meet in the Southwest Region that attracts runners from Colorado, California, Arizona, Texas, and more. The goal of Desert Twilight is to expose the fastest runners in the region before they compete against each other at Regionals. 

Desert Twilight will be the fifth but also one of the most important events of ALA’s season. 

“We [the team] prepare for Desert Twilight,” coach of Arizona Lutheran’s cross country team Mish Aleisa said. “It’s a really good thing but thinking about the whole season we’re kinda at the midpoint.” 

Residing in Arizona comes with adjusting to the scorching sun.

Training at the hottest times of the day helps prepare the athletes for when they will be given a high-temperature running time like most of the ALA athletes were given for Desert Twilight.

Unlike runners from Colorado, Arizona athletes have the upper hand that they are used to running in the hot weather. During practices and races, both the runners and coaching staff of ALA’s cross country program are constantly preaching hydration to help maximize running performance and avoid side effects that come with dehydration. 

“The heat is about to break so maybe we can stop pushing ‘hydrate, hydrate, hydrate,’ ” Aleisa said. “But at this point of the season, it’s all about staying together as a team so we can encourage each other instead of a house divided.”

Supporting and receiving support from your team is a key necessity to perform at the best of your ability, especially at such a competitive race like Desert Twilight. ALA runners will be racing against some of the fastest runners in the Southwest Region. 

ALA senior Ryan Schmidt shares his thought process during intimidating races like their upcoming one. “One foot after another,” Schmidt said. “Sometimes there’ll be a random Taylor Swift song playing in my head to speed up my running cadence.” 

Schmidt finished the Erin Botma Invitational at 18:57 but is in the hope of running sub-18 for Desert Twilight.

“It’s [Desert Twilight] supposed to be a fast course and it’s at night,” Schmidt said.

ALA’s fastest female runner Avanti (Ava) Wadhwa has high expectations for herself for this upcoming meet, as she hopes to finish sub-20. 

The 17th annual Desert Twilight will be hosted at Toka Sticks Golf Course in Mesa on Friday. The first race will begin at 4:15 p.m. and the last race of the night at 9:50 p.m. 

“I’m going into this race with high hopes so I aim higher,” Wadhwa shared.