Noah Reed is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication student assigned to cover Veritas Prep High School for AZPreps365.com.

PHOENIX – The Veritas Prep girls cross-country squad overcame a season of setbacks and sickness in the prior year to draw in new athletes with its distinct culture.

The best distance programs typically have the most student-athletes, performing well because of natural depth. That’s not the case at Veritas Prep, as its graduating class in 2025 was 74. The Falcons refuted the standard with a record-breaking year, due in part to a number of new faces.

“The girls had a great season last year. The girls had expectations for themselves, and we left state hungry,” head coach Sawyer Koops said. “It doesn't diminish what they did there, and we were working through some health issues at the end of the year with a few runners.

“But they absolutely left hungry.”

Senior Rachel Barney finished that race eager to prove what the team was unable to do in 2024. Barney’s life has been closely tied to running since her parents met at a running camp.

“All of the kids just ended up being pretty good at it,” Barney said of her siblings. “We've all just ended up really loving it.”

However, that love hasn’t been all rainbows and roses. Barney fought a flurry of illnesses and injuries during her high school tenure, some of which prevented her from participating in track for two years.

Barney found out that she had celiac disease in October, midway through the season. 

“That just really messed me up physically,” Barney said.

Despite facing sickness, the Falcons finished fourth during the 2024 Division IV State Championships. 

“It was truly remarkable,” Veritas Prep Athletic Director Chase Beebe said after witnessing the race firsthand. “Seeing the busloads of athletes that were coming in from all over the state, and then watching them take off in this giant group, and then just seeing them find their own rhythm throughout.

“We're all still so proud of what they did last year. But I think they all knew that they had more left.”

Even though fourth wasn’t the goal, Barney said she didn’t let that discourage her this season.

“We knew that we weren't going to get the result that we were hoping for,” Barney said. “I think that it also relit a fire this year. Let's do some work. Let's get back on the horse and get it going.”

The program did just that, recruiting several new talents. Four of the top seven runners were new to varsity, but over the past six months, they’ve all grown close to one another.

“We've become so bonded through the canal workouts and the hard times,” Barney said. Veritas Prep does not have a track and has to face grueling speed work along the various Phoenix canals.

Koops said those difficult moments contributed to the growth in his athletes outside the sport.

“They're building another fiber in the mesh that holds their whole student community together,” Koops said. “Cross-country is just one part of that. I don't proclaim to say it's the pinnacle of what holds them together.

“But it's just another really strong connection that they have with each other.”

Koops said the sport can still be incredibly taxing on the body, but moreover on one's mind.

“From a mechanical standpoint, especially in a long season, the 4:30 or 5 a.m. alarm starts really being a grind after a few months,” Koops said.

According to Koops, cross-country is unique as a sport because one is not constrained by a court or field. Athletes then must be focused throughout every run, even when coaches are away.

“I really enjoy being able to teach that to the kids as a life skill,” Koops said. “There's a lot of discipline that comes with it.”

One way Barney said she retrained herself to control her mindset with positivity going into 2025.

“I took down a lot of my pictures and Hobby Lobby decor, and instead, I just wrote a lot of affirmations down on paper,” Barney said. “Wherever I look, there's something positive.

“I think that focusing on things uplifting, that it changes you not only into being a better athlete, especially in this sport, but also just into being a more uplifting person, which I think is not rare, but less common in this world today.”

Ultimately, these are common people doing uncommon deeds. Their love for the sport pushed them to run every day, something that a person like Beebe said he still doesn’t fully understand.

Beebe said he can’t comprehend what exactly would push them to wake up early in the morning and in 100-plus degree temperatures over summer, but he sees how it affects them. 

“There's clearly a deep love for teamwork and camaraderie,” Beebe said. “If you follow them throughout the school day, you can see just how disciplined they are in each and every aspect of their life.”

Devotion to the sport laid the foundation for friendships. According to senior Hazel Hagerty, that element of community elevated her high school experience beyond anything she imagined.

“Being able to spend time with these girls, they've all worked so hard,” Hagerty said. “We've built friendships. It's more than just friendships, just within the team, it's in every aspect of our lives.”

Veritas Prep is small, with roughly 800 students compared to the over 4,000 at a larger school such as Hamilton High School. Hagerty said this makes the team relationships become stronger.

“We just try to stay close to each other and back each other up,” Hagerty said. “We're always there for each other, and we know it. It's that sisterhood.”

Koops said running provides a great community to be a part of beyond the time spent running.

“It builds more than just the sport,” Koops said. “It carries over into school, carries over into their social lives and gives them that opportunity to really feel like they're part of a group.”

That camaraderie is where Koops takes the most joy in his role.

“It's more fun to see them do it together,” Koops said. “It's not just a person celebrating their own success. It's all five of them celebrating how great they are together.”

One of the biggest celebrations came when Barney placed 24th in the Desert Twilight Invite with a time of 19 minutes and 27 seconds. Barney ran the third fastest 5K in program history, only 30 seconds shy of the school record.

“Where I see the most maturity and change in them is not necessarily the physical, that part happens on its own,” Koops said. “They understand that they go out and they can control the things that they can control: their attitude, their effort, their attendance.

“The results will follow.”

When the time came for the state championship on Nov. 15, the team fought for every point. 

The race to victory started with the scoring five: Barney, Hagerty, junior Athena Skikos, sophomore Mila Mestaz and senior Regan Rassas. But the sixth and seventh runners, senior Bianca Wong and freshman Maya Calvert, are equally important as displacers. 

“Every point really matters,” Koops said. “Those displacers can absolutely have a material impact on the outcome of races.”

Calvert is the final line of defense that can hinder other schools' scores if she finishes ahead of other scoring runners. She is faced with a daunting role to fill in her freshman season.

“It can be difficult to remember that it is important when your score is not the one that's directly counted,” Calvert said. “But I think it's important to remember that it is making a difference.”

This rings true for sophomore Lucy Mason, the alternate team’s alternate, who trained to be ready should any of the top seven have an issue. While the state meet preparation culminated from the start of the season, Veritas Prep treated it like any other race.

“I have gotten a lot better with the mental side of it,” Calvert said. “It's all positive.”

Calvert has another three seasons ahead of her. She said she sees the long runaway but wanted to bring home hardware for her friends and also run the best race for herself.

“It's like looking at a wall,” Hagerty said. “You're basically putting on an iron glove, and that iron glove just keeps getting thicker and thicker, so that every swing that you take at this wall, you keep chipping away at that wall. 

“And then by the time that you were in your top shape, which ideally is by state, you've already broken through that wall.”

All the work, the hours and the early morning miles cumulated into 3.1 miles around one of the toughest courses in Arizona. When the dust settled, the Veritas Prep girls team finished second in the state with a score of 100, setting a new record for the program.