Listening to Noah Kenyawani tell it, a day of rest was the reason he was able to come away as a bit of a surprise winner Friday at the Division I, Section II cross country qualifying meet at Freestone Park in Gilbert.

The Rincon senior, who had been ill recently, picked up the pace in the final mile to overtake Highland's David Graham and earn first-place honors in the boys race.

"I think resting and missing a hard workout Tuesday helped me," Kenyawani said. "Coach told met to just settle, and if I felt good pick up the pace at the end. That's what I did."

Staying with Rincon teammate Ryan Silva much of the way allowed them to stay close enought to Graham to make a run. Kenyawani's winnings time was 16 minutes, 2 seconds. That was one second faster than Graham, nine seconds ahead of Desert Vista's Carter Macey (third) and 13 seconds in front of Silva (fourth).

The boys team race was nearly as tight as Kenyawani and Graham. Highland took first with 59 points to edge out Desert Vista at 65. Highland's top five finished in the top 21; Desert Vista's in the top 24. Following Graham at the finish for Highland was Logan Woolf, Manuel Aguilar, Weston Jones and Alex Fabiano.

The top nine boys teams in the section qualifed for state November 5 at Cave Creek Golf Course. Joining Highland and Desert Vista at state from the section are Perry, Corona del Sol, Rincon, Buena, Mesquite, Gilbert and Dobson.

In the D-I, Section II girls race, Highland's Tory Haberman continued a strong senior year by winning her fourth meet of the year. She overwhelmed the field Friday with a winning time of 18:24, 31 seconds in front of second-place Brittany Tretbar of Desert Vista.

"I had a good lead, but I try to tell myself that they aren't that far behind me," Haberman said. "I hear people yelling that other runners are coming. That helps me push myself."

Haberman's earlier wins this year came in the senior race at the Chandler Invitational, The Ojo Rojo and the Gilbert City Meet last week. She's also finished in the top five at the Desert Twilight Festival and the Doug Conley.

The girls team title was even closer than the boys and again betweeen Highland and Desert Vista. This time Desert Vista prevailed. The teams top five runners totaled 45 points each. The tie-breaker went to Desert Vista by virtue of its sixth runner finishing 20th and Highland's sixth placing 23rd. Desert Vista's runners behind Tretbar were Jenna Maack, Dani Jones, Natalie Krafft, Rey Ann Rivera and the tie-breaker was Nicole Hicks.

Other teams quailifying for state from D-I, Section II were Corona del Sol, Mesquite, Cienega, Basha, Chandler and Buena.

The other sectional contested at Freestone Park on Friday was Division IV, Section II. The boys individual champion was Arizona Lutheran's Josh Hoskinson with a time of 16:30. His brother, DJ, was second and Tempe Prep's Caleb Peckham was third. Team honors went to Veritas Prep, which placed all five of its runners in the top 22 and finished with 80 points -- two points better than Arizona Lutheran (82).

The girls individual champion in a runaway was Tempe Prep's Emily Hedberg. Her time was 20:32. Scottsdale Prep won the team title in a close three-way battle with Northwest Christian (2nd) and Valley Christian (3rd).