Drew Smith is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication student assigned to cover Cortez High School for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX – Orange Gatorade coolers lined the sidewalk at Cactus Park in North Phoenix as the Cortez High School cross country team prepared to compete at Moon Valley on Wednesday. 

“Ten minutes to showtime,” co-head coach Jose Corona told his team as they gathered around the water cooler. 

Thirteen runners navigated the 3.1-mile course for the Colts Wednesday afternoon around the Moon Valley High School parking lots, Putnam Field, Cactus Park and the Glendale Union High School baseball park, which was mostly a flat course. Originally scheduled for 4 p.m., the race was pushed back to 5 p.m. because of the 106-degree heat. 

“We thought it was going to be a little bit cooler today,” Corona said. “But the idea today for my runners was for them to finish. They realize that working out and coming to practice every day, it's paying off. You know it's making them feel more comfortable.”

Estrella Foothills swept the boys and the girls competition, with the boys scoring 22 points, and the girls scoring 18 points. They were the only school to score points on the girls side as teams need to have five runners in order to receive a team score.

Thunderbird placed second with 45 points and Cortez placed third on the boys side with 71 points. Moon Valley came in fourth on the boys side with 72 points. 

Estrella Foothills runners won both the boys and girls races. Zacarias Van Troutman won the boys race with a time of 16:23. Cyan Yellowman won the girls race, clocking in with a time of 23:16. 

Junior captain Gisel Murillo came in ninth place for the Colts, with a time of 30:29.

“Today’s race was a bit more difficult since the temperature is a bit higher,” Murillo said. “It was a bit of a challenge, but we got through it. The team reached their goals and they pushed themselves. They pushed me as well. I'm proud of them for finishing as well.”

Colts sophomore runner Robert Wiggins set a personal record with a time of 21:11, dropping eight seconds off his previous best. 

“I decided to pace myself and I think it helped me PR today,” Wiggins said. “There were not many ups or downs on the course today as most of it was in the park.”

Colts co-head coach Michelle Corona was proud of her team’s performance. 

“We have a lot of new runners and I thought our kids did a great job,” Corona said. “I think every single one of them PR from our last race and that's awesome. They've just been building up to the heat today.”

Cortez will return to Moon Valley High School next week as they take on Independence, Washington, Westview and Moon Valley. Race time is set for 4 p.m. on Wednesday.