Eagles runners dominate Conley

O’Connor girls cross country beats state’s best at prestigious meet

If there was any doubt who had the state’s best girls cross country team during the first half of the 2006 season, Sandra Day O’Connor emphatically answered the question at the Doug Conley Invitational last week.

The Eagles girls easily won the prestigious meet, which featured the top 23 teams in Arizona at all levels. Thanks to Lindsay Prescott’s individual victory and four runners finishing in the top 10, the Eagles finished with 56 points, almost 40 better than second‑place Page.

Prescott won the race with a time of 18 minutes, 11.81 seconds, more than 35 seconds better than Xavier’s Jessica Tonn, who grabbed second. O’Connor also had top 10 finishes from Camille Olson (third, 18:51.68), Aleina Eisenhauer (eighth, 19:17.10) and Jade Riley (10th, 19:39.96).

Here is a roundup of other local prep sports news:

MORE CROSS COUNTRY

Three Boulder Creek runners–two boys and one girl–turned in top‑20 times at the school’s own Boulder Creek Invitational Sept. 30. Garrett Arvidson (11th) and Richard Bankhead (15th) led the way for the Jaguars’ boys team, which took 11th as a team, while Ashley Zeek was Boulder Creek’s top girls runner in 18th place.

O’Connor’s boys team, which did not run at the Doug Conley meet, had Steven Cox take 17th and Paul Smith finish 20th at the Boulder Creek meet.

Cactus Shadows placed 21st (boys) and 22nd (girls) at the Doug Conley meet. Patrick Cronin had the best finish of all Falcons runners as the senior came in 15th in the boys race with a time of 16:40.55. In other competition, Keith Howell, Kyle Short and Cronin led a 2‑3‑4 individual finish for Cactus Shadows in a three‑way meet against Coronado and Willow Canyon Sept. 27. The Falcons’ boys and girls teams each won the meet and the boys improved to 12‑0 in regular season dual meets.

BOYS GOLF

Cactus Shadows hit a number made for Las Vegas Sept. 28 when the Falcons beat three teams to improve to 21 wins without a loss this season. The Falcons edged Wells Fargo 2 Region rival Notre Dame by 3 strokes at Sanctuary Golf Course and also topped Sunnyslope (21 back) and Thunderbird (62 back). The Falcons put their undefeated record on the line again Oct. 3 in a match played past press time.

Boulder Creek improved to 16‑1 in dual matches Sept. 28 when Scott Pinckney’s round of 34 led the Jaguars to wins over three opponents. Pinckney’s first‑place score at Anthem Country Club helped Boulder Creek shoot 166 as a team, bettering Copper Canyon (193), Cactus (201) and Apollo (214).

Cactus Shadows and O’Connor will be part of a four‑way match Oct. 10 at Dove Valley Golf Course. Deer Valley and Sunnyslope will also participate in the match.

GIRLS GOLF

Esther Choe showed why she’s one of the state’s best Sept. 27 when the senior shot a round of 33 to help Cactus Shadows to a big win over Higley and Queen Creek. Choe, one of the nation’s top junior golfers and future University of Arizona player, led the field at Apache Wells Golf Club in Mesa, helping the Falcons to a team total of 153. Host Higley shot 202, while Queen Creek finished with 215.

O’Connor improved to 8‑2 in dual matches Sept. 27 when the Eagles pulled out a 7‑stroke win in a three‑way match at Bellair Golf Course in Glendale. The Eagles shot a round of 187 to top Goldwater (194) and Central (226).