The Paradise Valley cross country teams opened their 2024 season this past Saturday at the UC Riverside Cross Country Invitational in Riverside, California. The Pumas came out of the gate running, bringing home two top-ten finishes and one top-five individual finish.
The Puma women started the day with a strong fifth-place finish in the 26-team field consisting primarily of four-year universities. "Our women ran very well today," stated Coach David Barney. "We got a good, strong start, and then we moved really well through the pack."
Sophomores Keira Damron and Olivia Coulston led the charge for the Pumas with 26th and 30th overall placings and quick season opening times of 18:21.2 and 18:23.8. They were followed closely by freshman Laynee Hollech, 46th in 18:39.7, sophomore Mackenzie Bethancourt, 85th in 19:03.9, and sophomore Rachael Bethancourt, 112th in 19:14.8. Coming in next for the Pumas were freshman Catie Case, 191st in 20:15.1, freshman McKenna Martin, 205th in 20:22.9, freshman Shantelle Berrien, 243rd in 21:14.2, and freshman Brooke Redman, 262nd in 22:06.3.
"Our entire women's team took advantage of the great weather, and fast course, today," commented Barney, "All but one of them ran cross country personal bests for 5000-meters, and Keira and Olivia ran exceptionally well!"
The Puma men's team also had a strong performance on the UCR Ag Ops cross country course coming home in tenth-place out of the 23-team field. The highlight for the men's team was sophomore Jackson Bland's fourth-place overall finish. Bland was the first junior college finisher and ran a swift 24:44.2 over the 8000-meter course. "Jackson ran a great race today," remarked Barney, "He's been training well, and he's decided to move to the next level." Bland was followed in by fellow sophomores Jaxon Zimmerman, 53rd in 25:43.2, and Jacob Soukup, 98th in 26:09.1. Freshman Anthony Padilla finished fourth for the Pumas in 26:34.4 and was backed up by freshmen Nicholas Hiser (174th in 26:49.3), Joel Bejarano (248th in 28:14.4), and Ryan Ulmer (269th in 29:13.5). "Our men had a good showing today, but we've still got plenty of room for improvement," said Barney. "We got our feet wet, now we've got to keep moving."
The Pumas will be back in action on Friday, September 27th as they compete in the ACCAC championship meet. That meet will be held at Glendale Heroes Park in Glendale, Arizona, with the women racing at 8:00 a.m. and the men racing at 8:45 a.m.
