The Paradise Valley men's cross country team claimed their second consecutive NJCAA Region I DII championship title while the PV women claimed runner-up status in the women's race.  The Pumas competed in the championship meet on Friday, October 25th, at Crossroads Park in Gilbert, AZ. 

 

The Puma men were led by Sophomore's Jackson Bland and Jaxon Zimmerman who tied for first over the 8000m course in a time of 26:30. In spite of the tie, the finish line judges gave the win to Bland.  Jacob Soukup was next in for the Pumas placing fifth overall in a time of 27:22.1. He was followed by Anthony Padilla, sixth (27:26.8); Nicholas Hiser, eighth (28:00.1); Joel Bejarano, 11th (29:20.0) and Ryan Ulmer, 14th (31:50.0).  "Our guys ran really well today," said Coach David Barney, "Mesa has a very good team, so we're happy to beat them here.  I'm proud of our guys, they kept their head in the game and kept fighting." The top six Pumas earned All-Region Honors. 

 

While the Pumas won the men's championship, the PV women came up just short, losing to Mesa by a score of 27-29.  "I'll take the credit for the women's loss," commented Barney.  "I asked them to pack-run for the first two miles, and it caused us to come up just shy of where we needed to be. They still ran very well, and I'm excited to see what we can do at the national meet!" Sophomore Keira Damron led the women with a first-place finish, an individual title, in a time of 18:59.6 over the 5000m course. She was followed by teammates Laynee Hollech, third (19:04.6); Olivia Coulston, fifth (19:31.0);  Mackenzie Bethancourt, ninth (20:20.8); Rachael Bethancourt, 11th (21:10.6); Shantelle Berrien, 15th (21:33.1); and McKenna Martin, 16th (21:33.3). The top five Pumas earned All-Region Honors. 

 

The Pumas return to action at the 2024 NJCAA Cross Country National Championship meet on November 9th in Richmond, Virginia.  The women race at 9:30 a.m. (Eastern time), and the men race at 10:30 a.m. (Eastern time). The entirety of the 2024 NJCAA Cross Country Championships will be broadcast live on the NJCAA Network and will be available to view on-demand at the conclusion of each contest. All six races will be free to view, and full results may be found here.