Tia Reid s an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover North Canyon High School for AZPreps365.com.

With one last chance to make a statement before the postseason started, North Canyon High School’s cross-country team competed in the Juan Reyes Invitational at Cesar Chavez Park in Phoenix on Saturday, hoping to make its mark.

Under a cloudy and stormy sky, the Rattlers won a season-high five medals, setting themselves up to make a run in the postseason.

“It feels great honestly,” said boys’ head coach Daniel Flores. “This is the best meet we’ve had so far, and it’s coming along right at the right time of the season. This is our last regular-season meet. Next, we just have our districts, sectionals and then state championships, so it’s nice that everything is coming together right now.”

The highlight of the meet came in the boys’ varsity race. With two strong competitors in senior Louis Diaz and sophomore Killian Grimm, the Rattlers had a real chance to walk away with some hardware.

From the onset of the race, Diaz jumped out to the front. As the competitors came around the lake to complete the first mile, Diaz trailed just one runner. The next time he came around, he was in first once again.

However, in order to secure his win, Diaz had to fight off a challenger in junior Aron Kiflu from Camelback High School. The two switched places several times before crossing the finish line. Right before the line, Diaz stretched for the win, giving his all before collapsing.

“I think just how his weeks have been going, I think he’s been getting a lot of confidence, and I think just his mindset coming into this race was a little bit different,” Flores said. “You could tell he was ready to race more aggressively and just take it out. By any means necessary, he was going to try to get the win.”

With a personal-best 5K time of 16 minutes, 11.3 seconds, Diaz won not only his first race of the season but the first of his cross-country career.

“I believe I had it,” Diaz said. “I had it in me. That’s all I was thinking through the race, that I had to prove myself, that I could withstand the pace and everything…[Winning] was one of [the goals]. I know I had it in me. I just had to show it off. I believe I always had it in me. Today I felt more confident and more strong in my ability to show it.”

Diaz wasn’t the only runner to reach a milestone. Three Rattlers – junior Aylin Rochin, sophomore Jennifer Padilla and junior Naszion Hamilton – walked away with medals after competing in the junior varsity races on Saturday. Padilla and Hamilton were first-time medal winners.

“I think I did really good,” Padilla said. “It’s my first medal, so I was really excited. I feel like I pushed through the whole race and did not give up…I think I pushed through the whole race instead of slowing down in the last mile. I actually pushed through it and tried to keep my position. It was just really good.”

Coaches were excited to see their athletes doing well, especially so close to the end of the season. They were also excited to see their runners successfully apply the techniques they’d been working on in practice.

“I think they went out really strong that first half mile just to set themselves in a good spot, and what we’ve been trying to work on is the middle to end of our race, which I think they progressed a lot in,” Flores said. “They really stayed tough and really kept pushing themselves in that second half.”

Grimm and Diaz were excited to see their teammates making such grand strides and performing well.

“It was amazing,” Diaz said. “It was the best feeling. Seeing other people around you succeed or get what they haven’t got in a while, it lifts me up.”

“That feels great to see the whole team do well,” Grimm added. “We’re all happy. We’re all going home with something in our hands. It’s good. It’s a really satisfying feeling. I’ll sleep well tonight.”

Overall, eight North Canyon runners reached personal bests in the 5K. On the girls' side, the most significant improvement came from Padilla. Her time of 25:16.8 bested her previous personal record by about 2:25. For the boys, it was senior Anthony Clemente who improved the most. His time of 22:28.1 smashed his previous best by about 2:30.

With three key races left on the schedule, North Canyon is ready to start reining in practices so that athletes are in the best possible position to perform well in the championship meets.

On the mental side, a day like Saturday was what the Rattlers needed to boost their confidence and prove to themselves they could run fast and compete with top athletes. As the season finishes, the coaches have nothing but high hopes for their athletes.

“We want them to meet their goals,” said girls’ head coach Kenzie Flores. “They have been setting huge goals for themselves. They want to run faster. They want to be closer to their teammates. They want to have big wins like Louis did today, so we only want them to get faster and reach their goals.”