Thomas Penn is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Horizon Honors High School for AZPreps365.com.

There were 36 teams and 476 runners weezing through the 100-degree afternoon heat at the Horizon Honors Invite at Phoenix's Pecos Park on Friday.

“The course is a very liked path amongst those participating, which is why it’s able to get such great turnout year after year,” former Horizon Honors middle school cross-country coach Jenny Boyd said.  

Northland Prep won the boys race, followed by ALA-Ironwood and Odyssey Institute in second and third, respectively. Horizon Honors finished 12th.

The top two finishers for the boys’ race were Northland Prep's Jack Flugstad and Yohanes Van Meerten. Flugstad crossed the finish line with a time of 16:52, and Yohanes 16:56. HH's top finisher was junior Trey Costello at 18:10.

The 16-team Northwest Christian was first in the girls race, Northland Prep was second, and Odyssey Institute was third. HH finished eighth.

Five of the top 13 finishers in the girls competition, came out of Northwest Christian, including the top finisher Ashley Tarasenko at 20:01. Gilbert Christian's Ryley Nelson came in second at 34 seconds after Tarasenko. Sophomore Maya Wells was HH's top finisher at 24:16. 

“I didn’t do as good as I normally do, but I’m proud that I didn’t walk," Wells said. "My favorite part was having more friends and family out here since it was a home race.” 

Cross-country sectionals are next week, as this was the last opportunity for teams across all divisions in Arizona to get some more experience.  

Costello has been the top runner for HH boys’ team throughout the season, and he expressed how proud he is of the team and their performance in the heat.

“It was hot today, dusty, I had a gameplan, and I followed through with it," Costello said.

The HH community is a lot smaller than a lot of these other schools they are competing with, so it’s important to them that they can continue hosting this event and grow their brand and program.

“No injuries, great start, great finish, everybody’s having a good time,” HH head coach Dave Sheveland said.