Sectionals loom ahead next week
By Raymundo Frasquillo
THATCHER – A total of 16 schools are scheduled to participate in the Thatcher Invitational on Wednesday, Oct. 16. The Eagles will host Benson, Fort Thomas, Globe, Miami, Morenci, Pima, Queen Creek, Safford, Saint David, San Carlos, Tombstone, Whiteriver Alchesay, and Willcox along with New Mexico Bayard Cobre and Silver City Silver.
John Gleason Lancer Invitational – Boys Varsity
Morenci finished 19th of 25 teams scoring during the John Gleason Lancer Invitational on Oct. 12. The Tucson Rolling Hills Golf Course had a total of 167 entrants competing on it. There were 154 entrants in 2023, 106 in 2022, and 161 in 2021.
Junior Lyndale Waterhouse and freshman Joaquin Ma set personal records, clocking in with 20:33.10 for 121st and 22:45.70 for 155th, respectively, while senior Trent Nelson and junior Aaron Esquivel had season best efforts with 18:22.50 for 49th and 22:13.60 for 150th, respectively.
Senior Anthony Heathman was 66th (18:38.10), freshman Ryder Nelson 109th (20:11.10), and senior Tristan Burke 163rd (23:55.90). It was Heathman’s fourth run on this course, posting times of 19:48.70 as a freshman, 19:05.40 as a sophomore, and 17:43.40 as a junior.
Safford had senior Anthony Ortega finishing 59th (18:29.70), junior Noah Gonzales at 91st (19:33.60), sophomore Justin Hackett at 104th (20:04.90), and freshman Karlos Enrico at 161st (23:44.80). Ortega clocked in with 18:34.00 last season.
Glendale Mountain Ridge finished first with 95 points, Tucson Mica Mountain second (110), Tucson Salpointe Catholic third (141), Rio Rico fourth (145), and Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge fifth (170).
The top five individual finishers were Tucson Tanque Verde senior Andrew Smith with 16:24.30, followed by Tucson Rincon/University junior Finnegan Hawes (16:32.20), Mountain Ridge junior Collin Foley (16:43.90), Mica Mountain senior Noah Macias (16:46.30), and Tucson Catalina junior Emiliano Caldera (16:54.50).
Copper Hills Classic – Boys Varsity
Benson sophomore Jace Myatt clocked in with a time of 18:15.49 to finish first during the Copper HillsClassic on Oct. 8. It was held on the Greenlee County Golf Course. Thatcher Class of 2022 grad Joby Rojas left his 16:38.00 clocking as the new standard during his senior year. Safford Class of 2020 grad Jacob Urrea set 18:18.30 as the time to beat in Morenci during the Oct. 15, 2019 meet.
The Benson Bobcats placed first with 50 points, followed by Morenci (68), Thatcher (78), Tombstone (83), Pima (116), San Carlos (133), and Willcox (168). There were 51 participants from nine schools, with Fort Thomas and Saint David having only four members or one light of a full team.
Thatcher senior Callum Winkler was second (18:29.76), Morenci seniors Trent Nelson and Anthony Heathman were third (18:36.84) and fourth (19:05.23), respectively, and Tombstone senior Landen Pease fifth (19:23.84).
Benson included Myatt, senior Syric Ramirez eighth (19:32.20), junior Emerson Owens 13th (20:24.22), sophomore Kolten Maxwell 16th (20:44.38), and junior Makai Pralgo (20:51.10). The sixth and seventh Bobcats, sophomore Salomon Crowley and freshman Prisco Capangpangan were 21st (21:04.88) and 24th (21:54.52), respectively.
Morenci was second with Trent Nelson, Heathman, Ryder Nelson at 10th (20:03.23), Lyndale Waterhouse at 17th (20:50.65), and junior Aaron Esquivel at 43rd (25:30.54). The sixth Wildcat, senior Tristan Burke was 44th (26:01.48).
Thatcher ended third with Winkler, freshman Westen Dement in sixth (19:24.17), senior Wallace Haller at 19th (20:52.74), junior Bryson Nielson at 26th (21:29.80), freshman Blake Bingham at 31st (22:28.95). The sixth Eagle, freshman Ryan Griffin came in 34th (22:46.69).
Fourth place Tombstone had Pease, senior Danary Jackson at seventh (19:25.07), sophomore Jason Whipple at 20th (20:55.29), freshman Logan Masters at 28th (21:51.65), and sophomore Colton Thursby at 36th (22:19.00). The sixth and seventh Yellow Jackets, freshman Aiden Werkheiser and Chase Davidson were 30th (22:27.56) and 39th (23:40.88).
Pima was fifth with sophomore Oliver McCray at 11th (20:05.32), junior Keaton Bryce at 14th (20:32.58), junior Isaac Thompson at 23rd (21:19.19), freshman Kia Nieves at 37th (23:02.86), and senior Kaelsy Cluff at 46th (26:57.19). The sixth Roughrider, sophomore Cartsen Cluff was 49th (30:12.70).
Sixth place San Carlos had sophomore Dakota Edwards at 15th (20:44.04), senior Demyen Andrews at 25th (21:28.70), senior David Dude III at 35th (22:52.56), sophomore Talen Pechuli at 36th (22:56.80), and sophomore Kris Church at 38th (23:13.42). The sixth Brave, sophomore Christian Chapman was 41st (24:06.29).
Willcox was seventh with junior Sawyer Thompson at 22nd (21:17.03), sophomore Nathan Riggs at 27th (21:38.36), freshman Landon Hooper at 45th (26:47.77), sophomore Mark Wilson at 48th (27:53.79), and freshman Brigham Nolan at 50th (30:29.23).
Other individual finishers were Fort Thomas junior Aiden Victor at ninth (19:55.71), Saint David senior Corban Fry at 12th (20:18.26), Saint David sophomore Brayden Posey at 32nd (22:31.15), Fort Thomas junior Leandro Kenton at 33rd (22:31.32), Fort Thomas freshman Aaden Anderson at 40th (23:58.58), Fort Thomas junior Koby Hunter at 47th (27:18.94), and Saint David sophomore Jaryn Brogan at 51st (39:45.94).
Copper Hills Classic – Boys Open
Thatcher freshman Milan Millar had a time of 22:32.16 to place first of 22 open runners. The field included11 from Thatcher, five from San Carlos, three from Morenci, two from Benson, and one from Tombstone.
