Thatcher boys slip past Benson for first-place finish
By Raymundo Frasquillo
TOMBSTONE – Morenci will be one of 11 teams attending the rescheduled Justin Prevatte Cross Country Classic on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
The other participants joining “The Town Too Tough to Die” host Tombstone include Benson, Bisbee, Buckeye, Douglas, Saint David, Sierra Vista American Leadership, Sells Baboquivari, Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic, and Willcox.
The Sept. 9 meet was postponed due to weather after the Open Runs were completed. Empire, Fort Thomas, Pima, and Sierra Vista Buena did not indicate a return for the varsity portion. Buckeye freshman Landon Martinez finished first of 52 in 19:43.3.
Buena senior Manuel Olivo Quinones holds the meet record with a 15:38.0 clocking on Oct. 18, 2016.
Last season, Buena was first with 22 points, Benson second (68), Tombstone third (78), Baboquivari fourth (107), Bisbee fifth (168), Pima sixth (169), Douglas seventh (173), Safford eighth (178), Saint David ninth (217), and Willcox 10th (223).
Individually, Buena sophomore Damien Chavez placed first in 16:32.2.
The state qualifying Rio Rico-held sectional is in a week, on Nov. 4.
Copper Hills Classic (Oct. 21)
There were 11 schools represented in Greenlee County, with eight having a full team. Joining host Morenci were Benson, Bisbee, Tombstone, and Willcox from Cochise County; San Carlos from Gila County; Fort Thomas, Pima, Safford, and Thatcher from Graham County; and Eloy Santa Cruz from Pinal County.
Thatcher was first with 23 points, Benson second (51), Bisbee third (85), San Carlos fourth (132), Tombstone fifth (139), Fort Thomas sixth (140), Pima seventh (148), and Willcox eighth (192).
Morenci (1), Safford (2), and Eloy Santa Cruz (3) did not have full teams.
Individually, Thatcher junior Nathan Ratana was first of 53 and reset the meet record with a 16:25.0 clocking. Thatcher Class of 2022 grad Joby Rojas held the record of 16:38.0 (Oct. 27, 2021).
The rest of the Top 10 included Thatcher sophomore Brysen Kartchner in second (16:52.0), Benson sophomore Brody Upshaw third (17:27.0), Thatcher junior Weston DeMent fourth (17:34.0), Thatcher freshman Theodore Haller fifth (17:46.0), Benson senior Jace Myatt sixth (17:54.0), Tombstone junior Jacob Rodriguez seventh (18:11.0), San Carlos junior Davin Antonio eighth (18:13.0), Bisbee freshman Yomart Aguilera ninth (18:27.0), and Benson junior David Pratt 10th (18:40.0).
Meet champion Thatcher – 23 also had freshman Weston Welker 11th (18:43.0). The sixth and seventh Eagles, junior Ryan Griffin and sophomore Levi Palmer, were 11th (19:13.0) and 23rd/22 pts. (20:30.0), respectively.
Runner-up Benson – 51 also had sophomore Jacob Rubio 13th (18:57.0) and junior Prisco Capangpangan 20th/19 pts. (19:57.0). The sixth Bobcat, junior Orion Allred, was 53rd/49 pts. (25:43.0).
Third place Bisbee – 85 had senior Pete Noperi 12th (18:49.0), junior Spencer Linde 15th (19:08.0), senior Khobain Tidoso 24th/23 pts. (20:36.0), and junior Elijah Petrof 27th/26 pts. (20:59.0). The sixth and seventh Pumas, sophomore Izyk Rodriguez and freshman Noah Hernandez, were 29th/28 pts. (21:09.0) and 37th/36 pts. (21:39.0), respectively.
Fourth place San Carlos – 132 also had+1/2-5 sophomore Aiden Burdette 25th/24 pts. (20:47.0), senior Keyden Kenton 32nd/31 pts. (21:11.0), senior Dakota Edwards 33rd/32 pts. (21:25.0), and junior Kevin Church 39th/37 pts. (21:50.0). The sixth Brave, senior Talen Pechuli, was 42nd/40 pts. (22:40.0).
Fifth place Tombstone – 139 also had senior Jason Whipple 14th (19:01.0), sophomore Mark Bercume 35th/34 pts. (21:28.0), senior James Bercume 40th/38 pts. (22:14.0), and sophomore Zephaniah Fuller 49th/46 pts. (23:59.0).
Sixth Place Fort Thomas – 140 had senior Tristan Dia 24th/20 pts. (19:52.0), senior Keon Williams 36th/31 pts. (21:00.0), junior Aaden Anderson 40th/35 pts. (21:14.0), junior Seth Begay 44th/39 pts. (21:27.0), and freshman Edward Cassa 52nd/46 pts. (22:11.0). The sixth Apache, sophomore Michael Rogers, was 60th/50 pts. (22:52.0).
Seventh place Pima – 148 had freshman Drew Bryce 17th (19:18.0), sophomore Tell Richardson 21st/20 pts. (20:02.0), senior Oliver McCray 26th/25 pts. (20:52.0), junior Brigden England 44th/42 pts. (22:50.0), and sophomore Seth Perkins 46th/44 pts. (23:12.0). The sixth Roughrider, freshman Ridge Bryce, was 51st/48 pts. (24:34.0).
Eighth place Willcox – 192 had freshman Bryant Whetten 19th/18 pts. (19:54.0), sophomore Cooper Allred 41st/39 pts. (22:18.0), sophomore Ruben Sanchez 45th/43 pts. (23:03.0), junior Landon Hooper 47th/45 pts. (23:28.0), and senior Mark Wilson 50th/47 pts. (24:22.0). The sixth Cowboy, junior Brigham Nolan, was 54th/50 pts. (27:09.0).
Non-placing (fewer than five entrants) teams, Morenci (1) had junior Ryder Nelson 18th (19:22.0); Safford (2) had junior Karlos Enrico 38th (21:40.0) and senior Michael Cuevas 55th (29:03.0); Santa Cruz (3) had freshmen Adrian Ramirez 48th (23:53.0), Jose Quinones 52nd (25:38.0), and Alexander Chaput 56th (35:31.0).
Thatcher Blake Bingham was first of 32 in the Boys Open Run with a time of 19:40.0.
Last season, Thatcher was first with 39 points, Benson second (41), Fort Thomas third (114), Tombstone fourth (126), Pima fifth (135), San Carlos sixth (159), Bisbee seventh (159), Willcox eighth (181), and Morenci ninth (181). The tie-breaker was that Willcox had a sixth runner while Morenci didn’t.
Benson Invitational (Oct. 14)
There were 15 schools represented in Benson, with nine having a full team.
Thatcher was first with 37 points, Benson second (39), Empire third (79), San Carlos fourth (108), Bisbee fifth (143), Saint Augustine sixth (158), Fort Thomas seventh (171), Willcox eighth (185), and Globe ninth (235).
Morenci (1), Tombstone (3), Tucson Desert View (4), Sierra Vista American Leadership (1), Pima (4), Saint David (4), Desert View (1), and Tucson ASDB (3),
Individually, Thatcher junior Nathan Ratana reset the meet record of 17:38.0 (Sept. 18, 2025) held by Florence sophomore Blaze Coronel, with a 16:37.0 clocking.
The rest of the Top 10 included Benson sophomore Brody Upshaw in second (17:05.0), Thatcher junior Weston DeMent third (17:15.0), Thatcher sophomore Brysen Kartchner fourth (17:27.0), Benson senior Jace Myatt fifth (17:46.0), Benson sophomore Jacob Rubio sixth (18:16.0), Sierra Vista ALA sophomore Tanner Lunt seventh (18:18.0), San Carlos junior Davin Antonio eighth/7 pts. (18:19.0), Benson junior David Pratt ninth/8 pts. (18:33.0), and Empire sophomore Maddox Schmidt 10th/9 pts. (18:33.0).
Meet champion Thatcher – 37 also had freshman Weston Welker 14th/12 pts. (18:47.0) and sophomore Levi Palmer 21st/17 pts. (19:49.0). The sixth and seventh Eagles, junior Ryan Griffin and sophomore Easton Baker, were 23rd/19 pts. (19:50.0) and 32nd/27 pts. (20:42.0), respectively.
Runner-up Benson – 39 also had junior Prisco Capangpangan 22nd/18 pts. (19:50.0). The sixth Bobcat, junior Orion Allred, was 42nd/37 pts. (21:20.0).
Third-place Empire – 79 also had sophomore Logan Pratt 13th/11 pts. (18:45.0), sophomore Ukiah Dziadosz 17th/14 pts. (19:19.0), junior Adam Thornley 25th/21 pts. (19:54.0), and senior Jaidan Lopez 29th/24 pts. (20:12.0). The sixth and seventh Ravens, freshman Jax Locke and senior Rylan Nguyen, were 35th/30 pts. (20:58.0) and 41st/36 pts. (21:14.0), respectively.
Fourth-place San Carlos – 108 also had senior Isaiah Marquez 20th/16 pts. (19:47.0), freshman Kaydence Harney (1254) 30th/25 pts. (20:27.0), sophomore Aiden Burdette 33rd/28 pts. (20:44.0), and junior Kevin Church 37th/32 pts. (21:00.0). The sixth Brave, senior Dakota Edwards and senior Talen Pechuli, 45th/40 pts. (21:28.0) and 46th/41 pts. (21:30.0), respectively.
Fifth-place Bisbee – 143 had senior Pete Noperi 12th/10 pts. (18:45.0), junior Elijah Petrof 27th/22 pts. (20:02.03), senior Khobain Tidoso 34th/29 pts. (20:50.0), sophomore Izyk Rodriguez 39th/34 pts. (21:13.0), and freshman Sebastian Rodriguez 58th/48 pts. (22:40.0).
Sixth-place Saint Augustine Catholic – 158 (2-5) had junior Christopher Carrillo 16th/13 pts. (19:02.0), senior Adrian Cardenas 28th/23 pts. (20:07.0), freshman Benjamin Fette 38th/33 pts. (21:09.0), senior Yohan Suarez 47th/42 pts. (21:34.0), and junior Diego Sanchez 54th/47 pts. (22:17.0).
Seventh-place Fort Thomas – 171 had senior Tristan Dia 24th/20 pts. (19:52.0), senior Keon Williams 36th/31 pts. (21:00.0), junior Aaden Anderson 40th/35 pts. (21:14.0), junior Seth Begay 44th/39 pts. (21:27.0), and freshman Edward Cassa 52nd/46 pts. (22:11.0). The sixth Apache, sophomore Michael Rogers, was 60th/50 pts. (22:52.0).
Eighth-place Willcox – 185 had freshman Bryant Whetten 18th (19:24.0), senior Nathan Riggs 43rd/38 pts. (21:24.0), sophomore Cooper Allred 48th/43 pts. (21:57.0), junior Landon Hooper 48th/44 pts. (22:04.0), and senior Mark Wilson 50th/45 pts. (22:06.0). The sixth and seventh Cowboys, sophomore Ruben Sanchez and junior Brigham Nolan, were 62nd/52 pts. (23:48.0) and 63rd/53 pts. (24:02.0).
Ninth place Globe – 235 had senior Brody East 31st/26 pts. (20:35.0), Karmyne Dude 59th/49 pts. (22:47.0), senior Angel Contreras 61st/51 pts. (23:17.0), freshman Markus Smith 65th/54 pts. (24:17.0), and freshman Noah Stevens 69th/55 pts. (25:49.0). The sixth Tiger, senior Ethan Verdugo, was 73rd/56 pts. (33:07.0).
Non-placing (fewer than five entrants) teams, Morenci (1) had junior Ryder Nelson 19th (19:37.0); Tombstone (2) also had junior Jacob Rodriguez 11th (18:39.0), senior Jason Whipple 15th (18:59.0); Desert View (1) had senior Michael Orantez 56th (22:20.0); Sierra Vista ALA (3) also had sophomores Logan Daniell 53rd (22: 6.01) and Colton Martensen 64th (24:10.0); Pima (4) had sophomore Tell Richardson 26th (19:59.0), junior Brigden England 55th (22:19.0), sophomore Seth Perkins (876) 57th (22:23.0), and freshman Ridge Bryce 66th (25:00.0); Saint David (4) had freshman Ethan Lesiczka 67th (25:10.0), senior Ezra Fry 70th (26:03.0), sophomore Mark Bryant (859) 72nd (29:00.0), and senior Jaryn Brogan 74th (33:58.0); and ASDB (3) had junior Buba Gannes 50th (22:10.0), junior Brennen Green 68th (25:26.0), and senior Jonathan Atondo 71st (28:52.0).
In the Boys Open Run, Thatcher junior Blake Bingham finished first of 39 with a personal best of 20:11.0.
