On your mark, get set, go! The Agua Fria’s cross-country team races off against North Mustangs, Barry Goldwater, Coronado, and Moon Valley. This event was held at the Agua Fria Highschool track field at 3:30 p.m., also celebrating senior night for Cyrus Bergeson, Joseph Gil Diaz, Connor Lange, and Alyssa Perez.

The girl’s cross country teams are up first, on the starting line at 4:00 pm. PEW! The starting shot has been fired! Which high school team would cross the finish line for first place? All we need to do is wait. What’s this? ! Looks like a former senior; Alyssa Perez is currently in first place for the girl’s team of Agua Fria High School, as she crosses the first lap of the race and is now in the final lap. Several minutes have gone by and it still looks like Alyssa is in first place! She crosses the finish line with no other team in sight! Incredible runner as she finishes her 3-kilometer race in 22 minutes and 41 seconds. “My personal record was 22 minutes and 16 seconds”, Alyssa Perez said. This race almost led her to beat her record as she was just 25 seconds off. Incredible performance from Alyssa. Although she placed first in the race, the girl’s team overall placed second, just behind North Mustangs. 

It is now 5:00 pm and the boy’s team is now on the starting line. The starting pistol has been fired once again and now we wait for which high school would come out first in the race. Not even 20 minutes went by, and a runner for the Agua Fria team; Hani Davis, finished first in just 18 minutes and 28 seconds! What an amazing runner as he finishes his five-kilometer run in just 18 minutes! This would make the boy’s team win streak 35-0 to 37-0. Keeping the streak alive for the past three years! “The cool thing is the group of boys that are running right now weren’t on the team when that win streak started”, head coach Haubs mentioned. This is remarkable as this group of boys currently running for the team is progressing with their winning streak that has been carried on by previous runners. In Coach Haub’s words, “It’s kind of like a tradition, starting with a group of seniors that graduated last year and then transitioning to newer athletes that are currently running right now.” Come to think of it, it does seem to be a tradition in some way as it all started three years ago and then progressed to this day with newer athletes participating along the way.

After the races were over, I interviewed Alyssa Perez again to ask her how she feels as this is her last year in the program. “To be honest, it hasn’t hit me yet because I feel like I have so many years to be here but it’s the last one,” she states. Sadly, things people love to do end at some point whether you realize it or not. “It’s pretty surreal, you know, I didn’t even think about it till today when I got a lot of attention even though I don’t really like getting attention. But otherwise yeah, it feels weird,” Joseph Gil Diaz added as he is also a senior in this program. Knowing that this is his final year, in some way felt weird for him.

“My team members are really supportive, we’re a close-knit team and I do appreciate all of them,” Alyssa Perez said. Along Alyssa’s journey in this program, she grew connected to her team, also appreciating them for what they have done for the Agua Fria girl’s cross country team. “Coach Haubs is amazing and honest which I appreciate. He’s the person who got me to where I am and motivates me,” she adds. What a passionate response from Alyssa as she shows how she cares for her coach and is thankful to him for letting her be in this program in the first place.

I interviewed Coach Haubs again to see how he feels about his senior runners right now as this is their final year. “I will miss them, they are a talented group and it is hard to let go,” he said. It is truly very hard to let go especially for Coach Haubs as he cares deeply for the team that has put in their work throughout the years in this program and not giving up. 

Advice from Coach Haubs, “Don’t be afraid to do something because it might be hard. Embrace it and participate with other groups of people because it would be a lot easier to do something because you have people supporting you.” 

Two more meets until the cross-country season ends and it would likely be very emotional for these seniors in this program as they loved everything about their team, all supporting and appreciating each other. Let’s hope for the best for Alyssa Perez to beat her record for the upcoming meets, the boy’s team to advance their win streak, and the rest of the seniors; Joseph Gil Diaz, Cyrus Bergeson, and Connor Lange as this is their final year in cross country and their final year of High School.