Arizona cross country: Horizon's Donovan Bitticks wins coveted Desert Twilight XC Festival (2024)

In an electric atmosphere, which at one point featured a makeshift dance party on the course of Toka Sticks Golf Course, the state’s top runners descended upon Mesa for the Desert Twilight Cross Country Festival on Friday evening.

The event is the largest high school cross country competition of the season as the meet returned to its original venue. Nearly 6,000 athletes from 248 schools across five states were in attendance. There were 31 races held across the night, with the final two – the “Championship” and “Sweepstakes” – serving as the fastest.

While the Niwot girls from Colorado, who are a top-ranked program in the nation, made history as all five runners finished first through fifth place for a perfect score of 15 points, the state of Arizona made plenty of headlines as well. Here are three key takeaways from the meet.

Horizon's Donovan Bitticks impresses

Scottsdale Horizon senior Donovan Bitticks is one of those athletes who looks up to this meet and always has it circled on his calendar. For years, he’s been dreaming about winning it. The last Arizona runner to take home first place in the coveted “Sweepstakes” race was Gilbert Highland’s Leo Daschbach, one of the top athletes in state history, back in 2019.

Until now.

Bitticks used a huge late surge doing the final stretch to propel him into the lead and was able to fend off Niwot sophom*ore Rocco Culpepper to win the race in a time of 15:10.3. The win is certainly special, especially considering the lineage of Culpepper – his dad and older brother are both sub-four-minute mile runners.

“It means a lot,” Bitticks said. “Throughout the whole race, I heard people chanting my name, saying, ‘Represent AZ.’ Kept hyping me up, it meant a lot. I’ve thought about winning this race for a long time. I’ve been wanting to win it for a long time. It was awesome.”

It’s the first time ever in school history that a runner with a Horizon uniform has crossed the line in first place at Desert Twilight. For coach Mike Gleason, that’s something he’s going to remember.

“I’m super excited,” Gleason said. “He’s worked so hard. He’s put in so many miles this summer, to see it pay off, the hard work pay off for him, it couldn’t mean more to us. It’s all of us, the whole team was here cheering him on. They were all excited to see him perform at that level. We knew he had it in him."

Bitticks asserts himself as the best individual runner in the state heading into October and one to watch at the state finals.

The next top Arizona finisher was Peoria Liberty senior Ryan Denhof, who ran 15:18.6 to come in 6th place. Denhof has been putting together a strong senior season and Friday evening was another sign of that. Right behind Denhof in 7th place was Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian Academy senior Myles Floyd, running 15:20.4.

Phoenix Country Day's Kimi Cahoon shines

Phoenix Country Day School senior Kimi Cahoon is one of the most decorated track and field athletes with seven state titles across three events in her name. But she also ran at the same time as Phoenix Desert Vista/Gilbert Valley Christian’s Lauren Ping and Flagstaff’s Mia Hall, both of whom will go down as some of the best runners Arizona will ever see, both of whom have moved on to colleges.

Friday evening was the best race of her career, as she ran a personal best of 17:57.0 to finish in sixth place. She was the highest-placing Arizona athlete in the Sweepstakes race, and was the first runner not wearing a Niwot jersey to cross the finish line.

Cahoon finished just ahead of Goodyear Millennium senior Landen LeBlond, one of the fastest runners in the state, who ran 18:03.1 to come in eighth place. It’s the first time that Cahoon has beaten LeBlond, a competitor she’s raced against for years now.

“It feels good, it builds my confidence,” Cahoon said. “I’ve been working really hard – it kind of proves it. But then again, Landen’s an amazing athlete. I think this year, we’re just going to go back and forth. I want that to be the case because I want Arizona running to get on the map. It’s not quite there, but I think we’re pushing toward it. Just to be able to race with her, I think for me, has been awesome. It’s been really good for my success. She’s really pushed me. It’s more respect and gratitude, we’re willing to push each other.”

Highland Hawks still flying high

On the team front, the Highland Hawks entered the meet as the top squad on both the boys and girls sides as they got their first opportunity to take on the rest of Arizona.

The girls, who are coming off a historic season last year as one of the most dominant teams in state history, proved they still are the team to beat as they finished in third place with 133 points. The next highest-finishing team from Arizona was Phoenix Xavier Prep, which came in fifth at 210 points.

The Hawks were led by their top duo of junior Stella Hall and sophom*ore Camryn Delancey. Hall, 18:51.8, finished in 25th, while Delancey, 18:57.7, finished 26th.

Coach Dave Montgomery was satisfied with his team’s performance, although he noted not all opposing teams were at full strength.

“I’m pleased,” Montgomery said. “Not everybody ran the greatest, but you saw the pack. Big meets like this, that’s what it takes. With where we’re at in our training – a lot of teams peak for this, we’re not peaking until we’re supposed to – I’m pleased. I think we’re right where we need to be.”

For the boys, Highland was paced by senior Crewe Resendez, who ran 15:42.7 to come in 16th place. Not far off was senior Tim Willford in 26th place at 15:53.1.

Highland, at 201 points, came in third place overall. The next closest in-state competitor was Hamilton, which scored 264 points to finish in sixth place.

Montgomery said the two third-place finishes by both teams were the first time that’s ever happened for the school at the Desert Twilight meet.

“I’m proud of them,” Montgomery said. “Because Colorado, they have an advantage. Come on, altitude, a lot of those schools recruit, they cherry-pick. Most of the Arizona schools, we take what we get. I’m real proud of them. They competed today. It was awesome, it was a great race.”

Other highlights

• Millennium’s Landen LeBlond, one of the state’s top runners, did finish the Sweepstakes race but had to be helped off by meet officials after collapsing at the finish line.

• Phoenix Northwest Christian senior Ashley Tarasenko continues to impress after moving over from Maui this past May – she came in 17th place in the Sweepstakes race, running 18:41.5, to finish as the third-highest placing Arizona athlete in the race.

• Mesa’s Red Mountain Tyler Mathews, the No. 1 800-meter runner in the United States, ran a personal best of 15:48.4 to come in 24th place in the Sweepstakes race.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Horizon's Donovan Bitticks wins coveted Desert Twilight XC Festival