Corona Del Sol’s cross country team has a new mindset and an eagerness to do well in 2019. 

Corona Del Sol has a history of success in its athletic department. Cross Country is a sport the school takes pride in.

Corona has participated in two meets, the Chandler Invitational, and the Ojo Rojo Invitational. In these meets the runners and coaches were able to get a sense of their abilities for the season. 

One of the upcoming races the runners are excited to participate in is the Desert Twilight Cross Country Festival. This meet features more than 100 high school teams from all around the country.

Desert Twilight is one of the most anticipated meets of the season because it offers greater competition and is one of the only that takes place at night. It takes place at Grande Sports World, Casa Grande, Ariz. on Sept. 27.

The runners especially like it for the change of scenery it brings to the season. They find it to be their favorite meet of the year. 

“Definitely looking forward to Twilight this year. It’s by far our favorite race because it’s at night, and we always run in the elite race,” senior Emily Rugg said. “There are fireworks and it's a very fun experience." 

Senior Zachary Johnson, a key runner for the boys team, also says his favorite meet is Desert Twilight. 

“Twilight should be a really good race, and I am trying to get sub-16 minutes there,” Johnson said. 

At the Ojo Rojo Invitational, the boys’ varsity team finished in third place as a team, and senior Zachary Johnson finished second individually. The girls finished in 10th place overall, with sophomore Ashlinn Aguayo finishing 21st. 

The Aztecs look to continue their momentum. Brian Crane and Pat Smith, head coaches for the girls and boys teams, respectively, have set goals for their runners to accomplish. 

Crane believes his girls team is moving in an upward trajectory.

“I know they are going to improve each meet, which is the goal, and the ultimate goal is to make state," said Crane. 

Smith feels improvement coming along for his boys as well. 

“The boys were spread out in the first meet, and the second meet we were a lot closer, but I think we’re pretty good," Smith said. "We got our two front runners leading and the other five varsity runners close together, so hopefully our group keeps improving.” 

The coaches are positive the group they have this year will do well due to the runners’ mindsets. 

“As far as camaraderie I don’t think it’s been this good in a long time across all levels,” Crane said. “Freshmen to seniors, they’ve been more cohesive than they have been in the past few seasons.” 

“And hopefully this translates into some results,” Smith added.