Shirell Washington is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Deer Valley High School for AZPreps365.com

In the world of cross country, where every stride counts, lies a unique bond between two brothers that takes center stage. Meet the dynamic duo–Marquez and Daequan Tigue. These two are not just family but fierce competitors on the same team, pushing each other to new heights every time they compete.

Marquez, a junior, and Daequan, a freshman, are both members of the Deer Valley High School cross country team. Having a sibling on the team can create all kinds of pressure to be better than the other, but these two brothers push each other to excel with a synergy that's hard to define but evident in their performance.

“When they go out in a cross country race, which is 3.1 miles, they run side by side, they’re connected,” Coach Kevin Riegle said. “For the first mile and a half or two miles they are together and then one or the other usually starts to move a little bit ahead, but they're running right beside each other.”

On their team, the Tigue brothers are the top two runners in the 5,000 meters and ranked fourth and fifth in the Division II Metro section. 

“Last year, Marquez was on the team by himself because Daequan was still in eighth grade,” Riegle said. “He (Marquez) worked hard but he didn’t have that push that he’s got this year. And you can really see his (Marquez) times drop because of it.”

The Tigue boys have been participating in sports since they were young. They both started in basketball when they were around the ages of 5-6 or 7-8 years old due to their dad putting them in the sport. Marquez started taking running seriously during his freshman year after the basketball season ended and Daequan had already been running to help with basketball. 

“After I tore my ACL and got through rehab, I started taking track and cross country more seriously,” Daequan said. “Beforehand, I was just doing it on the side to help with my basketball because I did not think I was that good; I did not think I would be doing what I do now.”

Before Daequan entered high school they were competitors who lived in the same household. They competed with each other during the club track season but now, both in high school, Marquez said there is a different feeling of running against his brother versus a teammate or another competitor. 

“When we run, we see each other, so we try to like to beat each other,” Marquez said. “It’s different when you're running with your sibling compared to another person because we’ve been with each other our whole lives, been training together, racing together, so like when we race it's just like personal.”

“I just hate when he gets in front and I can’t keep up with him,” Daequan said. “It doesn’t feel the same as somebody passing me when my brother is ahead of me. I feel like I need to do way more to get to where he’s at cause I have the same genes as him, I do the same thing, the same workout as him and I’m like I can’t fall off.”

Their competitiveness, though fierce, is never destructive. Instead, they root for each other in the best ways. Daequan said that they tell each other and their teammates to “lock in” before each race. Before and after a race, they always give each other positive words of encouragement. 

“Usually after a race, we tell each other: ‘You did good, you did alright. You still got it next week’,” Daequan said.

A lot of their success does not come from the Tigue brothers’ hard work but also their support system. Their dad, Narva Tigue, and mom, Anna Tigue, show up and show out for their boys as much as possible. They said that they have been competitive since a young age. 

“They have been battling, they push each other,” Narva said. “They leave it all on the track. We get home, there’s no laughing, there’s no joking. It’s like ‘he got me today, I’m get him tomorrow’.”

Marquez and Daequan have set goals for themselves that they want to achieve before they graduate from high school.

“They have been doing it for so long and they’re the two youngest out of five (boys),” Narva said. “Their oldest brothers ran as well, so they always come from a running and basketball background.

“They also realize that out of their brothers, they achieved better than their brothers,” Narva said. “They went to prep school for basketball. They’re doing this in cross country. Their (older) brother set a record, and Quez already beat the record at Deer Valley. So, their goal is to beat all their older brothers' records, so that’s why they're running hard, so they want their name above their brother’s name but you’re still going to see all three of their names. So, that’s what they're going for.”

Also, to reach these goals the two brothers strictly focus on school and running. Their dad said that it was all the two boys knew due to having that structure from a young age. He said they don’t go to high school parties, dances or events, just school, practice, and home. 

After high school, the brothers share similar paths of continuing to run. Daequan has dreams of going pro and running at the Olympics and Marquez wants to get an athletic scholarship to run in college as well as pursue his academics.