Alil Washington is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Tempe High School for AZPreps365.com

Armando Lopez Bojorquez, one of Tempe’s top runners, met his ultimate goal and qualified for state at the AIA’s Division II East sectional cross-country meet Oct. 23 at Crossroads Park in Gilbert.

Going into the qualifying meet, which included 61 Arizona cross-country programs, Tempe’s head coach Brandon Thompson pushed Armando to step outside of his running comfort zone. The two set three goals for Armando going into the meet: to earn a top placement medal, to run a personal best time, and to qualify for the Arizona state meet. He ran the boys 5K in 17 minutes, 59 seconds, finishing 15th out of 84 runners.

Armando explained his strategy for racing in this high-stakes meet.

“I just try to have my sights on the 14th runner, and try not to let him get away from me, “ Armando said. “As the last mile approached, I tried catching up to him slowly, so I was in the position to not lose him.”

Armando’s brother, Brandon Lopez Bojorquez, fell short of qualifying for the state meet after he tried tailing behind his brother throughout the rigorous course. Brandon finished 39th with a time of 19:09.

“I felt pretty faster than usual, but I kind of died out on the straightaway of this course,” Brandon said. “I passed a good amount of people throughout the race, but I’m pretty disappointed that I didn’t have the chance to qualify for the state meet.”

On the girls team, Trinity Orta had high hopes of qualifying for state, but fell short. Orta finished at  25:27, placing 39th out of 65 runners in the girls 5K.

“I tackled a lot of hills during this course taking advantage of striding down them, but it became a bit more difficult for me this time as I felt the need to throw up,” Orta said. “This course was a lot harder knowing there is a lot of terrain, running in soggy areas near the lake, a lot of hills, and a straight dirt path. It’s rough.”

The Tempe boys and girls teams finished in 9th place. Armando Lopez Bojorquez was the only Tempe runner to qualify for the state meet.

Thompson is looking forward to prepping Armando for the state meet, Nov. 2 at the Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix.

“I’m going to write a three-four hard-day workout plan for him, and going to sit down to evaluate it with him,” Thompson said. “It's going to be an evaluation about what he feels most good with, and what’s overall going to suit him the best to prepare him for the state meet."