The pre-race favorites -- as expected -- were the winners in the sweepstakes races at the 7th annual Desert Twilight Cross Country Invitational held the first weekend of October at Toka Sticks Golf Course in Mesa.

Corona del Sol senior Nathan Rodriguez and Desert Vista junior Dani Jones finished first in their respective races helping guide their squads to team titles as well. Corona bested the likes of Redondo Union, Redondo Beach, Calif., Page and Tuba City for first  in the boys competition. Desert Vista dethroned last year's champ Xavier Prep. Desert Vista finished with 61 points, Xavier was second and Highland was fifth completing Arizona schools in the top 5.

Rodriguez was the top returning boys sweepstakes runner (fourth last season. Rodriguez covered the 5K course in 15 minutes, 8 seconds. Corona teammates Ryan Normand and Marcus Wheeler were right behind with Normand taking second (15:10) and Wheeler fourth (15:22). Rounding out Corona's scoring runners were  Blake Fischer and Patrick Cullings. Corona totaled 102 points. Runner-up to Corona del Sol was Page.

Rodriguez has won every invitational he's raced in this season -- five in all. Dani Jones has been just as lethal in winning invites in Arizona and out of state. Desert Twilight is a strong indicator for top runners since the field is top notch and competition is so massive with schools across every division (4) from Arizona.   

Completing the top 10 boys sweepstakes' race from Arizona finishers: Anthony Masayesva (3rd, Tuba City); NIck Dale (5th), Mountain Ridge, Lucky Schreiner (6th, Campo Verde), Harvey Nelson (7th, Catalina Foothills and Josh Hoskinson (9th, Arizona Lutheran).

Dani Jones winning time was 17 minutes, 19 seconds. Dani Jones sister, freshman Baylee, was third. Desert Vista took 15th (Nicole Hicks), 24th (Emily Smith) and 28th (Amanda Davis) to deny Xavier's bid at another title. Xavier was led by senior Shelby Brown (6th) and four teammates bunched at 20th (Sierra Brown), 21st (Jane Miller), 22nd (Lauren Kinzle) and 23rd (Sarah Carter). 

Rounding out the top 10 girls sweepstakes' finishers from Arizona schools: Alexandra Schadler (4th, Rio Rico), Lauren Ellsworth (5th, Highland) and Huston Jones (9th, Mesa Mountain View).