Just in case somebody asks Carlos Villarreal and Allie Schadler where the small town of Rio Rico is during Arizona's high school state cross country meet, it is located about an hour south of Tucson.

The city is home to about 18,000 residents. It might be a small Arizona town, but RioRico is home to two of the big high school names in cross country this season, Villarreal and Schadler.

They are excellent distance runners, but the distance they travelled to reach the top of Division III was short. Villarreal is a senior and didn't start running competitively until his sophomore season in track.

Surprisingly, he's now the top distance male runner in Arizona, with college scholarship offers from the University of Arizona, Wake Forest and Northern Arizona. Schadler won the D-III state cross country title last year — as a freshman.

Villarreal and Schadler were blessed with talent and a top-notch coach, Steve Schadler, Allie's dad and Rio Rico's only cross country head coach. Steve ran for Stanford, and love brought him to Rio Rico in the 1990s. 

His wife, Toni Ann, ran at Indiana and arrived at Rio Rico first when a teaching opportunity opened up.

(Rio Rico's Carlos Villareal)

Steve followed. 

He has coached eight individual state champions and six team titles at Rio Rico. Villarreal might become Steve's unlikeliest of champs.

"It's still a little mind blowing for me where I'm at," Villarreal said. "I still wonder what would have happened to me if I hadn't gone out for track. Things happen for a reason I guess."

Wanting to stay in shape for the basketball season, Villarreal joined Rio Rico's track team during his sophomore year.

Villarreal is a fluid runner, Steve said, but he was anything but poetry in motion when he first started running. He used to get boxed in when a race started, prompting Villarreal to take a kangaroo-like hop to an open space.

But that routine stopped once he learned that he had the talent to stay in front of the pack from the outset. Villarreal has also benefitted from running daily with the defending D-III cross country champ, Rio Rico's Oscar Amaya.

"Carlos and Oscar have been exceptionally supportive of one another," Steve said.

The two good friends might finish first and second at state for the second consecutive year, but this year Villarreal is the favorite.

He hasn't lost to a D-III runner this year and posted the top Arizona boys time (14:49 at Desert Twilight) at a cross country event this season. Villarreal and Schadler are coming off sectional meet titles and appear to be peaking the right time.

Despite being a freshman, Schadler showed off her aggressiveness by attacking the state meet course last year. There's a significant dip after the first mile, but that's were Schadler made her move to break free from the pack en route to her state individual title.

(Rio Rico's Allie Schadler)

Stephen said that her daughter's physical strength is what sets her apart. Her mental makeup (almost straight A's in class) isn't bad either.

Schadler's personal best is 17:26, which she recorded at Desert Twilight this season. 

"I was surprised when I won state last year," Schadler said. "But part of me knew I could win it. Our girls team also won the title, so that made me ever more happy."   

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