Adeline Montgomery wins ACCAC women's Cross Country Championships; women collectively finish 2nd, men 4th

The Women's and Men's competed at the ACCAC Championships hosted by Pima Community College at the El Rio Golf Course.  

The men, led by David Fernandez(Fr., Oro Valley, AZ, Ironwood Ridge H.S.) 11th place finish, placed 4th overall. The women ran to a 2nd place team finish, led by ACCAC Conference Champion Adeline Montgomery(Fr., Gilbert, AZ, Highland H.S.)  

"I was pleased that we were able to have respectable individual and team finishes today," said Cross Country Head Coach Dan Pescador, "we had a number of athletes earn All-Conference First Team, Second Team, an Honorable Mention."  

"I thought the men had an okay day. We are still a little stagnant, but at the end of the day we have to be better," said Coach Pescador, "we had some good performances by our consistent top 3 in David, Blake Fischer(So., Tempe, AZ, Corona Del Sol H.S.) (15th) and Zach Harrach(Fr., Gilbert, AZ, Highland H.S.) (18th).  I am really impressed by the way David has been performing in his first few collegiate races."  

Coach Pescador has a solid group of men's runners and anticipates them to do very well come conference time.  

"The women had a good day as well," said Pescador, "we were second overall, but I know the women will agree is that we have yet to run our best."  

To finish second behind CAC (Currently the #1 team in the country) and trail them by only 21 points speaks volumes as to the work that our small group of 6 ladies are doing.  

The women's team finish was catapulted by Montgomery's first place finish.  

"I thought Addi did a fantastic job on showing a tremendous amount of poise and maturity today," said Pescador.  

The plan was to wait until about the 2.5mile mark to go for the win, but Montgomery noticed the pace was too slow just after the first mile and took control of the race and never looked back.  

The women's team as a whole ran a great team race, as Gabby Ybarra, Samantha Miller, Hillary Ogutu, and Alexis Ramirez also garnered 2nd Team All-Conference and Honorable Mention.  

Both groups will look to improve on their personal bests and team placings. Next up for the Thunderbirds will be October 10th, as they host the Mesa Thunderbird Cross Country Classic.