PAGE – The Page High School cross-country team’s six-year state title-winning streak came to an end last week when the Runnin’ Devils placed third at the state meet.

Salpointe Catholic High (Tucson) placed first with a score of 57, Snowflake Union High (Snowflake, Arizona) placed second with a score of 68. Page had 80 points. Shadow Mountain High (Phoenix), Prescott, and Thatcher high schools rounded out the top six teams.

Page runner Trent Holiday finished third overall, and Rex Martin finished fifth overall. Freshman runner Jade Reid finished ninth overall in the girls’ meet.

When the 2020 cross-country season is entered into the record books it will certainly come with an asterisk, identifying it as an incomplete season.

For the Page Runnin’ Devils, the 2020 season didn’t begin until Sectionals, and even that caught the team by surprise. Some of the runners had taken measures to maintain their fitness, but it wasn’t at the level it would have been during a normal season.

Given the unusual circumstances of the season, cross-country coach Theo Martin felt OK about the team’s performance. 

“I think we did well,” he said. “They didn’t run as well as they wanted to, but it was a pretty big task to win with the amount of preparation we had. If we would have had another three weeks to prepare, I think we would have won.

He added, “Halfway through the race we were winning, but that’s when our lack of conditioning got the best of us. Our two seniors had built their conditioning base already, but our younger runners hadn’t had time to build up their bases, and it caught up with us during the last half of the race.”

Holiday and Rex Martin ran at the front of the pack for the entirety of the race. The runner who went on to win broke away from the main pack at the two-mile mark.

Theo Martin said he got a much better performance from Shayden Begay who finished 35th. Theo Martin expected him to finish closer to 45th.

Jade Reid, who’s on the girls’ team, also had a great meet. “She got after it from the get-go,” Theo Martin said. “Finishing ninth as a freshman is pretty great. I expect great things from her in the future.

Holiday and Rex Martin are seniors this year, but the Runnin’ Devils have six boys returning next year. “If we have a regular season next year, put your money on us.”