Beatriz Martinez is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism graduate student assigned to cover Chandler for AZPreps365.com.

Senior twin brothers Francis and Gibson Kibia got knocked down to third and fourth in state rankings for all divisions after senior Christian Groendyk from Fort Collins (Colo.) High School earned a personal best of 15:10.10 at the Desert Twilight Festival in Mesa on Friday. 

The twins were the only two runners for the Chandler Wolves competing in the 5K Sweepstakes race, putting them up against the highest level of competition in high school cross-country. Teams from Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and San Diego traveled to Arizona to compete against the best talent in the nation.

“Gibson was 12th at the mile at 4:39 and then Francis was about 40th at 4:45,” Chandler coach Matt Lincoln said. “So, probably a little too fast for what we’d like to be going out in but it was also a good chance to just be aggressive and see how it feels.”

Gibson finished 34th overall with a time of 16:08.20, missing his career best by 48 seconds. Gibson’s mile splits were 4:39.70, 5:17.30 and his one and one tenth mile split was 6:11.20. 

“The first mile was fast but I felt comfortable,” Gibson said. “The second mile I could feel the lactic acid building. We were going fast down the hills and going fast up the hills, so the third mile was just bad.” 

Gibson and Francis feel the hours of sitting in the sun and inhaling the dust from previous races didn’t help them perform to their full potential. 

“If I stayed home, it would’ve been better,” Gibson said. “I’m not moving as much. I’m in my bed relaxing and not thinking so much about the race because you do get anxious. You’re watching other people run the race and you’re thinking, when am I going to race?”

Lincoln also believes the long hours of waiting prior to race affected their performance. He said a lot of the other schools that competed in the Sweepstakes race didn’t arrive at the course until one to two hours prior. 

“Francis and Gibson have been here since three o’clock and didn’t race until 10,” Lincoln said. “It’s hard because they can’t drive themselves here, so if they don’t have a ride they have to come on the bus.”

Francis finished 46th overall with a time of 16:14.10. His mile splits were 4:45.70, 5:22.6, and 6:05.80. He said if runners didn’t fall going down the hill in the first mile, he wouldn’t have exerted so much energy jumping over them.

“That put me in a very bad place,” Francis said. “When I tried to catch up with the people in front, people just started blocking me and shoving me so I couldn’t get there.”

Gibson and Francis felt this meet was great preparation for the State Championships in October. 

“We’re practicing everything we should do at state, like staying in the front and pacing.” Gibson said. “We can learn from this experience.” 

Chandler will compete next at the 40th Annual Asics Southern Cal Invitational in California on Oct. 8th.