Erin Hjerpe is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Horizon Honors through AZPreps365.com

The heat was scorching at the Titan Invitational in Gilbert's Crossroads Park on Thursday.

Maya Wells started off strong for Horizon Honors through the finish as she passed Arizona College Prep to place 16th at 23 minutes, 8.7 seconds.

”I thought I had a good finish and I sniped a girl," Wells said.

Madelyn Longstreet finished 44th (27:38) to cap off the girls run.

The Horizon Honors boys' top runner Trey Costello finished seventh at 17:23.4, seven seconds off his personal best.

“I thought it was pretty good for today cause it’s pretty hot, and I was like top two division four so I was happy with it," Costello said.

Costello finished ahead of a dominant Valley Christian team. Most of the runners in front of him were Division III, so his finish today is a test for sectionals.

“His goal today was to finish top 10," Horizon Honors head coach David Sheveland said.

Costello was followed by Antonio Arelleno at 53rd (20:05.7), Liam Proctor at 62nd (20:33.5), Jon Buschko at 75th (21:25.0), Keenan Christian at 91st (22:37.9), Reese Burros at 100th (20:20.3) and Joey Evans at 101st (31:01.9).

This meet was important for the Eagles as they just came off fall break in which Sheveland stressed to his team about the importance of training.

The boys team finished 11th at 250 points while Valley Christian took the division with 69 points. Zachary Albenese from Seton Catholic placed first at 16:36.7, respectively.

AZ College Prep won the girls division with 39 points. Saguaro’s Evangeline Dunckley placed first at 19:54.8 followed closely by American Leadership Academy-Ironwood top runner Teagan Fears at 19:59.6.

The team continues to push through the season getting closer to sectional and the state championship. 

Sheveland hopes to take his team to state for the first time in 26 years. He has high hopes for his team after their finish today. Four of their runners finished between 20 and 23 minutes, which is good for the team race.

While they only finished 11th, they were only two points behind Arete Prep and four points behind Veritas Prep.

Horizon Honors looks to continue their success with its two final meets before sectionals. They will travel to Rose Mofford Sports Complex on Oct. 19 for the Valley Lutheran Invitational. They will see familiar faces such as Valley Christian and Arete Prep who they competed against today.

The Eagles will then host their own Horizon Honors Invitational at Pecos Park on Oct. 26. Schools like ALA-Ironwood and Arete Prep will be in attendance.

Division I school Mountain Pointe will also be in attendance. Mountain Pointe's best boys runner Daniel Biakeddy finished 12th (17:12.2) at Desert Twilight on Sept. 30.

Both meets will bring in good competition for Horizon Honors. The team needs to push through the next two weeks in preparation for sectional. The sectional meet for Division IV East will take place Nov. 2 at Crossroads Park.