“Perform your best when your best is required" 

        -John Wooden

Arete Prep Boys Track and Field earned the school’s first ever AIA team State Championship on Saturday night at Red Mountain HS. They won the Division 5 meet in dramatic fashion, with a last second lean and win from Junior Michael Harambasic in the 4x400m relay to edge out Sedona Red Rock by .1 second and secure the first place team finish. The Chargers earned the championship with 82 points, 2 points better than runner up Chandler Prep. Harambasic was one of the stars of the meet and was the only athlete to compete in the 100m, 200m, 400m, and 4x400m relay. Not only did he compete, but Michael took gold in the 400m (49.75), silver in the 200m (22.55), bronze in the 100m (11.16), and was part of the deciding 4x400m relay (3:29.67) with Jason Rozas, Derick Ruiz, and Matthew Evans.

The Chargers went into the meet seeded #1 in the 4x800m relay and earned gold by a wide margin as Derick Ruiz, Max Bruns, John Bruns, and Noah Wesson crossed the finish line in 8:07. They will compete against the best in the state next weekend at Mesa Community College in the overall AIA State Championships. The 4x8 currently has the 3rd best time in the state (8:07 at the Lancer Invite) across all divisions. Max Bruns earned silver medals in the 3200m (9:36) and 1600m (4:28). Arete shined in the 1600m as Max was followed closely in 3rd by Ruiz (4:30) and his brother John Bruns in 4th (4:30). John also ran a great 3200m, earning the Chargers crucial points down the stretch, crossing in 9:57. Senior Noah Wesson Pr’d in the 3200 with a 10:22. Ruiz earned a 4th place finish in the 800m with a 1:59. Other meet highlights for the boys included Ryan Mourad scoring in the high jump with a jump of 5-08, Prahlad Rattan taking 12th in the Javelin, and Ronan Lanniuer 15th, and Nhattan Pham earning a 9th place finish in the triple jump.

A couple freshman had outstanding meets and seasons on the girls side. Dani Kerwin earned two podiums with a 3rd place finish in the 100m hurdles (PR 16.76), and a bronze in the long jump. Izzy Restivo placed 5th in long jump and 8th in the 100m. Senior Bekkah Garver made finals and placed 8th in the 100m hurdles, PR’ing at 17.72.

Best of luck to our 4x800 at “Super States” next weekend, the overall AIA Track and Field Championships. Congratulations to our entire team for this accomplishment- you have certainly “Left Your Legacy!” 1st year Head Coach Greg Nickerson earned his first team state title for his career. Thank you to our entire staff for setting our team up for success when it counted the most. Thank you also to our track and field parents who have provided so much support to this group of athletes and our program over the past few years.