Local high school runners thankful for chance to show skills in postseason

To say it’s been a chaotic year athletically for Santa Rita High School senior Candice Pocase would be a drastic understatement, even amidst a pandemic.

The 17-year-old multi-sport athlete dealt with a serious injury, the shutdown of spring sports and a late start to her cross country season due to district delays and no coach under which to train, all in the middle of the Coronavirus.

But despite the shortened season and the unusual new routine of wellness checks and enhanced safety protocols, Pocase and dozens of other Southern Arizona high school distance runners are eagerly anticipating sectionals this week and the chance to compete for a state championship later this month.

Like most things in 2020, the rules are different: Only the top one-third of teams will go, as opposed to the top 50% that advanced in previous years. And for individual athletes, only the top seven finishers from non-qualifying teams will advance. Pre-Coronavirus, the top 14 went on to state.

But Pocase and her peers have adapted quickly to the multitude of changes these past few months, and in a 2020 filled with upsets, are just grateful to be given the opportunity to compete for the state’s top spots.

‘I’m a little bit nervous’

In the spring, right after Southern Arizona sports came crashing to a halt, Pocase started showing concussion symptoms, months after a wrestling match in which her opponent’s head smacked into the back of Pocase’s, following a successful move by the latter.

Her doctor diagnosed her with a concussion and enacted a strict protocol for the next few months, which included no running.

Pocase, 17, is a member of Santa Rita’s wrestling, track and cross country teams. She’s recently added volleyball to her repertoire and previously played football.

A state qualifier in pole vault her freshman and sophomore years, Pocase had already been forced to sit her junior season out due to injury by the time it was canceled in late March.

After three months without training, Pocase was given the all-clear by her doctor to return to training, and she hit the streets in late July to get ready for the cross country season in the fall.

But there were a few more hitches: Tucson Unified School District had still not decided what to do about fall sports, and Santa Rita no longer had a cross country coach.

Not one to spend a semester on the sidelines, Pocase quickly pivoted.

“When it seemed like cross country wasn’t going to happen, I signed up for volleyball,” Pocase said. “Playing in masks is different, but it’s not as difficult as I thought it was going to be.”

Used to juggling a full schedule, Pocase was happy to fit cross country into her routine once a coach came on board and Santa Rita’s season got up and running. But after an injury knocked her male counterpart out for the season, Pocase now finds herself as the sole member of the Eagles cross country team.

Pocase said that the safety protocols have been easy for the most part, and she’s just relieved to not have to be running races wearing a mask. Runners still have to be masked during warm-ups and all other times, but they’re given a few minutes post-race to catch their breaths before being required to put the masks back on, Pocase said.

And despite the late start and very shortened season (Santa Rita has only participated in a handful of meets) Pocase managed to top last year’s personal record of 23 minutes, 6 seconds with a new best time of 22:41 at Marana’s Eye of the Tiger meet late last month.

In the last meet of the season on Oct. 28, Pocase came in sixth for girls with a time of 23:13.

“It was hard with the hills and the mud. I was a little disappointed in my time, but it wasn’t too bad,” Pocase said, adding that she’s hopeful her sectionals performance will land her a return trip to state. Pocase qualified last year.

With Santa Rita’s sectionals slated for Wednesday in Rio Rico, Pocase said she’s feeling good. But still, given the ups and downs that 2020 has brought, she’s not letting herself get overly confident.

“I’m a little bit nervous.”

‘I’m thankful that we even have a season’

Rincon/University senior Jonah Barber has been running his whole life, starting off with turkey trots in middle school and initially focusing his high school athletic career on soccer.

“My parents forced me to do (cross country,)” Barber, 17, said. “I’m kind of glad they did. It’s been my favorite sport and it introduced me to my friend group.”

Barber finished first in last week’s meet, with a time of 17:00. He hopes to continue his running career in college.

But first, he hopes to make it to state with his team.

“I got to go individually last year, but cross country is all about running with your friends and competing as a team,” Barber said. “We’ve been a really tight-knit group of friends and teammates. This was our longtime goal, making state as a team.”

Last year, Rincon’s boys team missed out on state by only a few points. This year, they’ve been training hard in order to make it. The team is made up of mostly seniors, all of whom have been running together the past four years.

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“It’s definitely been very strange, but I’m thankful that we even have a season,” Barber said. “Me and a couple of the guys trained over the summer, but we didn’t know if we were going to have a season.”

With the Rangers’ whole season being comprised of three meets, there was a very small window for athletes to work on improving their times and getting used to the new safety protocols and procedures.

“It’s been nice to have a goal at the end, making it to state, and focusing on that goal,” Barber said, adding that it has helped distract from the world outside.

And as for his decision to take his parents advice about cross country all those years ago?

“It was a good decision,” Barber said. “I’ve excelled at it.”

‘I couldn’t compete for my school’

Coming in second behind Barber in Thursday’s meet was Tucson High junior, Joseph Moreno, with a time of 17:25.

Barber has had an impressive season in a short amount of time, with Tucson High being one of the last schools to start competing.

“The first part of the season, I was running meets, but I was running unattached,” Moreno, 16, said. “I couldn’t compete for my school, which was kind of sad because of the team aspect.”

Moreno said it was hard warming up, running and leaving meets along, instead of with his team.

“This season seems pretty rushed,” Moreno said. “It makes sense, because of the Coronavirus and such, but it’s an outside sport and there’s no ball that we’re all touching.”

Moreno said that the Badgers’ cross country team this year is about half the size of previous years, mostly because teammates aren’t able to get rides to practice and meets.

Also a spring track participant, Moreno is hopeful for a season, although he’s already aware it will likely involve far fewer meets.

But before track comes Wednesday’s sectionals, which for Tucson High is at Crossroads Park in Gilbert. Moreno is feeling good.

“I think I’ll make it,” he said, confident despite the unusual circumstances of the season. “I feel like for most people this would all be pretty tough, but I’m really dedicated to running. I run over 10 miles a day, so it’s not a problem for me.”

At this point, Moreno is just grateful to be back, competing with his team.

“I get my motivation from them,” Moreno said. “You win a meet with your team, you don’t win individually.”

‘We’re ready to roll with whatever’

Sabino junior Eva Bruce said like most other schools, hers also got off to a late start this season, trying to figure out how to safely implement social distancing and new protocols into practices and meets.

And despite only running in three meets, Bruce said her season has been really good.

“We’ve been growing closer as a team,” Bruce, 16, said. “We’ve had lots of opportunities to talk to each other and get to know each other better.”

In a change from most other schools, Sabino’s boys cross country team increased to 10 people this year. It’s girls team, on the other hand, shrunk.

“I feel really confident in my team, we’re closer together running-wise than we ever have been,” Bruce said. “We all put our best out there and give it our all. It looks a little different than last year, but we’re ready to roll with whatever.”

When she’s not competing for the Sabercats, Bruce, who has been running since she was 4 years old, also competes unattached. She recently competed in a decathlon in Texas, saying that track- specifically the heptathlon- is her event of choice.

“Cross country helps with those other events as well, endurance-wise,” Bruce said. “I wouldn’t be as good in the heptathlon and decathlon if I didn’t have the ability to go six miles and not stop.”

Like her peers around the county, Bruce is eager for sectionals and the opportunity to compete at state. It’s also not lost on her how much hard work went into making those final events, or the season itself, even happen.

“All of our teachers and coaches have been doing their best,” Bruce said.