With sights set on the State Final meet, the Phoenix Cross Country team battled all season long for personal bests and inter city rivalries.  Led by Roger Pinon, who recently finished 9^th in the State Final meet (Nov. 4, 2006), the Phoenix were victorious at the 2006 Regional Championships taking first place as a team for the first time in eleven years.  It has been the philosophy of the team to train hard throughout the summer and the season, and to go into races slightly fatigued without much recovery from workouts.  This trains the body to run while being tired.  Only at the end of the season will the proper recovery come.  Even while being tired, the Phoenix Cross Country team showed the fortitude to race against bigger schools, and still came out among the top five schools in meets.  Unfortunately, the team fell short of State missing qualifying by 3 points. 

(The whole cross country team)

    On the varsity level (3 miles), Roger Pinon was the star of the Phoenix Cross Country team finishing 9^th in the State with a time of 15:22 – a personal best, and new school record.  Victor Pinon, who was injured for the majority of the season, finished with a season best of 17:12.  Max Avila stepped up big time for the team finishing as the varsity's number 2 runner with a 17:16.  Gerry Medina anchored the number four spot with a season best of 17:30.  Dave Alvarez was a consistent runner with a lot of heart holding the number 5 spot on the team.  John Zackrison, a break through freshman came on strong toward the end of the season, finishing as the number five man on varsity.  Nick Arguelles was an integral part of the team as his leadership helped motivate the team.  Finally, Anthony Rosian showed his competitive side, as he competed on the varsity level for the majority of the season.

(Head coach, Nathaniel Shober and Roger Pinon)