Hawks cross country heading to state

Gila Ridge ready to compete in Division 2 championships

YUMA, Ariz., (KYMA, KECY) - Gila Ridge cross country looks to hit it's stride at state.

The Hawks might have fallen short of their goal of winning the Yuma Union High School District City Championship in the overall team competition, but are beginning to really gel as a collective unit on both the boys and girls squads.

Back to back individual district champion Jasmine Estrada, Taylor Keddy and Marta Ratti are a trio of seniors that are looking to compete for high placings at this weekend's coming 2 state championships.

On the boy's side, seniors Justin Vandenburg and Eduardo Marquez also come into state with high ambitions of their own.

Although the Hawks aren't one of the favored front-runners going into next weekend, they're going in with a confident "nothing to lose" mentality.

"We've really been emphasizing that anything can happen. Other teams runners aren't always going to be on their A game, and so they really just need to focus on being mentally tough going into this weekend and running the race as best as they can. And we think that on both the boys and the girls side, they've got a chance to really take a shot at one of those top top few positions in the state."

Jensen Roseboom - Gila Ridge Hawks head cross country coach

Win or lose at state, the Hawks will fly into next season having to replace the 10 seniors on their overall team roster of 24 student athletes.