2011 Cross Country team will need to reload

By Justin Janssen

Note: head cross country coach Mike Keahon asked me to write this article along with the previous one. They will appear in Brophy's sportsbook, which can be found at football games this fall.

Brophy is going to need to reload if they want to remain near the top of Division 1. Three of their top four runners (Will Firth, Tommy Williams, and Patrick Wolf) graduated in the spring. Firth won four meets in his final cross country season. Williams and Firth were key components the last two seasons for Brophy’s track program, qualifying for the national championship both years. In track, Williams owns the school 800 meter dash record and Firth has the 1600 meter record.

The graduation of Brophy’s fastest runners is an opportunity for younger runners to carry the torch.

Dual-sport athlete Brock Ghelfi is Brophy’s top returning runner. The rising senior lacrosse player set personal records in his freshman season in both the three mile (15:23) and the 5000 meters (16:20.80). These PR’s were not been broken by Ghelfi in his sophomore and junior seasons. As a freshman and sophomore, Ghelfi was Brophy’s top runner in the state meet.

Rising junior Marco Ruiz was voted by the coaches the most improved cross country runner last season by cutting minutes off his times. Ruiz improved his three mile time from 18:13.50 his freshman season to 17.24.90 last season and his 5 kilometer time dropped from 18:27 to 17:04.60. In the spring, Ruiz qualified for the D-1 state track meet in the two mile (9:51.51).

Tyler McGehee, a dual-sport athlete in soccer and cross country, might be the No. 2 runner on the team in the fall. McGehee is a rising senior and was Brophy’s top finisher in two meets. He ran two of his three best times in the sectional (16:56.73) and the state meet (17:19.50).

Student council leader Jack Welty is a returning varsity letterman and has been running with Brophy since freshman season. His personal record in the three mile is 15:54.80 and 16:59 in the 5K.

Jake Ghelfi, Jack Rubenzer, and Henry Miller are potential candidates to fill the three varsity slots left by Firth, Williams, and Wolf.

Jake Ghelfi, the younger brother of Brock Ghelfi, will be a sophomore in the fall. He won the freshman 5K at the Ojo Rojo meet, but missed part of last season with an injury. Henry Miller, a rising senior and lacrosse player, has been flirting between junior varsity and varsity for the past couple seasons. Miller has run on varsity when other runners missed a meet.

Jack Rubenzer might be more of a middle distance runner than a cross country runner. He ran a 2:01.91 800 meter dash and was a leg on Brophy’s varsity and sophomore 4 X 800 school record teams. Rubenzer cleared 18 minutes three times in the 3 mile/5K races last season.

With these athletes, incoming freshman, and other wild cards, Brophy could be on to another successful season. While the graduating seniors of Brophy will be excelling next season at the NCAA level, a new generation of stars could be born.

2010 Brophy Prep Cross Country season recap

By Justin Janssen

Note: head cross country coach Mike Keahon asked me to write this article along with the following one. They will appear in Brophy's sportsbook, which can be found at football games this fall.

The 2010 Brophy Cross Country season started in July, when runners learned there was a new coach on the team. Alex Mason, who finished third in the 2003 Cross Country state championship meet, was the next assistant coach alongside Andy Schmidbauer, Steve Smith, Ted Skowron, and head coach Mike Keahon.

Brophy started the season with a bang at the Sole Sports Running Zone Cross Country Festival in Scottsdale. Will Firth and Tommy Williams crossed the finish line in first and second respectively, and the team scored a second place finish out of 27.

The next week the team traveled to Prescott for the annual Ray Wherley meet. This meet is typically followed by the team’s retreat at Manresa. Will Firth out-legged Alhambra’s Jorge Martinez, the two-time reigning 5A state champion by under two seconds. Williams, Patrick Wolf, and Brock Ghelfi were fifth, 15th, and 17th respectively. The team finished second to Alhambra in the 16 team field.

At the annual George Young Invitational hosted by Brophy Prep on Sept. 18, Firth won his third straight meet to start the season and Williams finished fifth, again. Brock Ghelfi and Patrick Wolf were 19th and 20th. As a team the Broncos finished third on the rolling hills.

At the Ojo Rojo Invitational Sept. 25, Brophy’s top four runners sat out. McGehee was Brophy’s top finisher in 32nd place followed by Marco Ruiz (39th) and Jack Welty (44th). As a team, Brophy finished 11th in the 27 team field.

On Wednesday Sept. 29, the team returned to Granada Park, a place they practiced at in seasons past in a four team meet vs. Gilbert, Mesa, and Mountain Pointe. Brophy again rested their top four, but still won, behind Marco Ruiz’s win (16:53.40). Jack Welty finished third (17:11.20), Jack Rubenzer 4th (17:14.10), Henry Miller 6th (17:52.20), and Jake Ghelfi 8th (18:12.80).

In the Desert Twilight Festival, on a Friday night, Firth and Williams finished fourth and seventh respectively. As a team, the Broncos were 7th, but had the 4th best total time.

At one of the most prestigious Cross Country meets, the Doug Conley Invitational, at the Rolling Hills Golf Course in Tempe, Firth picked up his fourth victory of the season. In the 161 player field, Williams finished 8th, Wolf, 32nd, and Ghelfi 44th. Brophy had the best combined team time in the meet, but settled for third place.

In the last tune-up before the sectionals and state meet, Brophy decided to rest their top four runners in order to find out who was the best of the rest. Tyler McGehee was Brophy’s top finisher in the Ken Denson Invitational in 19th place, followed by Henry Miller (36th) and Marco Ruiz (39th).

At the sectional meet the week before the state meet, Brophy finished tied for second place out of the 18 teams in Section 1. Section 1 contains 1/3rd of the teams in Division 1. Firth finished third, Williams 10th, Wolf 16th, Ghelfi 18th, and McGehee 21st.

The grand finale of the cross country season is the state meet. Will Firth was the runner up in D-1 to Yuma Cibola’s Bernie Montoya. The top five runners for each team score in this meet. For Brophy, Tommy Williams finished 13th, Brock Ghelfi 32nd, Patrick Wolf 52nd, Tyler McGehee 55th, Marco Ruiz 80th, and Jack Welty 134th. As a team Brophy finished 6th in the state meet out of 25 teams in D-1 with 154 points, and was just five points off of fourth place.