It was an exciting time for St. Michael’s freshman phenom Raylee Hunt

It was a remarkable run by Raylee Hunt.

Racing in the elite Sweepstake 5,000 meters at the annual Desert Twilight Cross Country Festival run Friday night over the Queen Creek Links Golf Course in Arizona’s Van Valley, the St. Michael’s freshman not only lowered her personal-best by almost a minute, but finished an impressive 26th in the 187 field of some of the best runners in the land.

Wearing her blue St. Michael’s jersey, she was clocked in 18:02.70, bettering her personal-best of 18:56.7, and the only one in the field running a solo, no teammates here as the Horsemen entered Saturday morning‘s Nick Martin Invitational at East Mountain. So she was more of a stranger matching strides with all of the full teams that totaled 37 of the total of 96 teams.

She was accompanied by her mom, Kristi, and that was where her rooting came from. The winner, junior Lauren Ping of Desert Valley High School, finished in a personal-best 16:40.40, and second place Bethany Michalak of Air Academy ran 16:54.85, also a personal-best for her, and these were the fastest times of the prestigious event.

“I lined up a little nervous, but I felt good after the race,” said Raylee, “and today I feel awesome. It was such a awesome experience, awesome people, neat course, and lots of fun in my first night race.”

Awesome? Well, she loves to run and Saturday she ran six miles and Sunday she ran eight. Now she looks ahead to the state XC championships on Nov. 6 at Albuquerque Academy.

There were 25 other freshmen in Hunt’s race and she was the fifth-best among them. The last harrier to go under 18 minutes clocked 17:59.10 and placed 24th. Then came Hunt as she the runner ahead of her began the 18-and-under group of 17. After that came the 15 that ran under 19, followed by the 31 that went under 20, 22 that raced under 21 minutes, seven that timed better than 22 minutes, and five that went under 23 minutes.

The girl who finished last was timed in 24:50.40.

In the Championship run, there were 120 entries and junior Taylor McCue won in 17:58. In the Large Schools totaling 333 in the field, the winner, junior Grace Moroney of Silver Creek, finished in 19:18. The Small Schools victor was freshman Tori Janson in 22:50. In the Varsity run, victorious senior Jasmine Munozo of Eriwanda turned in a 18:58.

In all, it was a great experience and fun for Hunt, who was second lat year in the state 3A cross country championships at Albuquerque Academy, the same site as the November 6th state meet that has been usually a one-day event hosted by Rio Rancho High, but word has it that it might become a two-day event this time.

In the state track and field championships at the New Mexico Complex, she won the 800 and took second in the 1,600 and 3,200. She made her varsity debut last season and won five times over some tough competition. A versatile athlete, she had done the long jump, the triple jump, the 200, the 400, the 800, the 100-meter hurdles, the 300 intermediate hurdles, the 1,600 and 3,200.

Her sister, Logan, now a junior at St. Michael’s and on the state-championship girls soccer team, ran in the 2018 Desert Twilight with the Lady Horsemen. So her father, Lee Hunt, recalled this and conversed with St. Michael’s head coach Lenny Gurule, contacted meet officials, and signed her up for the Sweepstake.

“I was so excited,” Raylee said the day she flew to Phoenix with her mom, “and happy that my mother will be with me.”

Counting all these 5,000 runs, overall, Hunt finished 26th versus a field that totaled approximately 1,063 teams and about 1,840 individuals.