FRESNO – Moments after the last Desert Christian High School cross country runner crossed the finish line at the CIF State Championships on Saturday, the entire team came together for a prayer. Some felt confident they had won the title, while others wanted to see the official results posted on the CIF website before celebrating.
For 10 minutes, several runners on the team refreshed the results page of the website on their phones, anxiously awaiting word on whether they could call themselves state champions or leave Woodward Park in crushing disappointment.
Then the team and those around them let out an uproarious cheer. Head coach Andy Visokey started crying and bellowed, “Oh my God, thank you God.” Senior Andrew Mitchell jumped on a teammate in jubilance.
At that point, it became official.
After eight consecutive years of qualifying but coming up short, the Knights won the Division 5 state championship. The team scored 70 points – 33 less than second-place Flintridge Prep – with its team time of 1 hour, 21 minutes and 7 seconds.
