There were two notable coronations on Saturday at the Arizona Cross Country Championships at Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix.

Slideshow: Cross country championships

The first was one that took four years of hard work and raised expectations. The second took the same length, but it wasn’t about meeting expectations, it was about exceeding them.

Queen Creek’s Sherod Hardt and Phoenix Xavier Prep’s Jessica Tonn were the only individual champions from East Valley schools at Saturday’s meet. Tonn led Xavier to its second straight 5A-I team championship, winning her race in 17 minutes, 28.15 seconds, a course record for 3.1 miles, and stamping her name on the list of the state’s all-time greats.

“This year I’m more confident and I’ve just made sure I’ve gone out there and had fun,” said Tonn, who won for the second straight year. “I had to keep talking to myself and say keep going late in the race because I knew I was right there on the record.”

The old record was 17:28.25 by Glendale Mountain Ridge’s Nadya Bishton in 2007.

For Hardt, it was his first individual state championship in cross country after finishing second as a sophomore and third last year. Plus, he had the added pressure of living up to the Hardt name that sisters Whitney and Kari made so famous in distance running circles in the state.

“It’s amazing, just to know that every year I made huge improvements,” Hardt said. “It’s rewarding because it makes you want to keep working hard because you know what comes out at the end.”

5A-I GIRLS

While Tonn’s record run was a fitting cap to her stellar career in the state, the team score of 31 points was perhaps more impressive. Only one team in 5A has ever scored lower than 31 points and that was the 5A-II champion Glendale Sandra Day O’Connor team that won in 2006 with 28 points.

The squad has just one senior, Tonn. Freshman Sarah Fakler was second behind Tonn with a time of 18:02.67. In fourth was Junior Daylee Burr (18:47.48), junior Katie Penny was seventh (19:01) and junior Christian Andreen was 17th (19:21.69). The final two varsity runners for the Gators were freshman Mckenna Gaffney (25th) and sophomore Breanna Perrone (32nd).

“We have a really young team and I’ve never seen a group of girls push themselves this hard, especially at a young age,” said Tonn. “I just think these girls are so disciplined and they’ve grown so much.”

If you compare where Tonn was as a freshman to where Fakler is, the results are scary. Tonn’s time at state at the same Cave Creek Golf Course was 18:52, almost 50 seconds slower than Fakler’s.

“She inspires me,” Fakler said of Tonn. “(Handling the title of favorite next season) will take some getting used to, I’ll probably call Jess and ask her, 'How’d you do this?’ ’’

Phoenix Desert Vista earned a trophy with its second-place finish. The Thunder just edged Gilbert Highland, scoring 74 points to the Hawks’ 77. Tempe Corona del Sol was fourth with 137.

Other notable East Valley finishers were Mesa Mountain View’s Sarah Schmidt, who was fifth at 18:48.94; Desert Vista’s Megan Kupres was sixth (18:58.31) and teammate Jenna Maack was eighth (19:04.52); Highland’s Ashley Hatch was ninth (19:06.37) and Corona del Sol’s Danica Ganje rounded out the top 10 at 19:07.65.

5A-I BOYS

Phoenix Alhambra capped off an emotional season by winning its second state championship in three years behind repeat individual champion Jorge Martinez (15:43.67). The Lions scored 84 points to beat surprise runner-up Corona del Sol (102). Mountain View was third with 113 and Desert Vista fourth with 141.

For Corona del Sol, the second-place finish was the best since the 1992 team was the 5A champion.

Alhambra was rocked earlier in the season when their coach was dismissed for allowing an assistant coach who was an illegal alien to continue to work with the team. The athletes voted to not run anymore and nearly didn’t finish the season, but after head coach Carlos Borja was reinstated, they were back and running to the state title.

Corona del Sol’s outstanding day was led by senior Garrett Baker-Slama, who was third behind Martinez and Phoenix Trevor Browne’s Jeffrey Segovia. Baker-Slama was not even on the Aztecs squad that finished 15th a year ago.

Baker-Slama ran a 16:09.92 and was followed to the line by teammate Matt Whitlatch (16:14.12). Freshman Jared Hirschl (16:21.97) was five spots behind in ninth. Another freshman, Jake Whitney (16:51.10), was 35th and the team scoring was completed by Daniel Wrapp’s 51st place.

Mountain View’s top runners finished 6-7, as Ben Williams (16:15.96) just edged Tyler Bingham (16:17.56). Highland’s Cory Breinholt was fifth (16:14.29) and Brophy’s Brock Ghelfi was 10th (16:22.54).

5A-II BOYS

Tucson Ironwood Ridge’s Steve Magnuson led his team to the state championship as the senior won in 15:56.35. Ironwood Ridge had 95 points to edge Yuma Cibola (102). Phoenix Camelback (146) was third. The top East Valley team was Gilbert Perry at eighth (237).

Perry’s Patrick Hardwick was the top E.V. individual, placing ninth (16:50.60), and Pinnacle’s Ryan Williams was 10th (16:52.08).

5A-II GIRLS

Ironwood Ridge’s girls did exactly what the Nighthawks’ boys did, winning the team title (40 points) and getting an individual winner (Sarah Miville, 19:14.80).

The team title came at the expense of runner-up Phoenix Pinnacle, whose 66 points were good enough for its second straight second-place finish.

Perry’s Taylor Delavega was second, finishing in 19:22.34. Pinnacle had two runners in the top 10, Christen Collins (third, 19:25.56) and defending champion Lacey Kalinen (seventh, 19:42). Horizon got a runner into the top 10, as Rachel Antol was sixth (19:37.80).

Marcos de Niza was fourth as a team, behind Tucson Sunnyside, and was led by Natalie Jones, who was 11th in 20:17.83.

4A-I BOYS

Hardt wasn’t really sure what kind of competition he would have in Saturday’s race, his first at the 4A-I level. He found out midway through the race.

“About the mile and a half mark, that’s when I made my move,” Hardt said. “I thought I would have some people go with me, but they didn’t”

Hardt’s time of 15:32.40 was the second-best time of the day.

“I just kind of went out and did what I thought I should do to win the race,” Hardt said. “I just wanted to beat my time from last year and I did.”

The team title went to Tucson Catalina Foothills, which won with 43 points. Bradshaw Mountain was second with 110 and Tucson Flowing Wells third with 116. Tempe McClintock was the top East Valley school, finishing fifth with 148 points. Scottsdale Saguaro was sixth with 161.

Other top E.V. finishers were McClintock’s Carlos Roa (5th, 16:19.11) and Cactus Shadows’ Austin Miles (9th, 16:25.48).

4A-I GIRLS

A team that boasts freshmen for four of its top five runners, Cave Creek Cactus Shadows made quite a name for itself on Saturday. The Falcons’ brought home the second-place trophy, scoring 88 points to finish behind champion Nogales (47).

Tucson Sabino was third with 114 and Saguaro had 151 to finish fourth.

The Falcons were led by two freshmen, Terry Baker (4th, 19:26.38) and Dani Zalewski (6th, 19:56.02). Senior Jesse Hass was seventh (19:59.84) and two other freshmen, Melissa Nelson and Mackenzie Brown, were 21sth and 50th, respectively.

“They are silly and they have so much fun that I think they were probably oblivious to what’s going on today, so that’s a good thing,” Cactus Shadows coach Patty Egan said of her youngsters. “They just came out here to do what they’ve been doing all season.”

Nogales’ Zahira Jimenez won the race in 18:59.09. Queen Creek’s Ashley Workman had a top-10 finish, placing ninth in 20:05.74.

4A-II BOYS

Flagstaff Sinagua’s Brian Shrader had the fastest time of the day on his way to the state title, running a 15:15.89.

The team title was won by Cottonwood Mingus, which had 55 points to beat runner-up Rio Rico (66). The top East Valley finish was by Scottsdale Notre Dame, which was sixth.

Individually, Arcadia’s Brenden Hernandez was the top E.V. finisher, placing 13th in 17:16.04.)

4A-II GIRLS

In a tight team race, Page (72) beat Flagstaff (75) and Rio Rico (76) for the title.

Rio Rico’s Aeoleone Bristow won her second straight championship in 19:22.38, beating Phoenix Greenway’s Shayla Freeman by 13 seconds.

Notre Dame sisters Kristina and Julie Vanderhout finished 3-4 to lead the Saints to a fifth-place finish.

3A BOYS AND GIRLS

Tuba City’s Billy Orman won his first state title, leading the Warriors to their third straight team championship with 42 points. Chinle was second (55) and Ganado (123) and Sedona Red Rock (125) followed.

In the girls race, Chinle sophomore Rolonda Jumbo won for the second straight year and her team won for the fourth straight year, scoring 34 points to easily beat Sedona Red Rock (85) and Tuba City (96).

1A/2A BOYS

Tombstone’s Cody Rosengarten won his second straight individual championship, running a 16:09.14, but his streak is nothing compared to the one that Keams Canyon Hopi continued on Saturday.

The Bruins, behind a 2-3 finish from Kyle Silas and Ronadl Laban, won their 20th straight state cross country championship, dating back to 1990.

Like most of its 20 titles, this one wasn’t close, as Hopi scored 27 points with runner-up Many Farms scoring 62. Queen Creek Canyon State was third with 162, Chandler Valley Christian fourth with 178 and Horizon Honors fifth with 194.

1A/2A GIRLS

Two East Valley runners had top-seven finishes and Hopi won its third state team title.

The Bruins scored 52 points to edge Northland Preparatory’s 52. Valley Sanders was third with 76 points and Gilbert Classical Academy had its best team finish in any sport, finishing fourth with 168 points.

Chelena Betoney of Valley Sanders was the individual winner in 19:36.27. Horizon Honors’ Monika Kawski was third, the top finish in school history, in 21:12.91.

Gilbert Classical was led by the sixth-place finish of Cassie Ronai (21:35.24).