Xavier had the best runner and the best team at the girls 5A-I state cross country championships Saturday – and there’s more to come.

Jessica Tonn won her second straight title, finishing the 3.1 mile course at Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix in 17 minutes, 28.1 seconds.

Tonn, a senior, led most of the race and finished 34 seconds ahead of the second place runner, teammate Sarah Fakler.

Kylee Kieser of Casa Grande was third (18:39).

Xavier placed four runners in the top seven places and finished with 31 points, easily outdistancing second place Desert Vista, which had 74.

Daylee Burr was fourth (18:47), Katie Penney was seventh (19:01) and Christian Andreen was 17th (19:21).

Tonn was the only senior among  the Gators’ scoring runners. Fakler is a freshman. Burr, Penney and Andreen are juniors.

The Gators’ No. 6 runner, McKenna Gaffney, who finished 25th (19:52) is a freshman.

They’ll have some competition. Of the top 10 finishers, only Tonn and Danica Ganje of Corona del Sol were seniors. Ganje finished 10^th (19:07).

Mountain View Sarah Schmidt finished fifth (18:48).

Desert Vista placed two runners in the top eight. Megan Kupres was sixth (18:58) and Jenna Maack was eighth (19:04).

Ashley Hatch finished ninth (19:06) for Highland, was third in team scoring with 77.