Mica Mountain junior John Garcia Gamez’s three first-place finishes in October increased his total to six individual victories this fall and served as a precursor to an AIA Division II-South Sectional championship Wednesday at Rio Rico.
Garcia Gamez placed first at Marana’s Eye of the Tiger Invitational Oct. 10 (running the 5,000-meter course in 15:35.1), John Gleeson Lancer Invitational Oct. 17 (15:50.8) and a Mica Mountain home meet (personal-best 15:29.3) Oct. 28.
He won the sectional title Wednesday in 15:59.6. The state cross country meet is Nov. 14 at the Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix.
Garcia Gamez’s three victories before October were at the 32nd Annual Chandler XC Invite (15:48.7) on Aug. 29, dual meet at Rincon/University (17:18.5) and at the Western Equinox XC Invite (15:30.1) at Mesa on Sept. 4.
He has nine first-place finishes overall in his varsity cross country career. He earned the sectional title for the second consecuitve year.
Given how he dominated with first-place finishes in three cross country meets in October, Garcia Gamez is deservedly the Jet Sports Training Male Athlete of the Month.
2026 MALE ATHLETE OF THE MONTH HONORS
January 2026: Sahuaro basketball player Cisco Llamas
February 2026: Sahuarita wrestler Marcus Killgore
March 2026: Canyon del Oro baseball player Regen Mazura
April 2026: Cienega volleyball player Caiden Mott
May 2026: Ironwood Ridge track and field athlete Jett Merrill
June 2026: Pima Community College infielder Aciel Guillen
July 2026: Post 132 Sunnyside Crunch infielder Pedro Lopez
August 2026: Marana inspirational receiver Sean Roebuck Jr.
September 2026: Mica Mountain sophomore defensive end Jack Andrews
October 2026: Mica Mountain cross country runner John Garcia Gamez
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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