On May 13, 2017, the Phoenix Raider team competed at the annual Raider challenge at Carver Military Academy hosted by Lane Tech. They competed against other schools from the Chicagoland area.

The Raider team excelled in the push up competition with senior Isaac Novoa and sophomore Jorge Ochoa doing over 100 push ups. However, the team fell short on the one mile run, which possibly cost them the first place title.

“Individually, I felt as if I did great but to me that doesn’t really matter because being apart of Raiders means to be apart of a team. We all have to work together and push each other if we want to win,” said Ochoa.

For many new comers, this was their first Raider competition and they were able to experience  what it was like. For the senior Raider veterans, this was their last competition after being on the team for four years.

“I am a bit disappointed that we didn’t win, and I felt as the team could have performed much better,” said senior Joshua Martinez.

The Phoenix Raider team has fallen short in recent years in this competition, which they used to dominate. Disappointingly, this year is the same year as the team hoped to clinch the first place trophy. However, the team will look forward and hope to bring the trophy home next year.