“I know he’s looking down today and he’s loving it. He’s loving this today,” said Adam Boehme’s mom, Cindy, as she watched the Sahuaro Cross Country team honor her son by running on the last course the team ran together. They literally followed in his footsteps.

Adam Boehme became an angel on July 26th, 2022, the summer before his senior year. Adam played football, the trombone, and soccer, but most of all, he LOVED to run. Sometimes, he would even run to practice (on the days he didn’t have school beforehand) and get in a run before the workout even started. He was the kind of person to go above and beyond any expectation. He truly embodied what it meant to be a loving, caring person.

From a very young age, Adam showed his prowess in running. His mom, Cindy, shared, “I think he started his training and running when he was eight – when I first met him because every time he would get mad he would run away. He would run straight down Gollob and I would have to ride in the car and catch him.” His dad also recalled a similar memory, not because Adam was typically an angry person, but because running was his outlet – a source of joy in his life. His love for running continued into his very last days on earth. Another memory Cindy shared was, “…he would come home from practice, right here at Lakeside, and he would tell me, ‘I ran eight miles today.’ And I am like, ‘You’ve only been gone for two hours, how could you have run eight miles?'”

Adam not only ran at practice, but he also ran at home, in the morning, and with friends outside of school. One time, he even chased down the family dog, Gunner! Tony, Adam’s dad, said, “I guess my favorite running memory is actually, Gunner got out, and he’s running after Gunner, and he almost caught him. He caught up to Gunner running…that hound dog we have…he almost caught him too.”

The second annual Adam Boehme Memorial Meet was so important to Adam’s family. One of Adam’s sisters, Hannah, said, “I mean it’s really important because this is the thing that he loved most, so it’s good for him to be living through people in some way. It shows how much people really cared about him, and how much he impacted Tucson and Sahuaro – just everybody.” His mom said, “It means that his tradition will go on, his legacy will go on, his love for running will go on, and I love to see that the team is so big this year, so I hope that it just keeps getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger.” Adam’s dad shared that it was, “…just an honor. This just makes me tear up…”

Before the meet was off and running, the boys’ and girls’ teams from Desert Christian, Catalina Foothills, and Santa Rita lined up with Sahuaro for a pre-race memorial. One the starting line were Adam’s spikes that he raced in. Sahuaro’s head coach and history teacher, Melissa Slade said, “We made it one of our traditions, thanks to coach Mike, to put our shoes on the line; to number one, remember to work hard because Adam was a very hard worker, and number two – we put them backward because often in the military and the police, they are not returning to service, they turn their shoes around to show they are not participating.” Despite Adam not being physically there, the team still wanted to honor his presence and show what a big part of the team he still is. She continued and said, “If everything had gone like it was supposed to, like we’d hoped it would, he would be running somewhere in college…And once he got it in his head that he was going to be a runner, he took it on with his whole heart.”

Then, the teams took a moment of silence to, “…consider your dreams, and your own hopes, and how you would honor those, and follow in his footsteps to follow your dreams.” The phrase, “follow your dreams” was engraved on bracelets that were handed out to members of Adam’s sports teams, his family, friends, and other members of the Sahuaro community. This came about, as Coach Slade said because, “..we feel the need to honor him. Coach Handshoe and I came out that day to tell the kids that their teammate had passed away, and those of us that were there made a commitment that we would follow our dreams like Adam was.” The team took a picture with their shoes, together in a circle, because of Adam’s unwavering love for footwear and as a symbol of following in Adam’s footsteps to achieve their goals.

The last thing Coach Slade shared during her memorial speech was, “Adam was a very special young man, and his favorite thing to say was, ‘I know you’re going to say no, but…’ and he would ask for that thing, and he wasn’t afraid to ask. So, we implore that you would follow your dreams, and don’t be afraid to ask. Don’t be afraid to go for it.”

For the cross country team, it was also senior night, honoring four seniors – Evan, Emily, Amon, and Rayna. Coach Slade talked about how hard-working their senior squad is saying, “We were talking about, ‘set your standard, what’s your standard going to be?’ and our seniors have definitely taken the lead on that. They don’t quit on their workouts, and they set their standard about what their max effort and their minimum effort is going to be.” Even though cross country is by no means easy, this year’s seniors have pushed themselves to be the best they could possibly be.

Evan Reuter has been running both cross country and track for three years because Adam got him into it. He really loves the competition and the teamwork that the sport has to offer. Even with his favorite running buddy gone, he continues to run for Adam, and for himself. Today, he wore purple wristbands in Adam’s honor. Although Evan isn’t, by far, the loudest person on the team, he shows his leadership in other ways. As Coach Slade described him, “a quiet leader”. She also said, “You can always count on him to go out there and do his best, regardless of how his day has gone.”

Emily Scholz has been running cross country for seven years and has thrown javelin on the track side for four years. She recalled one of her best memories, “…I was at Twilight, and I ran my butt off and I’d just thrown up, but it was the best run I’ve ever had.” Emily also loves the community built around the sport of cross country. She said, “Everybody’s so sweet out here and everyone just wants to do what’s best and make everyone better.” Emily moved to Sahuaro during her junior year and immediately started practicing with the team during preseason.

Amon Batain is in his first year running cross country, but he has been running track, as a sprinter, since his sophomore year. He started sprinting because of the direction of one of his friends, but when he found out he was fast, he kept working. He joined cross country solely to improve his endurance and become a better track star. He says his favorite part about running is, “…Finishing the race. The end. All the time,” but he added, “To be honest…I do like running though, it just seems therapeutic and stuff.”

Rayna Gonzales, who also just started running cross country this year, has been competing in track since 6th grade, and she plays club soccer. During the season. People will say that cross-country runners are crazy, but Rayna has a whole other level of commitment. Coach Slade said, “…it takes a lot of dedication to do all of that at one time. So, we appreciate her leadership in her showing up when she is tired, even when she doesn’t feel like it.”  She loves that through running she has found she feels really good about herself, “…you feel really strong, you get in the best shape that you can and it’s really cool,” she said. Her, “…favorite running memory, for this being my first year in cross country, I love how encouraging everything is. There’s so many people clapping and cheering you on, and you don’t even know who the person is. It’s really just a great family, community-based sport.”

Congratulations seniors! Sahuaro is lucky to have such dedicated student-athletes like you, continuing to follow in Adam’s footsteps and chasing your dreams.