Nevada Regional recap and State XC Championship preview

By John Dixon for DyeStat

The 2017 Nevada State Cross Country Championship will be held Saturday at Shadow Mountain Park on the campus of Reed High in Sparks. There will be six 5,000-meter races: 4A boys and girls, 3A boys and girls and 2A boys and girls.

4A Boys Team – Spanish Springs will look to defend its 2016 championship, which it won by 39 points over Green Valley. In that meet, Spanish Springs ran just one senior. Spanish Springs won its Northern Region meet Friday by 61 points over McQueen, placing seven in the top 20. The other Northern qualifying teams are Damonte Ranch, which finished seven points behind McQueen. The South sends Sunrise champion Green Valley, winner of four straight regional titles. Coronado and Foothill also qualified for state. In the Sunset region, Arbor View defended its 2016 title, winning easily over team qualifiers Centennial and Desert Oasis.

4A Boys Individuals – At the Northern Regionals, the top three boys all ran 17 minutes flat at the tough Shadow Mountain course. Damonte Ranch’s Aric Turner placed first, followed by Spanish Springs’ Matthew Hankin and Daniel Horner. At the Southern Sunrise regional, Green Valley’s Milton Amezcua had the day’s fastest time (16:46), breezing to a 41-second win over Silverado’s Omar Aguilar-Espinosa (17:27). Aguilar-Espinosa was limited in his racing this season due to injuries, and to make matters worse, suffered a dog bite to his hip the day before the meet. In the Sunset Region, Arbor View’s Keith Williams (16:58) won by 12 seconds over Desert Oasis’ Conner Nicholas (17:10). Arbor View’s Ian Jackson was two seconds back in 17:12.

4A Girls Teams – In the North, Damonte Ranch won the team championship over state qualifiers Reno and Reed. In the Southern Sunrise Regional, Coronado won by placing five in the top 11. Foothill was second with 62 and Basic placed third with 75. In the Sunset Regional, Centennial won its eighth straight title, placing five scorers in the top 13. Bishop Gorman was second and Palo Verde was third. Eight points separated second through fifth place.

4A Girls Individuals – Freshman Penelope Smerdon from Reno won by 10 seconds over Spanish Springs’ Alexis Melendrez (19:37 to 19:47). Bishop Manogue’s Rosie Linkus was third in 20:28.  Foothill’s Myna Buckley (20:01) won the Sunrise championship over Basic’s Raquel Chavez (20:24) and Coronado’s Claire Rawlins (20:45). Centennial’s Alexis Gourrier won the Sunset Regional by 10 seconds against Bishop Gorman freshman Emilia Puskas (19:54-20:04). Sierra Vista’s Sarriah Brown was third in 20:06.

3A Boys Team – In the Northern Region, Spring Creek defended its 2016 championship over Truckee (41-68). Elko was third. In the South, Pahrump Valley won easily, placing five in the top 19. Three additional Southern 3A teams qualified for state: Moapa Valley, Cheyenne and SECTA. 

3A Boys Individuals – In the North, Spring Creek’s William Fallini-Haas defended his 2016 title with a 43-second victory over Truckee’s Montana Montgomery (16:50-17:33). Defending 3A champion Bryce Odegard from Pahrump Valley won the Southern region again with a time of 17:36. Desert Pines’ Jovan Ibarra was second in 17:54.

3A Girls Teams – In the North, Spring Creek defended its 2016 championship with a 33-point win over Elko. Truckee is the third Northern representative. In the South, SECTA’s girls defended their 2016 championship over Desert Pines (44-75). SECTA’s five all placed in the top 12. Pahrump Valley placed third and Boulder City was fourth.

3A Girls Individuals – In the North, South Tahoe’s Carissa Buchholz won by 19 seconds against Lowry's Rebecca Kuskie (20:12 to 20:31). In the South, Desert Pines freshman Jazmin Felix (20:39) and teammate Nayeli Perea-Barco (21:34) placed 1-2. Defending champion Sierra Selinger of Boulder City was third.

2A Boys Teams – With new scoring rules in place for the small schools (score four), team scores were low. North Tahoe won the North with 23 points over Sierra Lutheran (35). Jackpot was third. In the South, The Meadows School won with 31 points over West Wendover and Lake Mead Christian.

2A Boys Indivduals – Defending state champion Jared Marchegger of Sierra Lutheran defended his 2016 title by winning with 16:57. JC Schoonmaker (17:41) from North Tahoe was second and and Teagan Hansen (17:57) from Sierra Lutheran was third.

2A Girls Teams – North Tahoe won the Northern title with a score of 11. All four scorers placed in the top six. Wells was second and Yerington was third. In the South, The Meadows School repeated its 2016 championship with 22 points. Laughlin was second and White Pine was third.

2A Girls Individuals – Sierra Lutheran’s Emily McNeely had an easy 58-second win over North Tahoe’s Anna Yamauchi (21:38 to 22:36). Josii Johnson from North Tahoe was third in 22:39. In the South, Ellen Hirsberg from The Meadows School joined Green Valley’s Abby Miller as the only Southern Nevada athletes to win four straight regional titles. Hirsberg and teammate Ashley Lee ran 1-2. Lincoln County’s Hannah Bleak was third.