Have you gotten all of the dirt out of your eyes and ears yet??.....I guess the weather could have been worse.  They were calling for rain…. The wind was blowing during the earlier girls races but when it was time for the boys it “kicked it up a notch”.  Vendors selling swim goggles could have made a killing. The weather could have been worse, but the races could not have been better.   There were some unbelievably competitive and gutsy efforts displayed at the 2002 State XC Championship.  Some we soon won’t forget…..

 

Before I get into the races I want to mention the outstanding job the meet officials at Boulder City HS did.  Under adverse weather conditions, the meet went off without a hitch.  The organization was superb.  To Bruce Momsen, Rich Welch and the crew at B.C., “great job”.

 

Now to the races….. Congrats to the 1A/2A winners Whittell and Faith Lutheran.  Faith’s Brian Nestor won by :22 over Alec Chapman from The Meadows.  Too bad Alec was injured during the season.  He was on his way to being one of the top runners in any division in the State.  Addie Devine from Incline had a :25 cushion as she crossed the tape ahead of Faith’s Cassandra Murzl.   The “Ghost Runner” rule employed by the NIAA for the 1A/2A came into effect in the boys race.  Faith’s boys were 3^rd before the rule went into affect and jumped to 2^nd after the “ghost runners” were factored in.  If a team does not have 5 runners, they are given “ghost runner” points at the conclusion of the meet.  If there were 30 runners in the meet, “ghost runners” points would be 31-32-33 etc.  Weird rule!!  Nevada rule!!  Why not just score 3 places in the 1A-2A?  Just a thought.

 

No brainer in the 3A girls race as Lowry has 6 girls in the top 11 and 7 in by place 21.  Heather Thompson won by :31.  When we combined the scores after last year’s State Meet, Lowry was the #1 girls team in the State. This year they dropped to 5^th but still beat 4A teams like Green Valley, Centennial and Foothill.  All this without last year’s champ Kelsey Engstrom, out with an injury.  The tightest team race was in the 3A boys as Truckee won by 1 point over Lowry with North Tahoe 3^rd, 11 points out of 1^st.  That’s quite a program coming out of Winnemucca (Lowry).  As expected “Pepe” Ramirez ran away with the individual title, winning by 1:56.  Pepe had the 11^th fastest time of the meet.

The 4A girls team title was pretty much guaranteed the moment Reno arrived safely at the meet.  The red-clad Huskies won everything in sight this fall.  Junior Collier Lawrence was their leader on the course.  Sub 18 at Mt SAC, course record at San Rafael last week, 2^nd at the 2001 State Meet.  She’s the “real deal”.  But the team was solid also.  Seniors Karen DeMartini and Kathryn McGrath, sisters Daryn and Michelle Glenn rounded out their top 5.  One of the questions was whether a Southern school would break up the rest of the North’s power.  Galena and Carson also came to Boulder City with very good teams…The Southern individual favorite was Cimarron-Memorial’s Natasha Wicks.  Natasha did not run on any courses this year that were also run by Northern teams, so it was hard to compare how “good” she was compared to Lawrence.  The thinking among “experts” was that anyone who tried to “hang” with the talented Lawrence would pay the price later in the race.  The other “favorites” were Carson’s Shanna Sparks, Reno’s frosh Daryn Glenn, Elko’s junior Britney Almaguer.  Long shots had to be Basic’s Sam Serrano, Gorman’s defending champ Christa Avena and Centennial’s Meghan Mathews…Right from the start it was a 2 girl race, Wicks and Lawrence.  Sparks was 3^rd and seemingly too far back to challenge but close enough to pick up any pieces later in the race.  The rest of the “pelaton” included a slew of Northern girls with only Mathews and Palo Verde’s Melissa Voss in the mix….two mile mark, Natasha and Collier….4,000 meter mark, Natasha and Collier.  Natasha looked to be wanting to distance herself from Collier just a bit.  Natasha surged but Collier didn’t panic. The look on her face didn’t change, eye’s looking down to shield them from the blowing dust, occasionally looking up to she where Natasha was.  As they rounded the last pond, Wicks looked like the State Champ.  She was in control and looking good.  Both girls went to the well… The last 400m was slightly downhill… The crown went crazy anticipating a head to head finishing kick.  They weren’t disappointed…Collier opened up her short, clipped stride that she used running uphill into the wind and unleashed a sprint that Michael Johnson would have been proud of.  Natasha fought all the way to the finish line but it wasn’t enough.  Collier Lawrence and Natasha Wicks…unfortunately, only one could be #1…today it was Collier. 

Seven Northern girls placed in the top 10... Reno HS went 6-7-8-13 to lock up the State title.  Galena was 2^nd, Carson 3^rd and the South went 4^th through 9^th.

Ouch!!

 

Now to the 4A Boys…  The early line favored Jon Cardenas from Reno.  Jon had the fastest Nevada time at Mt SAC and was setting course records left and right during the fall.  After that, we all knew that junior Patrick Swick (Chaparral), 2^nd at State last year and soph Blake Schlotzhuer (Centennial) would also be in the hunt, but realistically, probably running for 2^nd.  Steve Pottey, the junior “tight end” from Galena was also figured to be in the top 4.  Overlooked by many in the North and even some in the South was Green Valley’s Jim Thorne.  Running in the “shadow” of Patrick and Blake during the season, Jim was not considered an individual contender.  The race began in gale force winds.  Runners were looking to family and friends for sun glasses to wear.  After the first loop of the ponds, the lead pack emerged with Cardenas, Swick, Schlotzhauer, Pottey and Thorne.  The pace was steady but not fast.  No one was willing to break away but rather stay in the protection of the pack.  The crowd lined the course yelling, screaming, encouraging their favorite runners.  The team race was still in question.  Where was Centennial’s 2 through 5?  Were they ahead of Reno’s 5^th man? The gold shirted Galena squad was easy to spot.  They were well behind the Centennial pack though. As they came out of the back of the park and headed up toward the “Y”, the race whittled down to a 3 man battle, Cardenas, Swick and Schlotzhauer.  Pottey was out of it, and at that point, Thorne was fading.  With 1000m to go, all that was left was the cement loop around the pond…flat, downhill, FAST.  Schlotzhauer came out of the pond loop with the lead.  It looked like the soph would win in his first season of running.  Swick had something left.  He surged with 200m to go and passed Schlotzhauer right before the final grassy straightaway.  Swick #1, Schlotzhauer #2,

Cardenas #3….NO!!  Jim Thorne, finishing with the kick of his career, passed Cardenas 5 meters from the finish line as placed 3^rd.  Cardenas 4^th, Pottey 5^th. Determination, inspiration, competitiveness….that’s cross country at this level.  Guys, you were fun to watch!!

 

The team title belonged to Reno.  Centennial’s 2-5 was not enough today for 1^st , but good enough for 2^nd.  Galena was 3^rd.  South Tahoe was 4^th, winning the “California-Nevada Championship”.  Fifth through 9^th belonged to the South.

 

The view from the chute was awesome.  Thank you to all the folks that came up to our Nevada Track Stats staff with the kind words of appreciation.