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Last year's big winners in 4A were Reno High (boys) and Centennial
H.S.
(girls). Reno lost of four of their top seven to graduation, but
then most
boys teams have more seniors than do the girls teams. It appears
that Reno
was hit no harder by graduation than its closest rivals in 2000,
South Tahoe
and Galena. On the distaff side, Centennial, South Tahoe, and Green
Valley
finished within eight points of each other (in that order) and
all three
teams remain pretty much intact.
The boys team most likely to contend for the 4A state championship,
aside
from Reno, South Tahoe, and Galena, is Chaparral, led by the Patrick
Swick.
Patrick finished 6th last fall in cross country and was runner-up
at state in
both the 1600 and 3200 on the track this spring. Chaparral graduated
no
seniors from their top five of a year ago and picked up an off-season
transfer from Texas, Joe Burrola (9:58/3200 and 4:30/1600 on the
track at
state). Swick and Burrola (now a senior) give Chaparral a great
1-2 and make
the Cowboys the preseason team-to-beat in Sunrise. After Chaparral,
the
"usual suspects" from Sunrise are Green Valley, Silverado,
Basic, and
Foothill--what I call the "Henderson Division". On the
other side of the
valley in Sunset, Centennial looks like a clear favorite with
Cimarron-Memorial, Durango, and possibly Palo Verde--like Foothill,
a
program on the rise--fighting for the other two spots.
Across the state, here are the other returning individuals in boys
4A who
finished in the top-15 last fall: Jamalo Adem of Clark (5th), Swick,
Kole
Krahenbuhl of Basic (10th), Matt Dodd of Reno (11th), Mike Ceparano
of
Silverado (13th), and Chris Cosmi of South Tahoe (14th).
Reno's Chris Concha (24th), who placed third at state in both the
1600 and
the 3200, should also be given a top billing among "runners
to beat" this
fall.
Some of the other boys from Sunset who can be expected to lead
their
respective teams are Matthew Yadegar (Cimarron-Memorial), Jordan
Stephens,
Jorge Martinez, and Preston Mathews (Centennial), Allen Larsen
(Bonanza),
Marcus Whitehead and Emmanuel Garcia (Durango), Kevin Sully (Palo
Verde),
Devon and Stephon Davis (Cheyenne), and Kumiye Hussein (Clark)
From Sunrise also watch for Agustin Luna and Anthony Petrillo (Chaparral),
Ron Stoker (Foothill), Alex Wilcox (Coronado), David Winkler and
Korre Heggem
(Green Valley), Paul Hafen and Tyler Sorenson (Basic), Corey Thompson
and
Brad Royal (Silverado), and Ray Rodriguez (Vo Tech).
In girls 4A the competition should be very tight. Centennial, which
returns
its top seven from a year ago, is led by sophomore Meghan Mathews
(runner-up
at state) and senior Allison Carney (7th at state). Centennial
also has three
other returning runners who placed in the top 30 at state last
fall. South
Tahoe returns four of their top seven, including sophomore Amber
Ramos (4th
at state) who ran a 11:57/3200 at state this spring. Green Valley,
likewise
with no graduating seniors, will be led by junior Emily Eskin (6th
at state).
Other teams that will likely be leaders in the battle for a trip
to State
are--starting at the top--Foothill, Basic, and Silverado from Sunrise;
Palo
Verde, Cimarron-Memorial, and Bonanza from Sunset; and Carson,
Reno, and
McQueen from the North. Carson, especially, is a team from the
north to
watch. The Lady Senators have four incoming freshman who are all
expected to
have an impact.
The outstanding female runner in 4A is Carson's Shanna Sparks,
the defending
state champ. Sparks was 2nd team All Western Region at Footlocker
in 2000 and
ran 11:19 in winning the 3200 on the track at state this spring
as a
sophomore. Shanna is a legitimate "national contender".Close
behind her is
Christa Avena from Gorman who was third last year in 4A cross country
and
runner-up in the 1600 and the 3200 on the track.
The following girls were All-State (top 15) last year and are returning
this
fall: Sparks, Mathews, Avena, Eskin, Carney, Karen DeMartini of
Reno (8th),
Taryn Joyce-Mendive of Douglas (10th), Michelle Glenn of Reno (11th),
Lindsay
Harris of Green Valley (12th), Karen Brigman of McQueen (13th),
Kali Baker of
Centennial (14th), and Erica Zampardo of South Tahoe (15th).
To that list add the following girls from Sunset who are expected
to be
among the front runners this fall: Natasha Wicks and Shoshanna
Yadegar
(Cimarron-Memorial); Natilie Fehrensen and Melissa Voss (Palo Verde);
Tamara
Dudas, Minette Porterfield, and Jen Fajardo (Bonanza); Patty Boghos
and Shana
Wiltshire (Durango); and Laura and Melissa O'Connor, Kelli Brown,
and Megan
Romeo (Centennial).
And from Sunrise : Deann Bradshaw, Colleen O' Brien, Megan Karl,
and Beth Stoner, (Foothill);
Jackie Favreau, Katie Hughes, and Stacie DeGagne (Green Valley);
Samantha
Serrano, Ashley Perkins, and Brianna Krahenbuhl (Basic); Yolanda
Chee
(Eldorado); Michelle Chee (Rancho); and Karen and Debbie LaHodny
(Silverado).
There are four "new" 4A schools that are opening this
fall: North Valleys
and Spanish Springs in the Northern Region and Coronado and Sierra
Vista in
Sunrise and Sunset. None of these schools will have seniors and
all are
expected to feel the "first-year pains" of competition
against established
programs. The bigger impact that they may make this fall is in
the athletes
they will "take away" from their surrounding schools:
Sparks and Hug in the
north and Foothill, Silverado, and Durango in the south. A number
of athletes
who ran as freshmen and sophomores at Durango and Foothill, for
instance,
will now be changing their colors to run for Coronado and Sierra
Vista.
Among the lower divisions (2A/3A), the one team that truly stands
out
state-wide is the girls team from Lowry. The Buckaroos from Winnemucca
won
the 3A title in 2000 with 17 points and graduated nary a senior.
Lowry is led
by sophomore twins Kelsey and Katie Engstrom. Kelsey was the 3A
state champ
in cross country, as well as both the 1600 and the 3200 this spring.
Katie,
7th in cc in '00, was 4th at state in the 1600 and 3rd in the 3200.
Heather
Thompson, also from Lowry, was runner-up in cc last fall and was
the 800
meter state champ in 3A track. Boulder City, North Tahoe, and Spring
Creek
will fight for the scraps in girls 3A. Boulder City's Kristie McRae
(9th at
state) is the south's top returning runner.
Boys 3A should be more "up for grabs" this fall. Boulder
City, the defending
champs, was hit hard by graduation and only returns two runners
who finished
among the top 10 last fall--Justin Barrow (6th) and Aaron Ross
(8th). The
team most likely to challenge for team honors is North Tahoe, which
will be
led by Jose Ramirez--runner-up in cc in '00 and both the 1600 and
the 3200 in
state track this spring--and Tommy Mills (9th in '00 cc).
2A boys is dominated by three outstanding young men: Drew Casselberry
of
Incline, Greg Sullivan of Beatty, and Chris Clauson of Independence.
Seniors
Casselberry and Sullivan finished 1-2 last fall while Clauson,
who placed 6th
in cc last fall, ran a 9:48 3200 as a freshman in winning the 2A
3200 at
state.
Girls 2A features one of the better teams in the state, at any
level, Faith
Lutheran. The Crusaders from Las Vegas are led by sophomore Nikki
Peterson
and senior Chaz LaHodny. The defending 2A cc champ, Peterson was
a quad
winner in 2A track this spring (400/800/1600/3200). LaHodny, who
has not run
cross country since her freshman year at Clark (when she was third
in the
State Meet), had an outstanding season on the track this past spring.
Faith
Lutheran also has an outstanding incoming freshman, Delayna Jensen.
Three
returning runners who finished in the top five in 2A last fall
are Christine
Barrett (2nd) and Sarah Day (3rd), both from Faith Lutheran, and
Lindsey
Zeller (5th) of Indian Springs.
Finally, there is the "coach factor". It's no coincidence
that the most
successful programs in the state are headed by experienced coaches
who coach
their distance runners year round. This is not a knock on multi-sport
coaches. There have been--and are--excellent coaches in this state
who coach
cross country and then turn their attention to other sports at
the end of the
fall season: basketball, wrestling, baseball or softball.... But
these
coaches are at a distinct disadvantage when they compete against
coaches who,
in addition to cross country, work with their runners over the
winter months
and then coach them on the track in the spring.
I will confine my examples to southern Nevada, since that is where
I've
resided and coached for the past 20-plus years, but I suspect the
assertion
holds true up north as well. (Warren Mills at North Tahoe, Dave
Nolte and
Lynn Mentzer at Reed, Lee Hurren at Galena, and Roland Martin at
Reno come to
mind.) First, the success of the Basic program is due to the dedication
and
expertise of Larry Burgess, the dean of cross country coaches in
southern
Nevada. (In addition to five team state championships, I don't
believe Coach
Burgess has never failed to qualify his boys team for the State
Meet.)
Likewise, Cimarron-Memorial has Harold Vaughn to thank for its
long-time
success in cross country. Boulder City has been blessed to have
Bruce Momsen
as its cross country coach for more years than I can calculate.
Mike O'Dea
has been a super-successful cross country coach wherever he's been,
first at
Eldorado then Durango and now Palo Verde. John Dixon has been a
winner
wherever he's coached as well, first at Cheyenne and now at Foothill.
Tim
Daily worked miracles at Indian Springs; it might take him a couple
of years,
but I expect he'll do very well at Sierra Vista. Jeff Doyle and
Jessica
Scobell, both relative newcomers, have had great success at Green
Valley and
Faith Lutheran. And sometimes two coaches are better than one:
Sam
Richardson, a veteran coach (Eldorado, Cheyenne, Valley) coaches
the boys at
Centennial while another veteran, Bill Miller (who coached under
John Dixon
at Cheyenne), coached the girls team at Centennial to a state championship
last fall.
I know I've left out other examples of terrific, successful coaches.
So be
it. But the coaches I have cited all have one thing in common:
they coach
their runners year round. They recruit, they raise funds, and they
work with
their athletes one-on-one from August of one year until July of
the next. And
come November I suspect these are the coaches who will be traveling
to Reno
for the State Meet. I rest my case.
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