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by Penny Sparks
Just as high school runners as a group nationally are faster now than
they have been since the 1970s, I think we are going to see the fastest
4A group of athletes in Nevada prep history this season. I also think
most of them will come from the North.
I believe that once again the dominant teams will come out of Reno High
School. The RHS boys team is returning four of their seven runners from
last year. They gained James Bailey, a transfer from Spring Creek, who
was a state qualifier in the open 800 and also on Reno's state qualifying
4 x 800 relay team. However, his name does not pop up anywhere in the
3A cross country meets last year, so whether he will be a factor for Reno
remains to be seen. The remaining championship team members - Jonathan
Cardenas, Joseph Parker, David Shackelton, and Leif Anderson - are all
running better than last year. But four strong runners does not make a
championship team. Reno will need to have at least two other boys step
up to the level of Chris Concha and Neil Robertson to repeat last year's
win. A real threat to Reno is Centennial, which is also returning four
runners. Their hit was with their second and fifth runners, Jordan Smith
and Jorge Martinez. But to challenge Reno for the championship title they
too will need two others to step up. [“Ask and ye shall receive”.)
DeVon and Stephon Davis have transferred to Centennial from Cheyenne and
will be eligible to run. Now seniors, the twins were among the top five
of Fred Sowerby’s team at Cheyenne that went to state a year ago.
Stephon also qualified for state--finishing 15th-- as an individual for
Cheyenne in 2001. Coach Phil]
As impressive as the Reno boys team is, they are not nearly as impressive
as the girls team. This year's team, I believe, will be better than last
year’s team, which was ranked 24th in the nation, too low in my
opinion. Even though they lost their two team leaders from last year -
Karen DeMartini and Katie Mcgrath - they are gaining three very good freshmen.
Leading this impressive group is reigning state champion Collier Lawrence.
Collier will be joined this year by her little sister Marie (aka Mel)
Lawrence, an incoming freshman, who has accomplished some pretty impressive
feats in running already. And returning from last year's championship
team is the awesome sister combination of Michelle and Daryan Glenn. Daryan
was the number one freshman in the state last year in cross country, was
fourth in a very impressive 3200 meter field at state, and was on Reno's
4 x 800 record-breaking state championship team this year in track. Michelle,
a senior this year, has been a varsity runner for Reno since her freshman
year. She also was on Reno's 4 x 800 team and placed sixth in the 3200
at state. Michelle is always a point scorer for her team and has placed
in the top 20 in three state cross country championship meets. So with
the combination of two of the best two sister groups in the nation, that
leaves only three spaces to fill. The remaining three slots for the varsity
team will probably go to Jordan Lock, Lisa DeMartini, or one of the two
other talented incoming freshman - Ms. Challis, who was second to Mel
in the middle school races this year, or Nicole Lajeunesse, who ran a
4:59.08 1500 and 10:58.82 3000 this summer in Oregon. I look forward to
watching Renos girls match up against the tough California teams this
fall because they surely won't be challenged in Nevada as it stands now.
The girls teams from the South that stand out from last year are Palo
Verde, Green Valley, and Centennial. I don't believe Palo Verde will repeat
as the South's number one team even with top runner Melissa Voss leading
the pack. Palo Verde took a big hit losing their number two and number
three runners - Kathryn Bigger and Natilie Fehrensen. I believe Green
Valley and Centennial will both be stronger than Palo Verde, and I think
Centennial will be the strongest returning team, as Green Valley lost
their number two and number six runners, whereas Centennial lost no one.
Both teams are lucky in the fact their number one runners - Green Valley's
Lindsay Harris and Centennial's Meghan Mathews - are returning to lead
their teams into another cross-country season. The other two teams to
watch in the South are Cimarron-Memorial and Foothill. Cimarron was hit
much harder than Foothill as they graduated the South's defending regional
champion Natasha Wicks and their number three runner Tricia Bollinger.
Foothill only lost their number seven runner Brynin Lee, and they return
their number one runner Megan Karl who ended her track season with a huge
personal record in the 1500 at the Great Southwest Classic. [Foothill
also “lost” their coach, John Dixon. Only time will tell how
much impact that will have. Coach Phil] However, Cimarron-Memorial should
not be counted out, even with the loss of two of their best, because they
gained one of Nevada's best coaches in Jessica Scobell. Jessica's knowledge
and commitment to running will most likely impact Cimarron in a very positive
way.
In the northern region the competition is going to be for second place
since the North is now limited to two team slots in the state competition.
Otherwise the North would most likely have three to four teams competitive
at the state level. Given that the Reno boys will dominate the North,
I think the fight for the second slot is going to be between Galena and
South Tahoe. The Galena boys are returning two of the North’s best
in Stephen Pottey and Raul Tibaduiza, but they are lacking in numbers
and strength as most of last year's team members either graduated, transferred
to the new Damonte High School, or have opted not to run this year. The
South Tahoe boys took a huge hit losing their number one and two runners
- Hudson Wilvers and Chris Cosmi. However, Coach Dominique Westlake always
manages to pull together a strong team, and he also has four returning
from last yea_r's state qualifying team - Bryan Kurek, Alex Sharp, Tyler
Reiger, Steven Grant. More important than having returning runners, is
having an off-season training program, and Dom started one this summer.
If his summer program is at all successful it could make a big difference.
In the northern region girls competition for the second slot, I believe
Galena stands out. However, it is going to be very close between Galena,
Carson and South Tahoe. With both Galena and Carson girls losing their
number one runners and South Tahoe gaining some very good freshmen, this
makes these three teams pretty equal.
The Galena girls lost Chantel Williams to an ongoing injury but are returning
Alyssa Abbott, who I have been told has been working very hard this season.
She will most likely lead the returning runners - Anna Breen, Shantel
Bolsta, Emile Wark, Cathy Nichols and Laramee Searle from last year's
runner-up state champion team. Galena will be the team for Carson and
South Tahoe to chase this season.
The Carson girls team took a big hit losing Shanna Sparks with graduation
and their number two runner Sheena Bonaldi not competing this season.
But fortunately returning to the team is last year freshman standout Annie
Brinson who was sidelined in the middle of the cross country season from
a bad break in the elbow that took surgery and a long layoff to heal.
The time off did not seem to hurt her as she is running stronger than
last year before her injury and will most likely be Carson's number one
runner. Also returning is Tiffany Halen, third on last year's team, Janine
Stone, Patty Capistrant, Amanda Benson, and Kristin Neddenreip. Carson
also has a couple of incoming freshman that are showing promise in preseason
training - Megan Meyers and Hannah Works.
The South Tahoe girls look to be much stronger than last year. They have
a very talented freshman runner joining them this year, Kelsey McClurg,
who has run for Godspeed Wings the last two years. Kelsey ran in the 2:20's
in the 800 on a dirt track in the two middle school races she raced in
this past track season. She has also qualified for the USATF Junior Olympics
in cross-country the past two years. Joining Kelsey will be last year's
state individual qualifier Anna Lambdin and returning runner Megan Hillyard.
New to their team this year are Ellen Gallantly and Heather Newman who
both ran very well as freshmen this spring in track.
It is obvious that our athletes having raised the bar in Nevada through
their hard work, commitment, desire, and performance. They have challenged
some of our coaches to do the same. And I believe this is what it takes
for Nevada to be competitive nationally.
In the individual competition I think the northern and southern boys competition
is pretty equal, but I still tip the scales to the northern boys. I believe
Jonathan Cardenas of Reno is the man to beat, coming into the season off
of a very impressive 5000 meter race at the Junior Nationals in Stanford
this summer. I think if anyone is going to beat Jonathan they had better
already put in a lot of work this summer. However, that does not mean
I discount Patrick Swick of Chaparral and Blake Schlotzhauer of Centennial
as these two boys proved their mettle last year at the state championships.
If they have put in as much work as Jonathan has in his preseason training,
it could be one heck of a dogfight between the three of them at state.
Patrick Swick will come into the season as the reigning state champion.
The key for Patrick repeating this year is that he will have to be faster
than he was last year. The talent and ability is there and if he has worked
to bring it out he has a good chance of reclaiming his title.
Blake Schlotzhauer came on the scene with a bang as a freshman two years
ago when he finished second to Danny Wolf at state in track. His sophomore
year he dueled it out with Patrick Swick for the cross-country state title.
Blake ran into bad luck this past track season with an injury. If he has
been healthy throughout this summer and has worked as hard as the other
top runners he could be a challenger for the title.
Stephen Pottey raced to some of the best 1600 and 3200 meter times in
Nevada this past track season. In fact, he probably had the best overall
times in Nevada this year. He was also the only runner to run close to
Jonathan last year in cross country. I am not counting him out this season
as a possible challenger, but I think he has proven to be a better track
runner than a cross-country runner.
Joseph Parker has been training with Jonathan this summer. He was the
number one freshman distance runner in the state last year and ended up
being Reno's number two man at state and a top ten finisher. I look for
Joseph to be a top-five finisher at state this year.
Kevin Sandall from Elko could be a surprise factor against the northern
top runners as he had a very good track season this year. What is not
obvious is what kind of cross-country runner he is since this will be
his first time running cross-country.
I have listed the 2003 track personal records of the top finishers from
last years state cross-country meet as a gauge for this year's individual
title.
2003 Personal Records (top two from North and South)
Jonathan Cardenas: 1600 - 4:19.90; 3200 - 9:12.92; 5000 - 15:07.16
Stephen Pottey: 1600 - 4:16.04; 3200 - 9:19.49
Patrick Swick: 1600c - 4:19.64; 3200 - 9:55.27
Blake Schlotzhauer: 1600 - 4:26.0h; 3200 - 9:52.0h
In the girls individual competition the South will probably do no better
than last year. The northern girls lost five top distance runners in Shanna
Sparks, Karen DeMartini, Katie Mcgrath, Taryn Joyce-Mendive, and Monica
Buccambuso, and the South lost five - Natasha Wicks, Jackie Favreau, Yolanda
Chee, Sam Serrano, and Kathryn Bigger.
Leading the southern group this summer is Amanda Gramly of Clark who has
been the number one high school finisher at two road races in the Vegas
area. [Make that three! She was the first high school finisher at the
Legends Run last Saturday, beating Christa Avena among others. Coach Phil]
Amanda seems to be working the hardest in her preseason training. She
may end up being the South's number one runner if she keeps up her hard
work and takes after the trail that Natasha Wicks blazed last year in
preseason and season racing. Probably joining her at the top this season
will be Melissa Voss of Palo Verde, Christa Avena of Bishop Gorman, and
Megan Karl of Foothill. These three girls were the top distance runners
from the South in track this year. However, not one of them was close
to the top three Northern girls at state in track this past year and I
don't think they will be in cross country this season either.
Not knowing the incoming freshman talent in the South, I still feel comfortable
saying that there will not be any serious competition for Reno's freshman
Mel Lawrence. In fact, it would be surprising if any southern runner poses
a serious challenge to any of the North's top three - Collier Lawrence,
Britney Almaguer and Mel Lawrence. Although I believe it is going to be
the toughest battle ever for the individual state title, the contenders
will all be from the North.
Collier Lawrence deserves to be mentioned first as she is the reigning
state cross-country champion and is also a three time state champion in
track. She ran undefeated in Nevada last year in cross-country and she
then went on to break just about every track record in the North. Her
only loss in Nevada last school year was to Britney Almaguer in the 1600
at the divisional meet.
Mel Lawrence is the newcomer to watch, and it will be easy to watch her,
as she will be right up with the front-runners. Mel clocked some very
impressive times on the track this summer, especially for a 13 year old.
In Oregon this July she ran 10:08.47 in the 3000, 4:47.18 in the 1500,
and 2:21.79 in the 800. She is also a Junior Olympic National Champion
in cross country as is her sister. Mel defeated Angela Bizzarri, the young
lady that would have placed sixth on the heels of Katelyn Kaltenbach in
the Midwest Region Footlocker Cross Country Championships last year had
she run in the seeded race. Mel also destroyed the Western Region Foot
Locker eight-grade course just prior to winning her USATF Junior Olympic
Cross Country national championship title. She did so on the same course
Zoe Nelson (2002 Foot Locker national champion) ran on as an eight-grader,
finishing second and then the following year Zoe qualified for Foot Locker.
Mel is definitely going to make her presence felt from the start this
year.
It seems like the obvious favorite for the individual crown should be
Collier Lawrence, with her sister Mel a close second. However, I do not
believe that either one of them will win, as talented and accomplished
as they are. Britney Almaguer is as every bit as impressive as these other
two girls. All three of these girls are phenomenal runners and are going
to give each other all the competition they can handle. But I am going
to give the nod to Britney Almaguer for the individual title this season.
It was not an easy or obvious choice for me as it was in predicting Jonathan's
win, but I feel confident enough in predicting Britany as the favorite
to put in writing.
Britney Almaguer placed fourth at state and then third at the USATF Junior
Olympic cross-country nationals last year in her first cross-country season
ever. She then went on to run some of the fastest times in track this
year at Mt. SAC. At state she finished right on Collier’s heels
in both the 3200 and 1600. She then beat Collier at Golden West a month
later and finished right with her at Junior Nationals the following week.
I believe with some good summer training and having gained more experience
running at a higher level we will see Britney blossom into her potential
this year, as she only tapped into it last year. Britney is also the youngest
in terms of running age and newest in racing experience of these three
girls, and that gives her the most room for improvement. What she has
accomplished in such a short time is nothing less than phenomenal
Again, I have listed the stats of the top three girls for all to make
their own predictions, and for all to see why I have placed these three
girls as the ones to beat for the individual state title. No other girls
in Nevada this incoming season have run close to these times.
2003 Personal Records
Collier Lawrence: 1600 - 4:57.1h; 3000 - 10:02.55; 3200 - 10:43.0h; 5K
- 17:22
Britney Almaguer: 1500 - 3:37.54; 1600 - 5:05.82; 3000 - 9:59.88; 3200
- 10:54.13; 5K - 18:36
Marie Lawrence: 1500 - 4:47.18; 3000 - 10:08.47; 4K - 14:19
3A Cross-country Preseason Preview
In the 3A girls team competition the Lowry lady Buckaroo's appear to be
once again the dominant team in Nevada. The Lowry girls are only returning
three from last year's state championship team - Whitney Mentaberry who
placed second, Katie Engstrom who place third, and eleventh place finisher
Anna Schumacher. However, they will once again have two-time state cross-country
champion Kelsey Engstrom back on the team after injuries sidelined her
last cross-country season. These four girls make this team nearly impossible
to beat even if their number five runner is near the back of the pack.
On top of having these four dominant girls back they also have gained
two promising incoming freshman, Jessel Owens and Lindy Haagland along
with sophomore, Felicia George who is new to cross-country and is also
running very well in summer training runs. Coach Robbie Grant feels this
may be their strongest team yet. Boulder City did not lose any of their
runners from last year's second place team, but I believe that will not
be enough to challenge three-time state champion Lowry team.
In the boys team competition, Truckee, Lowry and North Tahoe all took
hits in losing top runners. Truckee lost their number one runner, Andrew
Van Blarigan, Lowry lost their number two runner, Jaime Cabada, and North
Tahoe lost their number one runner, state champion Pepe Ramirez. I am
not sure how many more runners Truckee and North Tahoe lost or what they
may gain this upcoming season, but Lowry appears to have their strongest
team of the past five years. Lupe Cabada, their number one runner who
dueled it out with Andrew Van Blarigan for second and third place in last
years state meet, is running stronger than last year. Joining Lupe from
last year's runner-up team is Jake Steiman, Justin Grant, and Jonathan
Routson. The male Buckaroo's are as fortunate as their female counterparts
in acquiring some talented new runners. The most impressive new team member
is Cory Hawkins who in his first year of high school track ran some very
fast times in the 1600 and 800. I was fortunate enough to see him race
at state for the first time and was impressed by his courageous and determined
racing. Cory was Lowry's anchor leg on the 4 x 800 relay and made up more
ground then any other 4 x 800 runner at state. I have not seen too many
runners give as much in a race as Cory did in his 800-meter leg. I predict
Cory Hawkins is the newcomer to watch in the 3A, and I believe he will
place in the top five at state his first high school cross country season.
Also new to the Buckaroo's team are junior Brad Hammon and freshman Sean
Brown. Both boys show a lot promise, according to coach Grant. Adding
to their boy's team is last year's number one junior varsity runner Forrest
Schumacher. I am predicting the Buckaroo's will take home two team and
two individual state championships this season.
Individually in the 3A girls competition the obvious favorite is multi-champion
Kelsey Engstrom. She proved at the state track meet this past year that
she is back from her injury and running better than ever. The past two
years have physically been a struggle for her, but she seems to be getting
back up to par and I expect her to be one of the best overall female runners
in the state this year. Also running better then ever and with more fire
is her twin sister Katie. Katie and Kelsey and teammate Whitney Mentaberry
could end up pushing each other to some very good times this year.
Last year's fourth-place finisher at state, Courtney Saylors of Boulder
City, seems to improve every season. I predict she will be the one to
break up Lowry's top group, and once again be a top five finisher.
The boys winner is not as clear-cut as the girls' but I feel that Lupe
Cabada will prevail over Truckee's number one returnee, Matt Gelso, and
North Tahoe's number one returnee, Jacob McDermott. Lupe was a dominant
force in track this year this year, but I also think Lupe could end up
being challenged by teammate Cory Hawkins. In fact, I might be so bold
as to predict that these two boys will go one-two at the state meet this
year.
2A Cross Country Preseason Preview
Unfortunately there is not too much information on the 1A/2A schools,
but I have dug up as much information as possible. I will try to give
credit to the top returning runners and the notable incoming/new runners
as best I can with the limited information I have. Some of the runners
I mention may have graduated, so please excuse any mistakes I may make.
In the team competition the strongest girls team appears to be Incline,
by default, since both Whittell and Faith Lutheran lost a lot of key runners.
Incline lost only one from their top seven and is gaining a very talented
incoming freshman. The boys team competition again looks like it will
be between Faith Lutheran and Whittell. Faith Lutheran did not lose any
of their top five boys to graduation and Whittell lost only one.
Individually in the girls race, I believe Addie DeVine of Incline will
be challenged for the win by either teammate incoming freshman Lauren
Riersgard or second place finisher Cassandra Murzl of Faith Lutheran.
Lauren Riersgard is a fierce and determined competitor who will give it
her all to win. The two Incline girls will probably benefit from having
each other as training companions this season, and because of that I look
for both of them to show noticeable improvement this year. The wild card
in girls 2A is Eliza Culverwell of Lincoln County. If Eliza decides to
compete in cross-country she will likely dominate state as she did in
track this past year. Eliza is a phenomenal talent as proven by her recording
breaking 3200-meter performance at the state track meet.
In the boys competition, I think Brian Nestor of Faith Lutheran has a
good shot at reclaiming his state title, but Linferd Kelly of Pyramid
Lake, Luke Lytle of Pahranagat, and Abe Minnitte of Gerlach could seriously
challenge him. Both Luke and Abe were state champions in track this past
year and seemed poised to make a run at the cross country title this season.
DyeStat Nevada
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