RENO - The symbolism of the Carson High boys cross country team's effort could been at the top of their heads.
Many of Carson's runners shaved their heads - and their legs as well - in honor of their qualifying for Saturday's NIAA 4A State Championships at Rancho San Rafael Park. The move must have served as strong motivation as well.
Led by Chad Shroy, one of the runners who shaved his head and legs, the Senators turned in an outstanding effort. Shroy placed fifth overall and Carson took seventh as a team out of eight schools.
But despite missing two runners, the Senators were able to beat Manogue, so they can now claim to be Northern Nevada's third best team behind Reno High and Galena.
Carson's girls left no doubt not only who the third best team in Northern Nevada was, but who the third best team in the state was, as they ran to a convincing third place finish behind South Tahoe and Reno.
"A few of us decided to shave our heads and legs in honor of going to state," Shroy said.
When asked if his shaved leg and shaved head helped him run faster, Shroy said, "I think so. I think I shaved about 14 seconds off (my time). I'm definitely pleased."
Shroy actually shaved 12 seconds off of his time from last week's Northern 4A meet at Rancho San Rafael Park, but his effort was impressive nonetheless. Shroy finished fifth at last week's Northern 4A meet in 17:49 and went on to take fifth on Saturday in 17:37.
Last week, Shroy was passed by two Reno runners in the last 800 meters on the 3.1 mile course. But this time, he was the third fastest Northern runner behind state champion Joe Parker of Reno (16:58) and Galena's Dan Geib, who took second in 17:10.
"It was definitely my goal," said Shroy about beating the two Reno runners. "That was my goal to at least beat those two."
"I was expecting to be under 15, under 10," Shroy also said about where he would place. "I definitely did better than I expected to."
Shroy was also first among juniors as the top four finishers were all seniors, so that means Shroy can be considered the favorite to win next year's state meet.
"That's kind of nice to have that as a goal and for it to be realistic," Carson coach Dennis Brinson said.
Just as impressive were Carson's other runners. "They all shaved 10 and 20 seconds off their times," Shroy said. "That's really awesome for them."
Carson was without Caleb Carter, who had an emergency appendectomy this week, and Sam Saunders, who was taking an ACT test. But the rest of Carson's runners picked up the slack. The Senators were just edged by Palo Verde for sixth (151-156).
Reno won with 40 points and was followed by Galena (70), Silverado (92), Shadow Ridge (95) and Coronado (96).
Also for Carson, Ethan Graber finished in 19:05, Rusty Turner finished in 19:20, Zack Mapes finished in 19:30, Mark Neddenriep finished in 20:01, Tyler Davies finished in 20:44 and Stephen Maples finished in 20:50.
"They all ran faster this race than they ran before," Brinson said. "They all ran as hard as they could and that's an indicator of their time improvement. They ran their hearts out. I'm really happy with what they did."
Galena's other top runner was Bryan Tibaduiza, who took eighth in 17:41.
Christy Works, who took 12th in last week's zone meet, was impressive again, taking 12th on Saturday in 21:25. Douglas High's Whitney Lindsey was impressive as well, taking ninth in 20:50, finishing just behind Galena's Alyssa Abbott, who was eighth in 20:45.
Also impressive for Carson were Gloria Sosa (18th, 21:39) and Hannah Reidl (22:02). "Gloria ran really well," Brinson said. "Hannah, she did really awesome. They finished well. It was an awesome season."
Rounding out Carson's lineup were Kristin Dockery (22:32), Meagan Myer (22:40), Annie Brinson (23:01) and Jenny Mital (23:54). Also for Douglas, Taylor Biaggi was 37th in 22:33.
Reno's Mel Lawrence won in 18:28, but it was South Tahoe who won the team title, gaining revenge for last week when it lost the zone crown to the Huskies. South Tahoe edged Reno 32-36. Carson finished with 97 points to easily outdistance fourth place Palo Verde (121).
In the 3A boys race, Dayton's Nathan Kato had an impressive effort. After taking 11th in last week's zone meet, Kato was fourth on Saturday. In the 3A girls race, Dayton's Stephanie Schall had a solid effort, taking 21st in 24:34.
Virginia City's girls finished just short of winning their first ever state title in the 2A race, taking second to Laughlin 50-45. Sage Ridge also had 50 points, but Virginia City won the tiebreaker as its sixth place runner, Sierra Fielding, finished in 32:33 to finish faster than Sage Ridge's sixth runner.
Also for Virginia City, Erin Briethaupt took second in 21:54, Megan Brandon was seventh in 23:59, Sierra Clay was eighth in 24:16, Jolene Harsch was 21st in 30:10 and Brittany Bomar was 23rd in 31:11.
In the 2A boys race, Rite of Passage's Manuel Castillo was sixth in 19:05.