Chad Shroy saved the best for last.
The Carson High senior, who has been accepted to the United States Naval Academy where he will run, became the first state champion for the Carson High boys cross country team since 1995 when he won the NIAA 4A State Championship meet on Saturday in Boulder City.
Shroy's title capped off a banner day and season for the Senators as the CHS boys went on to finish third. Along with Shroy, Carson had another all-state first team performer in freshman Yvonne Hollett, who took seventh in the girls race. The top seven earned all-state first team honors.
Carson also had two other all-state second team performers: Shroy's younger brother, freshman Richard, who took ninth in the boys race and Christy Works, who was 10th in the girls race. In addition, Carson's girls won the state academic title with the highest grade point average of any 4A team in the state at 3.76.
Chad covered the 3.1-mile race in 16 minutes, 38 seconds while Richard finished in 17:22. Shroy beat Reno High's Walter Juarez, who came into the race unbeaten. Juarez won last week's Northern 4A title while Shroy was second.
Carson coach Pete Sinnott said Shroy ran "a real good, smart race. It went pretty much how we planned the whole race."
Shroy took the lead at the two-mile mark, but with one mile to go Juarez retook the lead. But Shroy took control of the race when he regained the lead with 300 yards left.
"He had a great race," Sinnott said. "He had a great senior year. He was dedicated and focused all year long."
Shroy finished fifth in last year's state race and was the top returning runner from that event. But several other top runners transferred into the state, including Juarez, who transferred from Oregon. "Chad ended up beating them all," Sinnott said.
Reno won the boys title with 50 points while Silverado edged Carson for second, 90-113. In the girls race, Reno won the state title after finishing tied with South Tahoe at 61 points. The Huskies won the crown based on their sixth runner finishing ahead of the Vikings' sixth runner. Reno's Mel Lawrence won the girls race.
Carson had three runners in the girls race. Hollett finished in 20:48.42, Works finished in 20:56.42 and Gloria Sosa was 19th in 21:19.52. For the Carson boys, Caleb Carter was 25th, Zach Mapes was 36th and freshman Nick Schlager was 42nd.
Sinnott said Schlager has been running with nagging injuries all year. "He's just been toughing it out," Sinnott said. "He ran a really good, strong race."
"They put a great effort," Sinnott also said about all of his runners. "I don't think anybody could have run faster than they did."
In addition, Carson has a strong nucleus returning for next season. "Both teams are looking good for next year, a lot of strong, returning kids," Sinnott said.
About the program's success this year, including the girls state academic title, Sinnott said, "You're really ding a lot of things right."