There's no denying that many in the community, including yours truly, has questioned why a school as large as Carson High doesn't have a stronger all-around athletic program.
But if one goes by the true definition of what a student-athlete should be about, CHS has nothing to apologize for. At least if one goes by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Award of Excellence fall standings.
With the conclusion of the fall sports season, Carson is again in its traditional place as one of the state's top overall athletic programs. CHS is also joined by several familiar schools who are also traditionally at the top.
Carson is in second in the 4A standings with 880 points, trailing first place Reno High, which has 1,000 points. Carson is followed by Galena (850), Palo Verde (830), Manogue (820) and Douglas in sixth (780).
The Award of Excellence program is a year-long scoring system in which schools earn points based on their teams' performance in the classroom, at the athletic venue and sportsmanship.
Each of the three categories are scored equally. The sportsmanship points are totaled at the end of the school year.
"I like that," said CHS athletic director Diane Baker Roberts about where the school ranked in the fall standings.
Once again, Carson scored high due in large part to the academic performance of its athletic teams. CHS scored 530 points in academics, which was one of the highest totals among all the state's schools.
Carson has won more state academic titles than any other school in the state. Athletic teams that have the highest cumulative grade point average of any school in their division in their sport in the state are awarded state academic titles. This past fall, Carson's girls golf team won the state academic title with a cumulative 3.84 G.P.A.
"I just like it when those academic awards come in," Roberts said. "A lot of our athletes are great students."
Carson also received a huge lift in the standings from the performance of its girls and boys cross country teams. The girls won the NIAA 4A State title while the boys were the state runner-up.
Douglas also had an outstanding fall sports season in placing sixth in the standings. Among the highlights were state runner-up finishes for the girls golf and boys soccer teams and a zone runner-up finish for the volleyball team.
"That's an exciting place to be this time of year," said Roberts about being in second in the standings. "I don't know where we'll place as the year goes along."