The Carson High boys and girls cross country teams may have turned in their most impressive performance of the season in a high-powered Northern 4A meet at South Tahoe.
Officially it was a Sierra League meet for Carson against South Tahoe, but Northern 4A power Reno High along with North Valleys and Sparks also ran in the meet. Carson's girls turned in an impressive effort against the Vikings, considered the team to beat in the Northern 4A, as South Tahoe edged the Senators 25-30. Carson's boys beat South Tahoe 15-50.
But even more impressive for Carson's boys is they would have beaten Reno, considered by many the top Northern 4A boys team, if a score had been kept between the two schools.
"We ran very well against Reno," Carson coach Pete Sinnott said. "We actually beat them."
Carson actually had seven of the top nine overall finishers in the boys race. But it should be noted that Reno may have been holding back in preparation for Saturday's Clovis (Calif.) Invitational, a meet that will also feature Carson.
Richard Shroy won the boys race, finishing the 3.1 mile course in 17 minutes, 54 seconds. Nich Schlager was third overall in 18:37.
"Richard and Nick ran a real good race," Sinnott said. "They're pushing each other in practice. They're pushing each other in races."
Also for Carson, Brent Moyle was fourth overall in 18:52, Logan Philippi was fifth in 19:25, Brandon Bournacorsi was seventh in 20:14, Evan Richards was eighth in 20:25 and David McMasters was ninth in 20:34.
For Carson's girls, Yvonne Hollett, Jenny Mital and Amanda Gordon all had outstanding races as they finished third, fourth and fifth overall behind South Tahoe's two outstanding runners, Kelsey Smith and Shelby McIntyre. Smith won in 21:22 while McIntyre was second in 21:35.
Hollett was third in 21:45, Mital was fourth in 22:07 and Gordon was fifth in 22:33. Also for Carson, Erika Sosa was 11th overall in 24:23, Laura Sosa was 13th in 24:34, Haleigh Ward was 19th in 25:53 and Chelsea Gordon was 27th in 27:14.
"The girls ran a really good race against South Tahoe which is probably right now the top team in the state," Sinnott said.