Nevada Appeal Staff Report
The Carson High School boys and girls cross country teams continued to show tremendous improvement at another high-powered meet, the Bronco Invitational, on Saturday in Folsom, Calif.
Out of 40 teams, Carson's boys took second and the Senator girls were third. Both the CHS boys and girls were the top Northern Nevada team in the meet as both beat fellow Northern 4A power Reno High.
Reno could be considered the favorite to win the Northern 4A title, but Carson coach Pete Sinnott isn't ready to say his club is now the team to beat just yet.
"It shows we're getting stronger," Sinnott said. "It doesn't mean we're the strongest, yet."
Northern California power Ponderosa swept the boys and girls titles while Sacramento's St. Francis took second in the girls. Despite a tough meet last week at the Clovis (Calif.) Invitational and a hard week of training, the Senator girls and boys were able to turn in an impressive performance.
And despite a tough hilly course with many curves, two Senator boys, Richard Shroy and Nick Schlager, were able to cover the 3.1 miles in less than 17 minutes.
Shroy finished third overall and was the top Northern Nevada finisher, finishing in 16 minutes, 33 seconds. Schlager was ninth in 16:56.
Also for Carson, Logan Philippi was ninth in 17:32 and despite running with a sore thigh muscle, Brenth Moyle finished in 18:09. "He's really making us a stronger team," said Sinnott about Moyle.
Rounding out the CHS boys were Evan Richards (18:22), Brandon Bournacorsie (18:22), David McMasters (18:44) and in his first varsity race, Josh Van Sickle (19:17).
Carson's big three of Yvonne Hollett, Amanda Gordon and Jenny Mital continued to lead the Senator girls. Hollett was seventh in 20:06, Gordon was eighth in 20:12 and Mital was ninth in 20:19.
Rounding out Carson's lineup was Haleigh Ward (22:31) and Erica Sosa (23:09). Making Carson's effort even more impressive was the fact it was without two of its runners, Erica Sosa and Chelsea Gordon.
Carson has one more regular-season meet left on Wednesday when it faces Damonte Ranch and Fallon at Damonte. While the Carson boys have qualified for the Northern 4A Championships to be held on October 29 at Rancho San Rafael Park, the CHS girls are actually on the bubble.
Yvonne Hollett missed the first meet of the year and Carson ended up losing to Manogue and Galena. South Tahoe, Manogue and Galena have clinched the top three spots while Carson is now tied for fourth with Douglas. If Carson beats Damonte and Fallon as it should, it will qualify for zone based on its win against Douglas.
Both the boys and girls zone meets should be wide open with Reno, Carson, Galena and Manogue among the favorites in the boys. South Tahoe will be the favorites in the girls, but should be closely followed by Carson, Galena, Manogue and Reno.
JVS
Carson's JV boys finished fifth at Folsom. Noel Lopez was 13th, covering the 2.6-mile course in 16:44 and was followed by Joe Ward (17:39), Ricardo Urgarte (17:50), Victor Favero (17:52), Justice Kemp (18:32), Jonathan Morales (18:52), Jame Levins (19:07) and Brandon O'Keefe.
For the CHS JV girls, Ashley Salcedo finished 22nd in 21:26 and was followed by Katie Ogburn (22:43) and Haley Toupes (23:03).