Eveline Delgado burst on the Northern Nevada cross-country scene as a freshman, and her success has been critical for Carson High School.
Delgado, who has finished second and seventh in the last two regional meets, leads the Senators into their season-opening meet, the Twlight Invitational, at Shadow Mountain in Sparks next Friday night.
Despite the loss of veterans Alex Drozdoff and Cindy Juchtzer, veteran coach Pete Sinnott has high hopes for his squad in terms of postseason.
“Eveline has had some minor injuries slow her down,” Sinnott said. “It might be a couple of weeks before she gets back into a good rhythm and is capable of running like she can.”
Sinnott also is counting on returnees Athena Favero, a hurdler in track, Gia Wong-Fortunato, Shelby Brown, Lake Shank and Alison Greene.
“Athena looked pretty good in the summer,” Sinnott said. “She’s going to be a good competitor this year.
“I think the girls will be pretty strong. I don’t see a dominant runner in the state. If we get through the first few weeks without any injuries we’ll be fine.”
Sinnott also has high hopes for Blanca Sosa, who didn’t run last year because of knee problems. She swam for the Senators.
“She is 5-11 and very strong,” Sinnott said. “It will take time to get in (running) shape. Her cardio is good, though.”
Tiffany DeRosa and Katherine Liemant also will be competing for varsity time.
The Carson boys squad returns some solid performers, including Daniel Jauregui, Bryen Holloway, Wyatt Cartier and Ian VanRensslaer. Also looking to contribute are Kiefer Catron, Ian Apalategui, Michael Lieken and Connor Van Worth.
“I’ve got a whole group competing for the last couple of spots,” Sinnott said. “I’ve got seven or eight for the last spots.”
Among the newcomers are Ethan Lopez, Shane Morton, Miles Bean, Hector Barrios, Jesus Lopez, Adam Maw, Logan Mead, Josh Merriner and Reece Canfield.
Dayton returns solid boys team
Coach Shawn Anderson lost state placer Aaron Elissa to graduation, but he still will put together a solid team this season.
“Aaron enabled us to maintain some respectable scores in our meets last year,” Anderson said. “However, I do have a solid core group of returnees that will most certainly make improvements from last year which will keep us in the running.”
Sophomore J.J. Ply and junior Brady Huesser have looked strong in preseason workouts, Anderson said. Also back are seniors Nick Langstaff and Toby Tapley plus sophomores Oakley Workman and Jared Logan.
“I think J.J. and Brady have the best shots at state if I had to pick two,” Anderson said. “J.J. has been going gang busters since he started coming out this summer. Brady has improved a lot; put in a lot of miles.”
Anderson welcomes several newcomers to the squad, including junior Carlos Vilanueva, sophomores Westin Millett and Zach Scott, and freshmen Austin Duarte, Jeffrey Gigantino and Chase Peterson.
Once again, Dayton’s girls won’t be able to post scores this year. The team has just two runners, senior Hanna Elissa and freshman Sydney Strickler.
“Hanna had a good year last year, just missing state by a few places,” Anderson said. “Sydney just ran a half-marathon two weeks ago, and as an eighth grader was always a top finisher.”