Carson High’s Vea Miner hits the backstretch of the Rancho San Rafael course, during the Class 5A North regional cross country meet Friday. Miner crossed the line in sixth as an individual as the Senator girls took second place as a team.
Photo by Carter Eckl.
Not winning a meet may be a bit of a new feeling for Carson High School girls cross country after the Senators took second place at the Class 5A North regional cross country meet this past Friday.
The Senators were back-to-back defending regional champions, but some injuries have hampered the team results this season.
Even so, Carson (50 team points) finished five points behind Friday’s team champion Galena (45).
Carson juniors Vea Miner and Brianna Rodriguez-Nunez were the first two runners wearing royal blue and white to complete the course, taking sixth and seventh, respectively.
Miner stopped the clock at 19:58 while Rodriguez-Nunez finished in 20:07.
Carson’s next three runners – and final three team scores – came from sophomore Anna Shane (12th), senior Jinnie Ponczoch (13th) and senior Eleanor Romeo (15th).
“I felt really strong and I’ve been accomplishing most of the goals I set for myself so I’ve been feeling really good,” said Miner in regard to her season as a whole. “I’ve been feeling really proud of myself recently.”
“At the beginning of the season, I got a little injured, but I was able to pick it back up from there,” said Rodriguez-Nunez. “Top seven was my goal because I was top seven last year.”
The Senators didn’t dial back their practice workload much in the days leading into regionals and their two top finishers Friday think that will help them be rested and ready for Saturday’s state meet.
“I think we are going to start tapering,” said Miner.
“We didn’t really taper this week so that will really help. Just focusing on recovering our body just so that we are ready and ready to go fast,” said Rodriguez-Nunez.
The Senators won’t let one close result sway their focus.
Carson still holds back-to-back state championships, too, and has turned its focus to Saturday’s Class 5A state meet in Boulder City at Veterans Memorial Park.
(Brianna Rodriguez-Nunez competes for Carson High School girls cross country Friday at Rancho San Rafael. Rodriguez-Nunez took seventh place as an individual as the Senator team qualified for state with a second place finish. Carter Eckl / Nevada Appeal)
DAYTON, SIERRA LUTHERAN EARN INDIVIDUAL STATE QUALIFICATIONS
Both Dayton and Sierra Lutheran High Schools will have representatives on the girls side of things at the Class 5A state meet this Saturday.
Dayton’s Zoey Wildblood was 25th as an individual, posting a time of 23:38 earning a spot in the state meet for Class 3A.
In Class 2A, the Falcon girls will be represented by their lone regional participant in Briella Bodenstein, who was 10th in the Class 2A girls regional competition in 25:14.
Both runners will finish their seasons in Boulder City as the state meet this Saturday at Veterans Memorial Park.
(Dayton High's Zoey Wildblood runs down the final stretch of the Rancho San Rafael regional cross country meet course Friday. Wildblood took 25th in the Class 3A girls event and qualified for this Saturday's state meet. Carter Eckl / Nevada Appeal)