By Jessica Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley High School Cross Country team ran their first meet of the season on Tuesday, August 31. They travelled to Floyd Lamb Park in Las Vegas to compete with Palo Verde High School, Shadow Ridge High School, and the host of the race, Arbor View High School. The course was 2.84 miles of desert terrain, mixed with asphalt, ponds, and grass.
Josh Thompson led the boy’s team winning second place overall with a personal best time of 15:41. Garret Traasdahl, Tyler Reynolds, and Ryan Leachman competed as well.
Jessany Mortensen and Tibi Willard ran the race side by side, crossing the finish line at 24:12 and 24:14. Kenna McMurray, DJ Carter, and Allie Cooper also participated in the girl’s competition.
“We were short in numbers but it went really well,” said boys coach Richard Bush.
The team also participated in a second meet on Saturday, September 4. This 2.8 mile course was held at the Palo Verde High School and featured fourteen teams from the Las Vegas area, twelve of which were 4A schools. Because of the large number of runners, the meet was split into four divisions; Freshmen-Sophomore boys, Freshman-Sophomore girls, Junior-Senior boys, and Junior-Senior girls.
Ryan Leachman ran a personal best time of 23:25 in the Freshmen-Sophomore boy’s race. In the Juniors and Seniors Boys division, Josh Thompson placed third place with a personal best of 15:08. Chase Witter came in fifth place with a personal best of 15:23. Brendan Watkins and Cody Wood also ran in this division and each made a new personal best as well.
“Today was great!” Bush reported. “The guys are running at the same speed or faster than they were last season. We still have a long way to go but we’re happy with the results we’ve seen so far.”
The girls team also performed well in the race. Kenna McMurray ran a personal best time of 26:35 in the Freshmen-Sophomore girl’s race followed by DJ Carter who ran a personal best as well.
Jessany Mortensen ran a personal best of 23:38 in the Juniors Seniors Girls division with Tibi Willard and Jessica Robison behind her. All of them ran personal bests.
“The girls did really good,” Boren said. “They all PR’d (Personal Record) and they’re already running faster than they did last year at this time. We are on track for a successful season.”
Their next meet will be the Larry Burgess Invitational on Saturday, September 11 at Veterans Memorial Park in Boulder City.
