By Jessica Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
Winning a division meet in Cross Country can be a difficult task; winning with a perfect score is even harder. But on Friday, October 29, the Moapa Valley Pirates did just that in Laughlin.
Moapa is the defending Division Champion team from 2009 and were considered the favorites going into the race. However, no one expected their incredible performance in winning the second straight division title. The boy’s team scored a perfect 15 points to beat Boulder City by 29 points.
Josh Thompson was once again the individual division champion, running a new personal best 5K time of 16:27. Chase Witter followed, tying his personal best time of 17:15. Milas Sendlein came in third place with a personal best time of 18:58. Shae Bryant followed him in 19:05 and Brendan Watkins finished the perfect score in 5th place with 19:07. Cody Wood helped the Pirates capture six of the seven medal spots as he finished with 7th place in 19:49. Tyler Winzenreid also ran for the Pirates, placing 16th in 21:20.
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this race,” Coach Richard Bush commented. “The boys decided they weren’t taking any chances and they pushed the race from start to finish.”
The Lady Pirates also competed and placed third as a team in the meet. Two of the five athletes qualified for state next week. Senior Jessany Mortensen qualified for the second year in a row. She placed 5th individually with a personal best 5K time of 24:15. Freshman DJ Carter also qualified for state in 10th place with a personal best time of 27:17.
Kenna McMurray also ran in the meet. She completed the Laughlin with a personal best time of 27:55. Then Jessica Robison finished in 32:45 with Allie Cooper at 40:42.
The Boy’s Cross Country Team, Jessany Mortensen, and DJ Carter will compete for the State Title next Saturday, November 6 in Boulder City. Josh Thompson will also be defending his title as an individual state champion.
