By BRYNNE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley Pirates Cross Country team went against some stiff competition as they ran at Foothill High School in Henderson at the annual Falcon Invitational. The Pirate runners rose to the occasion and many members of the team ran their best times of the season.
The Foothill course is not flat, it consists of one big hill and a downhill that the racers run through three times in a loop around the campus. Although the hill is not as steep as the hills that the Pirate team are used to training on, this hill poses a long, steady incline that would usually cut into competitors’ times.
But the Pirates rose above the odds. To start off, the freshman and sophomore girls ran in their own race where the local runnersdid very well. Miranda Robison finished first for the Pirate team with a time of 26:17. Jesse Doty was next across the line with a time of 27:11. At 31:09, Gabrielle Shiozawa finished her race. LeeAnn Perkins came across the line next, with a time of 31:46. Katelyn Goddard came across the line at 33:45. Marina Mortensen finished the race for the underclassmen girls with a time of 36:33.
Next was the freshman/sophmore race for the boys. Jerrick Statsny finished first for the Pirates at 19:38, only three minutes behind the head runner. Zach Anderson came across the line next, and earned a time of 20:46. Taylor Landini finished next for the Pirates with a time of 21:46. Close behind, Nathan Waite finished at 21:52, finishing off the underclassmen race.
The junior/senior girls ran next. Anna Stratton finished first for the Blue and Gold with a time of 25:30, a season record. Summer Omer came across the line next, with a time of 26:17. Brynne McMurray finished close behind with a time of 26:28. At 28:48, Andrea Leavitt finished the race, and right behind her Milena Amhof clocked in at 29:05. Raffaella Kroplewski finished the race for the girls with a time of 29:48.
The upperclassmen boys ran next with Nathaniel Brill making a comeback by being the first Pirate across the line after four weeks of injury. Brill finished with a time of 19:40. Guillermo Hernandez was the next Moapa Valley runner to finish. Hernandez came in with a time of 21:14. At 30:56 Logan Mortensen finished off the race for the Pirates.
“This is one of the finest groups of young athletes I have ever had the privilege of working with,” said boys coach Gary Watkins. “As coaches, we challenge them on a daily basis, and they respond well to every challenge that we give them. The girls right now are in sixth place in the southern region. The boys are also in sixth in the region, and it is a direct result of the character and attitude of these young runners. It is a privilege to work with all of them.”
The cross country team invites the entire community to come out and support their homecoming event: the inaugural Kill Hill Challenge, taking place on Saturday, October 3. For more information please refer to the ad printed on page A 5 of this edition.
