Pirate Teams Place High In Regional Cross Country Meet

By GABRIELLE SHIOZAWA

Moapa Valley Progress

The Moapa Valley High School Cross Country teams made great strides on Saturday as they competed in the Larry Burgess Invitational meet. Held at Sunset Park in Las Vegas, this event featured runners from 44 other schools, with some athletes coming from as far away as Fountain Valley, California, and Cedar City, Utah to compete.

The girls’ team was the first to take on the three-mile course. Emma Humes led the Pirates with a sixth-place finish and a time of 20:12. Not far behind was Shelby Olson who took ninth place with her time of 20:44. Hurricane’s Hailey Odekirk led the race with a time of 18:33.

Hannah Watson and McKinley Bledsoe ran close races. They came in with respective times of 23:09 and 23:31. Laura Adams ran with a time of 24:30, and Samantha Thompson finished off for Moapa with a time of 24:50.

The girls’ team placed third overall behind Hurricane High School and Valley High School.
“We had some victories today, some things that we can really be excited about,” remarked MVHS girls’ coach Heather Humes. “This point in the season is an opportunity to take stock of where we’re at and see what we need to adjust with training. I think if we can get some of those things set in motion this early in the season, we’ll be right on track for the post-season.”

In the boy’s race, the first Pirate to cross the finish line was Preston Humes, who placed fifth with his time of 16:29. Jerrick Stastny and Bryton Dorsey ran close together with times of 17:19 and 17:26. Max Shambaugh ran with a time of 19:21. Rory Bylund and Ryan McMurray completed the course with respective times of 22:09 and 24:33. Hurricane High School’s Joshua Armstrong took the lead with a time of 15:22.

The boys’ team placed third overall in the race behind Hurricane and Pahrump.
“Valley is going to give us a run for our money this year, and so will Pahrump,” commented boys’ coach Gary Watkins. “But that’s okay, because we’re right there at the top of the division.”
“With our times today,” he continued, “I can expect it will just go up from here and we’ll make it to state.”

The MVHS Cross Country program will host its first 5k of the season on Saturday at the Clark County Fairgrounds. The first high school-level race will begin at 8:30 a.m.