By DAVE BELCHER
The Progress
The Moapa Valley High School Boys and Girls Cross Country teams brought home the regional title at a meet held Saturday, Apr. 10. It was back-to back-titles for the teams, with both having won it in 2019 as well.
Cross Country was the only sport allowed to have a regional competition this year. The meet was held at Hidden Valley Ranch in Moapa.
The Moapa Valley girls team won their meet by a broad margin with a 17 team score. Second place Pahrump Valley scored 43 team points.
Moapa Valley placed the first four runners. A fifth Pirate runner came in seventh place.
Emma Humes won the region individual title for the girls with a time of 21:25.1. Kenzie Hughes placed second with a time of 23:16.8. Senior Hanna Watson placed third with a time of 24:1.5 while McKinley Bledsoe also a senior finished fourth with a time of 24:21.4. Aleana Hull placed seventh with a time of 26:12. Samantha Thompson, a senior finished eighth with a time of 26:36.9 and senior Hailey Bush finished tenth with a time of 28:22.6.
“I’m so proud of the girls who worked so hard during a difficult time,” said MVHS head coach Heather Humes.
The boys team finished with a perfect score of 15. The Pirates had finishers in all of the top five spots.
Senior Preston Humes won the region title with a time of 16:31.5. Preston has had an incredible career as a cross country runner for the Pirates. He owns the school record, a record he took from Josh Thompson who is now training for the Summer Olympic Games.
Preston has made a verbal commitment to Southern Virginia University which he plans on attending when he returns from his Church mission to Cincinnati Ohio.
Second place belonged to Cyrus Katich with a time of 17:25.5. Marcus Shambaugh finished third with a time of 17:32.8 while Ethan Witter finished fourth at 17:46.5. Maximus Shambaugh, a senior, finished fifth at 18:06.1.
It didn’t stop there as Joshua Johnson finished sixth for the Pirates with a time of 18:10.3 and Preston Bushman finished seventh with a time of 18:22.1. Seven runners all in the top seven places, a perfect score.
“These boys have worked hard since the shut down,” said Coach Humes. “They would get together for a run during the summer without coaches. They ran during the club season then took December off before starting this dream season It’s crushing that there isn’t a state meet for them to compete at and win.”
Virgin Valley was supposed to compete in this regional meet. But Head Coach George Cannon decided not to attend the regional meet because of a dispute on details of race procedures. So Virgin Valley was not in attendance.
Virgin Valley had a runner, Ethan Woods, who had finished in the top three throughout the season.
