By KRISTI TAUSINGA
The Progress
The Virgin Valley High School Cross Country Team hosted the team’s last regular meet of the season on Saturday, Oct. 23 at the Thomas Leavitt Memorial Park in Bunkerville.
The 5K run through the fields of Bunkerville was held just a week before the NIAA Southern Nevada 3A Regional Championships begin and included teams from Moapa Valley, Indian Springs, Lincoln County, and Pahranagat Valley.
The Bulldogs also invited student athletes from Hughes Middle School in Mesquite and Lyon Middle School in Overton to participate in a 1.5 mile race.
VVHS celebrated two senior runners that morning along with their parents. Kelly Denninghoff, daughter of Jonathan and Shalee Denninghoff; and Riley Averett, son of Quinn and Jolene Averett were recognized in a brief but well-deserved ceremony.
Both of them expressed that even though cross country is an “individual” sport, they loved being around their team and the coaches. They stated that they were really going to miss that team aspect and being around each other
It was a beautiful morning for a race with gorgeous weather. The runners were given a quick brief of the course (including what to do if they encountered a cow) and then they were off in an initial circle around the park and then off into the fields.
In the girls race, Denninghoff VVHS took first place with a time of 21:10.01. Sophomore Jenna Walters of VVHS took second at 21:39.2. Pahranagat Valley senior Jersey Tsosie put up a time of 21:50.3. Julie Vallet a MVHS junior got a time of 24:43.9. VVHS junior Avery Somerville camein at 30:12.7.
The top ten boys included: Owen Rappleye VVHS-11 (18:33.9), Gavin Hughes VVHS-10 (19:13.2), Dylan Barnum VVHS-10 (19:28.1), Joseph Barnes MVHS-11 (19:36.6), William Anderson MVHS-10 (19:38.5), Noah Christensen MVHS-10 (19:41.7), Jacob Gally Lincoln County-11 (19:57.4), Karson Mathews Lincoln County-9 (20:32.9), Logan Harris MVHS-11 (20:38.5) and Nicholas Leavitt MVHS-11 (20:44.5).
After the high school kids competed it was time for the middle schoolers to run their course. The following are the top five results for the boys in that age group: Trayvin Hughes HMS-8 (08:49.5), Malachi Jordan HMS-8 (08:59.0), Hal Thompson Lyon-8 (09:38.0), Conrad Kelly HMS-6 (10:33.6), Talven Totten Lyon-7 (10:34.1) and Maddox Dowse Lyon-8 (10:44.5).
The middle school girls results are: Madilyn Thompson Lyon-6 (10:49.4), Wynn Kelly HMS-8 (12:12.8), Aisha Bushman Lyon-7 (15:04.3) and Mekyla Jones Lyon-6 (15:22.9).
“The weather was beautiful and we had a good turnout,” said VVHS Cross Country coach Marianne Leavitt. “The kids ran well and they all had fun. We were happy with their efforts.”
