By MORDECHAI YADEGAR II
The Progress
Moapa Valley High School senior Marcus Shambaugh won the Varsity boys 5K race at the Pirate Invitational meet held on Saturday, Sept. 17 at the Clark County Fairgrounds.
Virgin Valley High School junior Jenna Walters took 2nd on the Varsity girls side at the meet.
A total of 19 schools traveled to Logandale to compete in this meet. There was amazing support and help from parents and students across Moapa Valley to help set up, tear down, and make sure the meet was organized. Even Moapa Valley High School alumni and professional athlete running for the Bowerman track club Josh Thompson showed up to the race to support his fellow Pirates.
The meet was split into two races. The Varsity teams ran a 5000 meter course while the Junior Varsity teams ran a 4700 meter course.
MVHS and VVHS both had runners competing well in these races.
The Varsity runners were the first to toe the line that morning. When the gun went off, Shambaugh was already out front leading the rest of the runners. It was a tight group but once the runners approached the first uphill segmetn of the course, Shambaugh created a gap. He then slowly increased that gap for the rest of the race.
With about 800 meters to go Nathan Nations from Sierra Vista looked like he was going to make a move. But Shambaugh picked up the pace and retained that gap winning the race with a time of 16:45.6.
Bulldog runner Owen Rappeleye crossed the line first in the race for VVHS finishing 4th place with a time of 17:54.
Following him in the top five for the Bulldog team were Isaac Greig (18:11), Destry Tobler (20:02), Gavin Hughes (20:08), and Drew Maxfield (20:09).
The remaining top five for the Moapa Varsity team were Isaac Thompson (18:02), Joseph Barnes (19:02), William Anderson (19:02), Gavin Hendricks (19:11).
The Pirate Boys won the team meet with 49 points. The Bulldog boys placed second with 84 points.
The girls Varsity race was next. Suleil Fullmer of Foothill High School won the race with a time of 20:16. Jenna Walters was the first to cross the line for Bulldogs, placing 2nd with a time of 20:48. Following Walters in the top five for the Bulldogs were Yamila Vega Archuleta (23:45), Camryn Lee (24:25), Lilli Boone (29:36), and Vivian Terry (38:18).
For the MVHS Girls team, the first to cross the line was Sasha Barnes with a time of 23:45. Following her was Kenzie Hughes (23:46), Beverly Potts (26:23), and Jessa Freeman (36:02).
For the boys Junior Varsity race, the first to cross the line for the Pirates was Christopher Houston (20:45), Dustin Jones(21:42), Mitchell Stoker (23:22), and Jenson Blake (23:32).
Micheal Anderson was the first to cross for the Bulldog JV team. He placed 2nd in the race with a time of 19:12. Following him was Tray Hughes (19:42), Kalen Jenson (19:58), Kye Griffiths (20:23), and Ben Wilson (20:53).
No girls from MVHS or VVHS ran in the Junior Varsity Race.
The Pirate boys are undefeated in the 3A Southern Nevada Division for the past four meets.
The Pirate Cross Country program will travel to Foothill High school on Saturday, September 24. VVHS does not have a scheduled meet this week.
