Pirate, Bulldog teams qualify for State

By MORDECHAI YADEGAR II

The Progress

The Moapa Valley High School Boys Cross Country team won the 2022 NIAA Southern Region meet on Friday, Oct. 28 in Boulder City. The Pirate team placed all seven of its runners in the top 20 of the race to earn a score of 33, one point better than the #2 Somerset Academy Sky Pointe team.

The Virgin Valley High School team took third in the meet with 70 points scored. That moves the Bulldog team on to state competition as well.

Runners from all across southern Nevada gathered at Veterans Memorial Park to compete in the meet. It was a 5,000 meter course and eight schools of the southern region competed.

The top four scoring teams from the South will move on to the State Championship to compete against the top four from the North plus the top seven (7) individuals from non-qualifying state meet teams.
At 12:30 pm sharp the boys toed the line and the gun went off.

The first to cross the line for the Pirate boys was Marcus Shambaugh. Shambaugh took 2nd in the race with a time of 17:14.
Taking first in the race was Jack Medina of Somerset Academy Sky Pointe with a time of 16:59.7.
Following only 6 seconds behind Shambaugh was MVHS sophomore Mordechai Yadegar II in 3rd with a time of 17:20.

Virgin Valley’s Isaac Greig took 5th in the race with a time of 18:09.7. Bulldog runner Owen Rappeleye was right behind him in 6th place at 18:13.2.
Other Pirate runners included Isaac Thompson (18:18), Gavin Hendricks (18:30), and William Anderson (18:42).
Other Bulldog runners included Gavin Hughes (18:56), Drew Maxfield (20:03), and Michael Anderson (20:19).
The two teams excelled on the girls side, too.

The Pirate girls team took second in the Regional meet scoring a total of 70 points. That narrowly edged out the Lady Bulldogs team which scored 73 points for a third place spot in the meet. Both teams will compete at the State Championship meet.
The winning team at the girls’ regionals was Somerset Academy Sky Pointe which achieved a team score of 22 points.

Bulldog runner Jenna Walters, a junior, placed 1st in the Regional race with a time of 20:33.3.
Sasha Barnes crossed the line first for the Pirate girls in 7th place with a time of 22:51.8.
Other Virgin Valley runners included Camryn Lee (24:42), Yamila Vega Archuleta (24:49), Elizabeth Correa (30:14), and Grace King (41:24).

Other Pirate runners included Hughes (22:58), Beverly Potts (24:48), Jorja Freeman (28:53), and Jessa Freeman (31:28).
Both Pirate and Bulldog girls and boys teams will be traveling to Veterans Memorial Park in Boulder City again on Saturday, November 5 to compete in the Nevada 3A State Championships.
Despite the Pirate boys losing six returning runners this season, they will again compete against Spring Creek for the Nevada 3A State Title where they lost by one point in the 2021 season. Spring Creek lost two runners to graduation.

The State Championship boys race begins at 8:35 am. The girls begins at 9:50 am.