Carson High's athletic program wins NIAA award

When it comes to an overall athletic program in competition, the classroom and community service, Carson High is second to none.

Carson has won the State Farm Excellence Award as the top 4A athletic program in Nevada for 2001-2002. Right behind Carson was Galena, which placed second among 4A schools.

The State Farm award is given by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association.

"This is the highest award that is given out through the office of the NIAA," Carson athletic director Ron McNutt said. "This is quite an honor for our school and community to receive an award like this."

All athletic teams throughout the school year in Nevada high schools are measured in three areas: Competition, academics and citizenship.

Carson finished with a total of 4,030 points to outdistance Galena, which had 3,830 points.

A big reason why Carson won the award was its performance in the classroom. Out of 21 boys and girls NIAA sports, Senator teams won 10 state academic titles, meaning those teams had the highest grade point average than any other team in their sport in Nevada.

The Senators won five state academic titles during the spring: Boys golf, boys and girls swimming and boys and girls track. Carson also had the highest score of 630 points for academics during the spring.

Since its inception, Carson has won more state academic titles than any other school in the state. The Senators' accomplishments in athletics and in the classroom are displayed on a wall at the school. "It's very impressive to look up there at that wall," McNutt said.

Carson also had a successful year in competition. Among the highlights during the fall was the girls cross country team winning the NIAA/U.S. Bank state title, the girls soccer team winning the zone title and the girls golf team qualifying for state.

During the winter, the boys basketball team won the league title, the girls basketball team advanced to the state semifinals and the girls skiing team placed second in the state.

In the spring, the boys swimming team won the zone title and took third at state and the girls swimming team placed second at state.

"I would have to say we just had a good run this year with outstanding kids," McNutt said. "We do have an outstanding school in academics and we have an outstanding school in athletics."

In citizenship, Carson also received a Silver Certificate with a score of 80 percent or higher. Galena, Fernley, Yerington and Dayton all had a score of 80 percent or higher as well.