Even though Northern Nevada teams were at a distinct disadvantage running on a flat course down south, they still were able to dominate the State Cross Country Championships on the 3A and 4A level on Saturday, with Carson, Galena and Dayton High Schools having an outstanding day.
The North swept the top two spots in the team competition in the 4A girls race and the 3A boys race on Saturday at Veteran's Memorial Park in Boulder City. South Tahoe won the 4A girls title with 32 points while Reno took second with 55 points. Palo Verde was third with 57 points.
Carson had four runners in the girls race - Annie Brinson, Patty Capistrant, Christy Works and Gloria Sosa - and all performed well. Carson coach Dennis Brinson said he believes if his team had been able to take five runners, it would have placed fourth in the state.
In the 3A boys race, Dayton placed second with 49 points, finishing behind Lowry, which had 27.
Reno's Marie Lawrence won the 4A girls race, setting a new course record, finishing the 3.1 mile race in 17 minutes, 57 seconds. Brinson earned all-state honors by taking 15th in 20:41. Works was 22nd in 21:11, Capistrant was 27th in 21:27 and Sosa was 38th in 22:11. "They had a good performance," said coach Brinson about his four runners.
Galena's Alyssa Abbott earned all-state honors as well, taking 10th in 20.26.5. In addition, Carson won the 4A state academic title with a 3.86 grade point average. The state academic title is given to the team with the highest cumulative G.P.A. Carson's G.P.A. was the highest among all schools in the state on the 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A levels.
Three Galena and four Dayton boys earned all-state honors. For Galena, Daniel Geib took second in the 4A boys race in 16:29.8, Michael Van Antwerp was fourth in 16:45.6 and Raul Tibaduiza was 12th in 17:35.6.
For Dayton, Jose Barajas was third in 17:47, Nathan Kato was fourth in 17:52, Joey Mountjoy was eighth in 18:14 and Billy Mountjoy was 14th in 18:26. It was an outstanding effort for Kato, who ran 50 seconds faster than he did at the Northern 3A meet where he finished eighth. Also for Dayton, Jason Vickers was 30th in 20:15, Jose Arauz was 31st in 20:18.9 and Jake Kenneston was 35th in 20:43.
Fernley's Tony Yori earned all-state honors by taking 10th in 18:24.4. In the 3A girls race, Fernley's Fallon Lowrey earned all-state honors by taking ninth in 22:45.4 and Dayton's Stephanie Scholl was 19th in 23:27.8
"In the overall performance we made a good showing," said coach Brinson about the teams from the north. "The course itself really didn't favor our strenghts because it was so flat."
Capistrant was Carson's only senior. "We're just looking forward to next year," coach Brinson said. "Training starts on Monday."
