Buoyed by balanced team efforts, the Carson Senators outran Douglas in both the girls and boys races during a Sierra League cross country dual meet on Tuesday afternoon at Kingsbury Elementary school.
Carson packed five runners into the top seven to win the girls race 21-34 and the boys race 22-35 during a meet hosted by Douglas.High Desert League rivals Reno and Reed also were on hand to complete the other half of the scheduled double dual meet.
April Shonnard emerged as the overall winner of the girls race in a time of 21:49.7 over the 5-kilometer course, while teammates Alex Drozdoff placed third (22:33) and Cindy Juchtzer fourth (23:14). Mallory Wilson placed sixth (24:20) and Erika Sosa seventh (24:44) to round out the Senators' team scoring.
Meanwhile, Carson's top five boys finished within one minute, 55 seconds of each other on a highly challenging course. Michael Shonnard and Nick Greene finished second and third with respective times of 20:11 and 20:16, followed by Taylor Bradshaw in fourth (21:21), Chris Merriner sixth (21:31) and Dominic Kinder seventh (22:05).
"This is probably one of the toughest courses in the North, if not the entire state," Douglas coach Jay Frey said. "We're at 6,500 feet and there are not many flat spots anywhere on the course."
The competition was formidable as well. Carson and Douglas are two of the top teams in the Sierra League, while Reno and Reed are among the best in the High Desert League. All will be looking to compete for top-three finishes when the Northern 4A Regionals are held next month in Reno.
On top of everything else, this marked the fourth race in 10 days for the Senators, who competed at the high-powered Stanford Invitational on Saturday.
"I think overall the girls team performance was pretty good. To come here after running so hard at Stanford, was pretty good," said Carson coach Pete Sinnott, referring to a girls team that finished fourth in Division I at Stanford. "Today was good competition. This was not an easy meet, and Douglas did a good job of putting this course together."
The girls race featured five of the top Northern 4A runners, including Douglas freshman Lindsey Adams and senior Sadie Gastelum, who placed second and fifth with respective times of 22:25 and 23:28.
Reno's Jordan Cardenas was the overall winner of the boys race (19:15.6) and Andrew Cobourn of Douglas was second (19:40). Both figure to be among the front-runners at the regional meet.
Scores and times aside, Sinnott felt the Senators achieved their primary objectives for the day -- to prepare for the regional meet. The coach was especially pleased with the progress shown by a young boys squad.
"Michael (Shonnard) is getting stronger every week, and Nick was right there with him today," Sinnott said. "And our younger guys are starting to catch up -- that's what we need to be competitive at the regional meet."
The Senators will be idle this weekend before traveling to central California for the high-powered Clovis Invitational on Oct. 8.
RESULTS
Boys
Team score: 1, Carson 22, Douglas 35.
Individual (5 kilometers) 1, Andrew Cobourn (D) 19:40.8, 2, Michael Shonnard (C) 20:11, 3, Nick Greene (C) 20:16, 4, Taylor Bradshaw (C) 2121; 5, Tanner DeGiovanni (D) 21:26, 6, Chris Merriner (C) 21:31, 7, Dominic Kinder (C) 22:05.3, 8, Logan Peterson (D) 22:05.5; 9, Jaden Wass (D) 22:16.1, 10, Tylar Chester (C) 22:16.9.
Girls
Team score: 1, Carson 21, Douglas 34.
Individual: 1, April Shonnard (C) 21:49.7, 2, Lindsey Adams (D) 22:25, 3, Alex Drozdofff (C) 22:33, 4, Cindy Juchtzer (C) 23:14, 5, Sadie Gastelum (D) 23:38. 6, Mallory Wilson (C) 24:20, 7, Erika Sosa (C) 24:44, 8, Aspen Abbott (D) 24:53, 9, Cara Dunkelman (D) 2514, 10. Bre Chabot (D) 25:30.
