RENO - Remember the name Evelyn Delgado because you will hear it a lot over the next three years.
Delgado, a freshman at Carson High, finished third to help Carson place third in Friday's NIAA Northern Regional Championships. The finish was enough to send Carson to next week's state meet.
Delgado placed third in 20:31, while teammate Alex Drozdoff was fourth in 20:41 with Cindy Juchtzer 19th in 21:40. Shelby Brown took 24th in 21:57 and Athena Favero and Maritsa Mora were 42nd and 43rd in 23:01 and 23:06, respectively. Allison Greene was 48th.
McQueen won with 68, Galena was second with 75 and Carson followed with 92. This year was the first time that third-place teams moved on. In previous years, only first and second-place teams advanced.
Delgado and Drozdoff were up near the front of the pack for the first mile-plus before both were overtaken by Galena's Sara Hanneman and McQueen's Michelle Cooper, who finished first and second, respectively.
Delgado has come out of nowhere in recent weeks to become one of the team's top runners, and it's very possible that she could medal at state.
"My coach said I've been getting stronger every week," Delgado said. "It took a while to get going. I've done a little better than I thought I would. I was not expecting to get third. We ran the course last week so that helped. I knew the course a little better."
She has certainly earned praise from Drozdoff, who she has beaten a couple of times this year.
"Evelyn is amazing," Drozdoff said. "She works hard at very practice, and she's been pushing me so much this year.
"I'm happy, 20:41 was a minute off my time last week. Hopefully next week will be even better."
Drozdoff had been hampered by a sore toe, but she went out and bought a new pair of shoes (a bigger size). She said she ran without pain.
Carson was unable to defend its team title, but the team was happy to me moving on to Las Vegas.
"I always thought the girls had potential," coach Pete Sinnott said. "They have been training hard. We've been getting better every week; we're getting faster every week. The girls had a great race today.
"Evelyn was amazing. Alex is coming back from that sore toe. I thought Cindy went out a little fast, but she held on. This was a real team effort, Every girl was important today."
Douglas finished seventh as a team. Maria Munoz was the Tigers' top finisher, taking 14th in 21:22. Rebecca Corbett was 20th in 21:41, while Allison Meyer, Aspen Abbott and Olivia Abbott were the next three finishers at 35th, 37th and 41st.
Breithaupt shines in Division IA meet
If you see colorful socks flying around a cross country course in Northern Nevada this time of the year, chances are it will be Dayton's Katrina Breithaupt.
Breithaupt, the Dust Devils' top runner, finished second to Truckee's Skyler Flora with a time of 20:35.
"I love my socks," Breithaupt said after being congratulated by family and friends. "I have all sorts, stripes, polka dots, solids and argyles."
Flora ran away from the field, clocking a 19:39. She had the fastest girls' time in all classes.
"I was trying to get 20:13 which was my state time last year," Breithaupt said. "I didn't get it, but I was pretty close. I feel very good about my time."
Hanna Elissa was 37th in 24:27, Isabella Anderson was 50th in 31:08 and Samantha Hunton was 51st in 31:35.
Elko won the meet with 38 points. Truckee was second with 43 and South Tahoe was third with 66.
Henry leads Sierra Lutheran to state
Sierra Lutheran qualified third to advance to next week's state event. Incline won with 24 points followed by North Tahoe with 55, Sierra Lutheran 75 and Virginia City 133.
Erin Henry was seventh in 22:16, Heather Kubel was 14th in 23:57, Alesha Martinez was 15th in 24:15, Rebekah Churchill was 19th in 24:44 and Abby Williams was 20th in 24:50.
Heather Redman of VC was 18th in 24:25 and Tobi Steele was 20th in 25 minutes.
