SPARKS — After a one-year hiatus from cross country, Dayton’s J.J. Ply didn’t miss a beat when he returned.
Ply, who’s headed to Mt. SAC in Southern California next fall for track, finished fourth at Friday’s NIAA 3A Regional Championship at Shadow Mountain Park.
Ply ran a 17:47 on a muddy course to qualify for next Saturday’s state meet at Craig Ranch Park in North Las Vegas.
Ply trailed Spring Creek’s William Fallini-Haas in the first mile and then dropped to third behind Elko’s Alex Klekas at the 2-mile point. Ply stayed in third until the final 200 meters when he was passed by Spring Creek’s Cole Campbell.
Fallini-Haas won the event in 17:27 followed by Klekas at 17:43, Campbell at 17:46, Ply at 17:47 and Truckee’s Ian Smith at 17:58. Dayton sophomore Jason Logan finished 21st overall in 19:35. He was the seventh finisher from a non-qualifying team, leaving him two spots out of trip to Las Vegas. Madsen Evans was 24th in 19:39, Logan Allander was 41st in 21:53, Jared Logan was 46th in 21:39 and Andrew Matthews was 54th in 22:54.
“I slipped (toward the end),” Ply said. “He just had more than me.
“I felt like I didn’t have it all day. With the weather and condition of the course, I was happy with the time.”
So was coach Shawn Anderson.
“For the course (conditions) 17:42 was really good,” Anderson said. “He ran 17:13 three weeks ago.
“Jason (Logan) was in the fifth qualifying spot at the 2 1/2-mile mark and ended up seventh.”
Sierra Lutheran runs well
Sophomore Jared Marchegger and senior Rich McNeely went 1-3 to lead Sierra Lutheran to a second-place team finish in the 1A-2A race.
North Tahoe won the event with 33 points followed by Sierra Lutheran with 50 and Silver Stage with 95.
Marchegger was in command the entire way, winning the race in 17:54, 30 seconds ahead of North Tahoe’s JC Schoonmaker. McNeely was timed in 18:29 followed by Jackpot’s Ricardo Miramontes (19:11) and Kevin Kirk of Yerington (19:35).
Sierra Lutheran’s Tyler Waite was ninth in 20:07, Luke Bonafede was 19th in 20:49, Teagan Hansen was 21st in 20:58 and Brandon Hall was the Falcons’ last scoring runner, finishing 26th overall in 21:40.
“It was hard on some of the corners,” said Marchegger. “I felt good. It was one of my better races. I felt like I ran pretty fast.
“I like to start out with the front group, but the front pack was a little slower than I liked (so I took off).”
“I wish I could have done better,” McNeely said. “Hopefully I’ll run a lot quicker in Vegas.”
Certainly the conditions will be nicer.
The Sierra Lutheran girls, led by Clare Davison, also finished second. North Tahoe won the race with 17 points and the Falcons were a distant second with 43.
Davison finished sixth, clocking a 22:33. North Tahoe, led by Quinn Lehmkuhl, had three runners in the top five. Taylor Davison finished four spots behind her older sister, clocking a 23:03. Emily McNeely was 11th in 23:07, Elaina Marchegger was 13th in 23:23 and Grace Bonafede was 18th in 25:41.
“I don’t know what my time was, but our coach told us just to make sure that we made it to state as a team,” Davison said.
Tough day for CHS
The young Senators failed to qualify a boy or girl for next week’s state meet.
The girls finished fifth with 143 points. Reno won with 47 followed by Damonte Ranch with 70 and McQueen at 101.
“I think we ran as capable as we could,” coach Pete Sinnott said. “I told the girls that they needed to be in the front group. That was the only way we were going to move on.”
Freshman Gabriella Fernandez was 21st in the first mile, and she would eventually move up to 18th (21:31). Blanca Sosa was 25th in 21:56. Rheanna Jackson was 34th in 22:24, freshman Jaidyn Shepard was 35th in 22:29 and Mikaela Bigley was 36th in 22:33.
“It was tiring and slippery,” Fernandez said. “I felt I ran a good race.”
“I thought it was a pretty easy course, but the weather (footing) made it tough,” Shepard said. “I felt I ran pretty well.”
On the boys side. Carson finished ninth with 242 points. Spanish Springs (50), McQueen (73) and Douglas (82) moved on.
Logan Mead ran an 18:51 en route to finishing a team-best 29th. Freshman Zach Sever was 43rd in 19:37, sophomore Ethan Byase 55th in 20:16, Jayson Legott was 63rd in 21 minutes, Adan Garcia was 64th in 21:01 and Adam Flaten was 71st.
“Zach was the second-fastest freshman,” Sinnott said. “I think they all ran as well as they could.”
SOCCER
Dayton blanks Battle Mt,
BATTLE MOUNTAIN — Victor Gomez scored a hat trick to lead the Dust Devils to a 5-0 win over Battle Mountain Thursday afternoon in the regular-season finale for both schools.
Dayton finished second in its division with a 6-2-2 record, two points behind West Wendover. The playoffs are scheduled for Winnemucca Thursday through Saturday.
“We really improved this season,” coach Luis Melgarejo said. “It was the best result for Dayton soccer in the past six years. Our team was a bit down that we weren’t able to clinch first place, but we have to keep our heads up and focus on the playoffs.”
Keerat Bhullar and Oscar Bueno had a score apiece for the Dust Devils.
Dayton girls lose
BATTLE MOUNTAIN — Battle Mountain scored in the final minute of the match to record a 1-0 victory on Thursday.
