Centennial boys, Shadow Ridge girls win Lake Mead Invitational

Centennial’s boys, led by Nathan Williams, and the Shadow Ridge girls, led by Michelle Schenck, were the big winners at the Lake Mead Invitational held at Veterans Memorial Park in Boulder City on Saturday.

With a low score of 35 points, Centennial lived up to its No. 1 ranking in southern Nevada. The Bulldogs easily outscored Green Valley (52) and Shadow Ridge (56) in the eight-team large-school field.

Williams, coming off a second-place finish at the Nike Pre-Nationals in Oregon last week, cruised to an easy win in the 3.1-mile race, finishing in 17 minutes, five seconds. He finished 15 seconds faster than runner-up Sam Mahar of Shadow Ridge.

Williams took an early lead in the race and was never challenged. He finished strong and was barely winded after the race, despite shaving 11 seconds off the time he posted on the same course in September when he finished third at the Las Vegas Invitational.

The small-school boys team race was closer as Faith Lutheran (43) nipped Moapa Valley (46) and Boulder City (53) in a five-team field.

Boulder City’s Matt Lundgren won the small-school race in 17:34, finishing 21 seconds ahead of Moapa Valley’s Josh Thompson.

The girls from Shadow Ridge easily outscored Green Valley and Elsinore (Calif.), living up to the billing of the co-No. 1 team—along with Coronado—in the South.

Shadow Ridge was a late entry to the meet.
Mustang coach Patrick Fitzgerald said he’s trying to keep his teams “under the radar” plus he’s been fighting illness for two weeks. The Mustangs pulled out of the Roadrunner Invitational last week and opted to come to Boulder City instead. 

Shadow Ridge’s Schenck was a beneficiary of the time off, apparently.

When informed that her winning time was under 21 minutes (20:47), her reaction was, “Finally!” She credited the cooler temperatures for a 15-second improvement over the same course at the LVI.

Angela Sandoval of Elsinore took the early lead in the race but Schenck caught her halfway into the race and won going away.

Heather Hollinger of Canyon Springs ran a strong race throughout and was runner-up in 21:15. Sandoval finished third in 21:24.

The small school girls’ team race was won by Laughlin over Faith Lutheran, the Elsinore B team, and Boulder City.

The individual winner was Sara Richner of Boulder City in 22:47.