ROUNDUP: Tech boys, Coronado girls claim Roadrunner Invitational titles
Tech captured the varsity boys race at its own Roadrunner Invitational at Whitney Mesa on Saturday, with room to spare over a team from Australia and nine Las Vegas-area cross country teams.
Led by Chris Rising (fifth), Eduardo Cordova (sixth) and Jose Escamilla (eighth), the Roadrunners finished with 57 points, with the Aussies second at 78.
Clark’s Jake Naylor won the 2.5-mile race in 13 minutes 24 seconds, edging Australia’s Travis Carter by less than a second in a tight finish.
The top seven runners all finished within a 30-second span as the leaders jockeyed back and forth throughout the tough, hilly course. Rising took the early lead, but the field caught him after the first mile, and from there it was anybody’s race.
Naylor, who claims he does not have a finishing kick, nevertheless found one today. The Aussie appeared to have the race won as both runners sprinted to the tape, but Naylor found another gear and prevailed.
The girls varsity race was all Coronado.
The Cougars, led by Michaelanne Laurent, placed their five scoring runners in the top 10 to finish with 29 points. The Australian team was a distant second at 75, with Tech third (111), Silverado fourth (129) and Faith Lutheran fifth (138).
Shadow Ridge, the No. 1 team in Southern Nevada, was entered in the meet but canceled at the last minute due to illness and injuries.
The individual race was all Laurent. The senior took off at the start, opened up an early lead of at least 50 meters and never appeared to be in real trouble, winning in 16:09.
But things are not always as they seem.
Laurent was not particularly pleased with her race, stating she felt ill throughout.
She was also not happy with the hills — calling it “a hard course” —and the 90-degree heat.
Faith Lutheran’s Keely Bakken, who finished second, closed the gap at about halfway through the race, but Laurent gutted it out and pulled away at the finish, winning by 13 seconds.
Centennial’s Williams places second at Nike event
Centennial junior Nathan Williams took second overall at the Nike Pre-Nationals in Portland, Ore., finishing the 3.1-mile race in 15:45.
Zach Sullivan, from Archbishop Spalding (Md.), won the race in 15:43.
The Bulldogs finished seventh among 22 teams with 220 points. Marina (Calif.) won the team title with 142 points.
Centennial’s Nick Hartle was 25th in 16:46.