Top-flight field set for Burgess Las Vegas Invitational cross country meet
There are name changes, site changes and even changes in the number of events from year to year.
But the 39th annual Larry Burgess Cross Country Las Vegas Invitational is still the premier regular-season race in southern Nevada.
What started out as a college race at UNLV, with some high school events added, has transpired into one of the biggest early-season events on the national high school cross country calendar.
Nike has targeted it as a qualifier for its NXN (Nike Cross Nationals) in December.
The race was moved last year to Veterans’ Memorial Park, which will also be the site of this year’s race. More than 30 local teams, plus a number of California squads, are entered, with more than 1,000 athletes competing in eight races, starting at 8 a.m. Saturday.
The two featured races are the varsity large school boys and girls 3.1-mile events.
Rancho Buena Vista (Calif.) swept both team titles last year and is again the school to beat. The boys team is ranked in the top 50 nationally, and the girls team is one of the best in Southern California.
Fountain Valley (Calif.) is also entered. In 2008, Fountain Valley’s girls were second and the boys placed third.
Green Valley and Centennial seem the most likely to challenge the California schools, though they’ll also have to contend with Foothill, Shadow Ridge, Arbor View and Palo Verde for local bragging rights.
Green Valley’s boys looked especially strong at the Palo Verde Labor Day Classic. Centennial also competed at Palo Verde but was missing its No. 3 runner, Devon Dane. The defending state champion Bulldogs are expected to be at full strength Saturday.
Individually, boys to watch include Chris Brewer (Rancho Buena Vista), who was runner-up in 2008; Nick Hartle (Centennial); Julius Kim (Green Valley); Carl Greene (Foothill); Greg Marschik (Arbor View); Sam Mahar (Shadow Ridge), sixth in 2008; Sebastian Karbowniczek (Palo Verde); Al Galan (Liberty), eighth in 2008; Jaime Mitchell (Durango); Matt Lundgren (Boulder City); and Josh Thompson (Moapa Valley).
On the girls side, Coronado and Shadow Ridge appear to have the best shots at chasing down the California schools, with Foothill, Palo Verde, Green Valley and Arbor View all possible local threats.
Coronado’s girls dominated at the Falcon Invitational at Foothill on Saturday. Shadow Ridge did not compete at either weekend invitational, so this will the first head-to-head matchup for the two teams.
The Cougars’ best hope for a strong showing this week hinges on team depth, led by Lauren Lucas.
Shadow Ridge is also seven deep and will look to Michelle Schenck (fifth last year) and Elaina Vlassopoulos to lead the way.
Other girls to watch in the large school race include Shanna St. Laurent (Rancho Buena Vista), third in 2008; Cleaves Harper (Rancho Buena Vista), fourth in 2008; Erin Smith (Coronado); Stacie Mitchell (Durango); Sage Long (Foothill); Kelsi Koch (Palo Verde); Randi Withoft (Arbor View); and Elisa Vasquez (Clark).