Unique cross country events on tap this weekend

With the prestigious Las Vegas Invitational still a week away, the local cross country circuit will feature two more preliminary bouts, one on each side of the valley.

Five Sunset Region teams — Bonanza, Palo Verde, Centennial, Cimarron-Memorial and Spring Valley — plus Faith Lutheran have signed up for the Grizzly Jamboree to be held at Spring Valley.

The Jamboree follows relay format, in which each team member will run two 1.5-mile legs in an alternating format.

The runner who begins the race will run a third leg as well.

The other runner will complete the second and fourth (final) leg. Team scoring will consist of the top three pairs from each individual school.

The action starts at 7:15 a.m.

At Foothill, the Falcons will host schools primarily from the Sunrise Region — Coronado, Tech, Canyon Springs, Eldorado, Del Sol — along with the Sunset’s Durango, Pahrump Valley, Clark and Bishop Gorman. Three 3A schools — Virgin Valley, Boulder City and Moapa Valley — also will compete.

The format here is unique as well, as instead of varsity/junior varsity races, there will be four races total: two freshmen-sophomore races (boys and girls) and two junior-senior races.

A team that has five strong freshmen and sophomores as well as solid juniors and seniors will be one to watch in November. Team scoring will be used.

This meet also will feature a matchup of three of the top girls in Southern Nevada — Foothill’s Leah Leedy, Coronado’s Michaelanne Laurent and Canyon Springs’ Heather Hollinger.

The junior-senior boys race will feature a matchup of Tech’s Eduardo Cordova, Clark’s Jake Naylor, Green Valley’s Julius Kim and Boulder City’s Matt Lundgren.

The first race goes off at 7:30 a.m. on the 2.5-mile campus course.