High school golf, tennis and cross country notebook
The pack of leaders was tight Saturday, but Elynn Okuda wasn’t going to be happy with anything less than a victory.
The Shadow Ridge junior cross country runner broke away and finished the 5-kilometer course in 18 minutes, 54 seconds to win the 68-school Larry Burgess-Las Vegas Invitational at Sunset Park.
Okuda’s time was 7 seconds faster than Bishop Gorman’s Gabriella Martinez (19:01). Palo Verde’s Katelyn Johnson finished third in 19:05.
Shadow Ridge dominated the girls event, placing four runners (including fourth-place Ryen Hughes and fifth-place Ava Stosich) in the top 10 to score 29 points. Coronado was second with 79 and Faith Lutheran third with 108.
Sky Pointe won the small-schools division race.
Boys cross country
Kenan Dagge of Desert Oasis continued his extraordinary start to the season Saturday with another impressive finish at Sunset Park.
The senior set a state 5K record by completing the course in 14:58.1 for the win. His time shattered the record of 14:59.7 set by McQueen’s Henry Weisner in 2016.
But Dagge was not the only runner to break the record. Running in the small-schools division race, Sky Pointe’s Carter Prater finished in 14:58.7 to claim the state’s second-fastest time.
Shadow Ridge ran away with the large-schools team victory with 43 points, placing all five scoring runners in the top 20. Carson Wetzel was the fastest of the Mustangs, finishing second in 15:17, with teammate Justin Rawe third in 15:21.
Centennial finished second with 85 points and Desert Oasis third with 87.
Sky Pointe placed second overall to Hurricane (Utah) in the small-schools race, finishing with a score of 48 and three points back.
Girls tennis
Bishop Gorman defeated host Faith Lutheran on Thursday in a match that could not have been any tighter.
The day featured six tiebreakers between the rivals, with the Gaels winning four to make the final difference in a 10-9 victory. The doubles team of Emma Balelo and Leilani Raymond went 3-0 and won a tiebreaker point.
In another key match, Spring Valley defeated Arbor View 10-9 on Wednesday.
Gorman is among the teams looking to rise to the top of Class 5A play this season. Palo Verde is 4-0, while Clark, Coronado and Shadow Ridge are 3-1. Spring Valley, Gorman and Faith Lutheran are 2-1.
In 4A Mountain competition, Silverado, The Meadows and Canyon Springs entered the week 2-0. Centennial, Del Sol and Doral also started 2-0 to lead the 4A Desert girls standings.
Fifth-year program Pahrump Valley leads 3A girls competition, opening the week with a 6-0 record. Boulder City started 5-0.
Boys tennis
The Faith Lutheran boys fared better against Gorman on Thursday, with the Crusaders winning four matches in the final round to edge the Gaels 10-8. Nolan Dubay and Tyson Young teamed to win all three of their doubles matches for Faith Lutheran.
Coronado entered the week atop the 5A standings at 4-0, Faith Lutheran was second at 3-0, and Shadow Ridge was third at 3-1.
Tech and The Meadows shared the 4A Mountain boys lead at 2-0 heading into the week, and Centennial, Del Sol and Doral Academy shared the top spot in 4A Desert play with 2-0 records.
Pahrump Valley (6-0) and Boulder City (5-0) led 3A competition heading into the week.
Girls golf
Wednesday’s 5A Mountain match was another close finish.
In the end, Bishop Gorman’s Samantha Harris and Clark’s Alliah Jordan settled for a tie, with both golfers sharing the victory at even-par 72 at Painted Desert.
The Gaels edged the Chargers for the team title, 307-310. Shadow Ridge was third at 378.
In 4A Mountain action, Rancho’s Raegan Williams shot 4-over 76 for a 10-stroke victory Thursday at Arroyo at Red Rock.
Tech’s Kara Tien finished second at 14 over, and Basic’s Klara Kulova was third at 20 over.
Rancho dominated the team competition by finishing at 458 strokes. Basic (476) was second and Doral Academy (506) third.
Abigail Liewellyn shot 3-under 68 Thursday at Palms to win the 3A event.
Boulder City’s Emmerson Hinds finished a stroke back to place second, and Pahrump Valley’s Ali Zuniga shot 11-over 82 to finish third.
Boulder City shot 65-over 349 to win the event, and Virgin Valley was 83-over 367 to place second.
Contact Jeff Wollard at jwollard@reviewjournal.com.
