WINNEMUCCA - The Lowry High School cross country teams got a sneak peek on Friday, Oct. 12, at what will be ahead of them for the upcoming Division I-A North regional.
The Buckaroos made their annual trip to Reno for the Sparks Invitational, where they ran at Rancho San Rafael Park. That site will host the regional championships, but not on the same course design. Still, Lowry runners were happy to get a look at what awaits them at the end of the month.
"We went to Sparks for that sole purpose instead of going to Elko," said LHS head coach Dawn Lucas. "We wanted to get familiar with the surroundings. It's not the same course we will run, but we got the idea of what to expect. With so many new runners, it is good to show them what they will see in a couple of weeks."
The Buckaroos boys finished ninth out of 21 teams with 218 points, but were fifth among Division I-A schools.
North Tahoe, a Division III North school, won the meet with 38 points. Douglas was second with 87 points and Truckee was third at 98. Spanish Springs (108) Churchill County (124) rounded out the top five.
North Tahoe's Noah McDermott (17:18) and Patrick McElravey (17:42) swept the first two individual spots.
Harley Baker led the way for the Lowry boys finishing 37th with a time of 19:35 and Richie Bleck was 42nd at 19:45. Luis Brown was the third Lowry runner to break the 20-minute mark as he placed 47th in a time of 19:57. Layne Burgess and Nate Nelson crossed the finish line in 63rd and 69th place with times of 20:35 and 20:42.
Ethan Andrews finished 105th at 21:33 and Austin Schultz and Marquess Jones were 144th and 145th with times of 23:20 and 23:21, respectively. Ian Maher finished 154th with a time of 23:54.
"The guys were all close to each other and that is what we are looking for," Lucas said. "We want them to stick together as much as possible, especially for the regional meet. They have to run together and not let other runners get in between them."
On the girls side, Bishop Manogue won the team championship with 54 points, and was closely followed by Spanish Springs in second at 58. Truckee placed third with 72 points and Douglas (75) and North Tahoe (145) were fourth and fifth, respectively. The Lady Bucks finished 10th with 278 points.
Alondra Duenas and Tania Alcaraz paced the Lady Bucks in the 5K race, finishing 61st and 67th, respectively. Duenas, a junior, timed in at 25:01 and Alcaraz, a senior, finished at 25:32.
Eva Mercado placed 72nd with a time of 25:54, with fellow seniors Riata Kull and MaElena Sanchez finishing 88th and 89th at 27:19 and 27:22.
Jade Lapira placed 92nd in a time of 27:30, Haley Weber was 105th at 28:59, Morgan Rasmussen placed 114th in a time of 29:50, Nani Ramirez finished 117th with a time of 30:13 and Camryn Maher and Kiko Ramirez were 131st and 133rd, respectively, at 24:08 and 36:11.
"We had another strong week and were excited about everyone's performance," Lucas said. "I was happy with the times that we had and we are pretty much in the same order we have been. Our tops spots changed again, but it is nice to see the competition we have within the team."
Lowry travels to Rite of Passage on Friday for its final regular season meet of the year.
"We usually take this week off, but we wanted to give the kids another chance to run," Lucas said. "It will be a relatively flat course and times should be quick."
The Buckaroos are back on the road to Reno on Friday, Oct. 26, for the Division I-A North Regional Championship. The Division I-A boys race will take place at 10:40 a.m., and the Division I-A girls run at 1:10 p.m.
The top three teams from the Northern League championship meet and the top three teams from the Southern League championship meet qualify for the six-team state championship meet in Boulder City on Saturday, Nov. 3.
The top five individuals from non-qualifying teams out of the Northern League championship meet and the top five individuals from non-qualifying teams out of the Southern League championship meet also advance to the state championships.
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