With the regional championships just three weeks away, the Lowry High School cross country teams are headed for the final stretch of the regular season.
The Buckaroos were in Sparks on Friday, Oct. 9, to take part in the Reed Invitational. The 3.1-mile course was ran on Shadow Mountain.
Lowry freshman, Rebecca Kuskie stole the show, as she won the junior varsity race in a time of 22 minutes, 38 seconds. That was 26 seconds quicker than second-place finisher Amanda Ross of McQueen.
“It was a really nice rave for her, and she got off to a beautiful start,” said LHS coach Kathy Norcutt. She sat in the fifth spot for much of the race and she worked her way to the front. It’s fun to watch. Her time was a little slower, but it was a tough course.”
Fellow freshman, Amelia Weber also too part in the JV race, and stopped the clock at 32.33. Lowry did not have enough runners for a team score, with Fernley claiming the title with 39 points and Damonte Ranch was second at 58.
Will Kracaw has been making noise on the freshman side for the boys, and it was no different at Reed. He placed 11th in the JV race in a time of 19:41. Only two runners from Division I-A schools finished ahead of him.
“He just missed getting a medal,” Norcutt said. “He was in heck of a race. There are some fast kids in Division I. I like where he is at.”
Gavin Ziemer, a freshman, was 40th with a time of 21:13 and Jacob Means (24:38) and Braden Thomas (27:58) rounded out the Lowry finishers in the junior varsity race. Means and Thomas also ran season-best times.
Division I schools McQueen (356), Douglas (68) and Carson (84) were the top three in the team standings.
“I was really pleased with Gavin,” said the coach. “He took nearly three minutes off his best time. You can’t ask for much more, when they are running their best times.”
In the boys varsity race, Lowry finished 13th as a tea, with 338 points. McQueen took the top spot with 48 points and Spanish Springs (76) was second. Galena was third with 94 points and Reed (118) and Reno (148) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Jonathan Madrid led the Buckaroos with a time of 19:35, while teammate Omar Aranjo broke 20 minutes as well, at 19:58. Chanse McAllister (20:21), Christopher Kearns (20:24) and Devin Dowd (20:36), were within 15 seconds of each other, and seven spots in the standings separated them.
“The boys got off to a rough start,” Norcutt said. “The way the course was laid out, the runners had to go through a gate and everyone got jammed up. Something that we have talked about is getting off to a good start. Christopher and Joe had one their best races of the year. I like the boys running in pack. They are doing what we ask of them.”
Charice Brown paced the Lowry girls runners in the varsity race, with a time of 34:46. Brienna Everhart timed in at 26:28, Alexandra Ziemer was at 27:15 and Odessa Pearrow had a time of 27:18.
The Lady Bucks did not have enough runners for a team score. Truckee, the two-time defending state champion won with 70 points, Reno was second at 76 and McQueen (84) was third.
“The girls ran the best they have this year,” Norcutt said. “Charice had one her best races of the season. I saw a little competitive edge come out of her. She has been working hard in practice.”
Lowry will be at home today to run on Winnemucca Municipal Golf Course at 3 p.m. starting with the JV races.
Earlier in the day elementary, middle school and junior high school will also run. Norcutt noted that some out of town schools are also bringing junior high runners.
