Lowry High School junior Becca Kuskie was hoping to run under 20 minutes for the first time in her career this past Friday in Winnemucca at the Lowry Invitational.
She missed that goal by three seconds, but settled for the next best thing.
Kuskie passed Spring Creek’s Rylie Lusk coming up the third fairway at Winnemucca Municipal Golf Course with about 200 yards to go in the 3.1-mile race to win on her home course with a time of 20 minutes, 2 seconds. That was a career-best time for Kuskie.
“Becca ran a fabulous race,” said LHS coach Kathy Norcutt. “That is her fastest time of the season. I knew if she stayed close to Rylie, she could out kick her. Becca runs really smart races. She has a plan. It is a huge confidence booster for Becca to beat her. She has been chasing them all year.”
Lusk was second at 20:08, while Kendra Lusk was third with a time of 20:26. Elko’s Raini Johnson (20:26) and Spring Creek’s Larissa Mauer (20:40) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Lowry’s Makayla Leveille set a personal best as well and finished 18th with a time of 22:34.
Spring Creek won the team title with 19 points and Elko was second at 40. They were the only two schools with enough runners for a team score.
On the junior varsity side, freshman Kinsey Albisu was 11th out of 37 runners, setting a personal-best time of 24:39. Spring Creek’s Emma Campbell (22:19), Allyson Burns (22:21) and Taylor DuPea (22:27) were first, second and third. Elko’s Abigail Prickett (22:33) and Spring Creek’s Mary Tomera (22:41) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Spring Creek won the team title with 18 points, Elko (39) was second and Wells finished third with 75 points.
Lowry’s Robert Rangel ran away with the boys title in the 5,000 meters junior varsity race. The freshman led from the beginning and won with a time of 17:50. Elko’s Jimmy Murphy was second with a time of 19:14. Spring Creek’s Terrence Simpson (19:16), Wyatt Armstrong (19:17) and Clay Campbell (19:35) rounded out the top five.
Lowry’s Christopher McGuire ran a personal best 20:32 to place 13th and teammate Christopher Esparza was 22nd at 21:37. Christopher Fly-Knopf (23:56) and Kylen Timko (24:23) also set personal bests on the day.
“That was a great time for Christopher (McGuire),” Norcutt said. “He has really stepped it up in practice. I am proud of him. I was pleased with all my JV kids.”
Spring Creek won the team race with 27 points and Elko was second at 53. Lowry placed third with 65 points and Wells was fourth at 89.
In the boys varsity race, Lowry junior Will Kracaw finished fifth overall with a time of 17:05. Spring Creek’s William Fallini-Haas won with a time of 16:16. Sierra Lutheran’s Jared Marchegger was second at 16:36. Elko’s Alex Klekas (16:53) placed third and Spring Creek’s Spencer Thomas (16:5) was fourth.
“That is a good time for him, but a little slower than Bob Firman,” Norcutt said. “We have been training really hard in practice. I know he wanted to be under 17 minutes.”
Lowry’s Christian Olson (18:24) and Hunter Albisu (18:27) finished 16th and 17th. The time for Olson was a personal best. Sophomore Caden Rorex placed 29th with a personal best time of 20:09 and Josh Leveille (20:42) and Bryan Day (20:44) were 31st and 32nd, respectively. Braden Thomas was 41st at 29:49.
“Christian and Hunter ran great today,” said the coach. “They continue to improve. Bryan provided a pretty good performance.”
Spring Creek won a close team battle, beating Elko 34-39. Lowry was third with 76 points and West Wendover (78) was fourth.
“I’ll take a third-place finish — that is huge,” Norcutt said. “I expected Spring Creek and Elko to finish where they did. That is a huge feather in our cap.”
Lowry travels to Elko on Thursday for the Elko Invitational at 3 p.m.
