The Lowry High School cross country team started its season at the Douglas Class Races in Gardnerville last Friday.
Lowry sophomore Jovi Kuskie took the only win of the day for the Buckaroos with a time of 16 minutes and 58 seconds, edging out Galena’s Sofia Schmidhuber (17:01).
Freshmen Taylor Hawkins (25:48 (41st) and Ryleigh Raabe (29:51 (48th) made the trip as well, as did junior Kinsey Albisu (19:33 (16th) and senior Makayla Leveille (20:12) (21st).
“We had a great day today," said LHS coach Kathy Norcutt. "The first race is always a learning experience because they are figuring out pace, strategy, etc.”
The boys took nine runners amongst all four classes and junior Jeremy Walker posted the top finish for the Buckaroos, finishing 22nd with a time of 15:02.
Freshman Kalib Gordon (24:18 (58th), sophomores Jesse Hawkins (16:56 (45th), Cal Peters (17:45 (53rd), Tyler Carpenter (17:51 (54th), juniors Erick Prado (17:55 (76th) and Christopher McGuire (17:56)(77th), and seniors Christopher Esparza (17:29 (35th) and Dylan Nee (17:58 (41st) rounded out the Lowry results.
“We have been working on running as a pack and the guys did a great job of sticking together,” Norcutt said. “I am really happy with the effort these kids put into their races, now we have a starting point for personal improvement. These athletes are all about setting goals and working hard to achieve those goals each week.”
The runners will take a few weeks off before travelling to their next meet in North Tahoe on Sept. 13.
The Bob Firman Invitational will be held at Eagle Island in Boise, Idaho, on Sept. 21
Lowry travels to Truckee on Sept. 28, Reed on Oct. 4, and they run in Winnemucca on Oct. 11 for its only home stand at 3 p.m.
