It was a picture-perfect day for racing, as the Lowry High School cross country team held its annual meet at Winnemucca Municipal Golf Course on Friday afternoon.
“It was a great day for us,” said LHS coach Kathy Norcutt. “We had a lot of personal bests and that is all you can ask for as a coach for the kids to have a really good day.”
Sophomore Jovi Kuskie provided a runner-up finish for the Lady Bucks in the varsity race with a time of 19 minutes, 37.5 seconds. She was neck-and-neck with Spring Creek’s Kendra Lusk for much of the race. Lusk pulled away late to win in a time of 19:20.8. Spring Creek’s Grave Florence (20:14.5) was fourth and Elko’s Xandry DeArrieta (20:51.9) and Lowry’s Adia Bengochea (21:10.8) rounded out the top five.
“Jovi stayed right with her the entire way,” added the coach. “She ran a great race and was looking forward to running against Kendra. Kendra just put a kick on at the end. We had a plan for Adia going in and it was to stick right with Xandry. She was disappointed where she finished but that is the competitor in her. She executed the race the way I wanted her too. We will get her next week.”
Senior Makayla Leveille was 18th in a time of 23:23.1. Kinsey Leibfried-Albisu did not run due to an injury but should be back this week or for the regional championships.
Spring Creek, with six of the top nine finishers, won the team title with 18 points. Elko was second at 47 and White Pine (68) was third.
Taylor Hawkins set a personal best of 24:19.9 to finish third in the JV girls race. Teammate and fellow freshman Ryleigh Raabe was 11th at 25:47.4.
“Taylor surprises me every time out,” Norcutt said. “Every time she races, she continues to improve. I am really excited for her and what we can do as a full team. Ryleigh is working hard as well.”
Spring Creek’s Mariah Cooper (32:21.2) and Brandi Manhire (23:57.3) were first and second. Spring Creek had the only team score with 15 points.
On the boys side, Jeremy Walker set a personal best and ran under 18 minutes for the first time to finish eighth with a time of 17:26.4. Dylan Nee was 32nd at 20:01.4 and Erick Prado (21:48.2) and Christopher Esparza (21:49.9) were 39th and 40th.
“Jeremy had a nice kick at the end,” Norcutt said. “He didn’t get off to the best of starts.”
Yerington sophomore Kutoven Stephen won the race with a time of 16:44. Elko’s Isaiah Dahl was second at 16:53.2 and Spring Creek’s Secody Charley (16:55.6) was third. Spring Creek’s Jake Bradford (16:55.9) and Elko’s Duncan Monroe (17:04.4) rounded out the top five.
Sophomore Cal Peters paced the Lowry JV boys with a time of 19:45.1 to finish 12th. Junior Christopher McGuire was 20th in a time of 20:21.6 and Tyler Morrison (20:55) was 24th. Sophomore Jesse Hawkins (21:20.1) placed 26th and freshman Kalib Gordon (25:19.2) placed 41st.
“Cal is really starting to come on strong and he is getting quicker,” Norcutt said. “I am excited for what he has done.”
Spring Creek had the top seven finishers and 14 of the first 19 runners to win the team title with 15 points.
Lowry will travel to Wells on Friday for the Wells Invitational.
