Coronado, Green Valley looking for big weekend at Sunrise Regional

Coronado’s girls team looks like the clear favorite in Friday’s Sunrise Region cross country meet — if they can field a healthy team.

The Cougars hope they won’t be slowed down by the flu virus that has plagued the team all season.

“I hope it does not hit any more kids or I am in trouble,” Tondryk said. “So far the 1-5 runners have been out with the flu. I have had seven positive swine flu kids, and I am sure more have had it.”

The Sunrise and Sunset Region meets will be held on Friday at Veterans’ Memorial Park in Boulder City. The first of the four 3.1-mile races will be the Sunset girls contest at 9 a.m.

The top two cross country teams and five individuals from non-qualifying teams in each region will clinch spots in the state meet Nov. 7 in Reno.

In the Sunrise, the most competitive battles could be for second place, as Coronado’s girls and Green Valley’s boys are the clear favorites.

Green Valley’s boys team comprises a veteran lineup of seniors: Julius Kim, Jason Ferraro, Matt Campa-Moreno, D.J. Padillo-Montello and Cagen Combs.

All five finished in the top 15 at regionals last year, and they comprised the Gators’ top five at state, where they placed fifth as a team.

“All of our varsity boys have run their fastest times this season and much more consistently compared to our past seasons,” Ferraro said. “This year, we have all run personal bests of over one minute and beyond in races.”

Foothill, Tech and Coronado probably will race for the Sunrise boys runner-up spot. Those three last competed against each other at the Roadrunner Invitational at Tech on Sept. 26, when Foothill (100 points) outscored Coronado (135) and Tech (153).

Individuals with the best chance to advance to state are Liberty’s Al Galan; Del Sol’s Colin Smith; Basic’s Dennis Coughlin, Kaleb Stumbaugh and Kyler Campbell; Tech’s Miguel Maldonado; Coronado’s Gariet Odell; and Eldorado’s Fernando Duran-Price.

Coronado’s girls were state runners-up in 2008 and have been the No. 1 or 2 team in Southern Nevada all season. The Cougars are led by the strong trio of Lauren Lucas, Kristal Hosaka and Erin Smith.

Even if the flu is a problem, another Cougar threat is their depth. At the recent Southeast League meet, they placed six runners in the top 15, with Lucas and Hosaka placing first and second — both breaking the course record.

The battle for second behind Coronado probably will come down to Green Valley and Foothill, although Tech maintains an outside chance.

Green Valley is led by Alyssa Rapovy and Morgan Oswald. Foothill’s top two are Cheyanne Jones and Sage Long. Tech counters with Taylor Coss and Claudia Perez. The team race for second may be decided by the No. 3 through No. 5 finishers for each.

The Sunrise individual qualifiers could come from a pool comprised of Valley’s Anne Marie Underwood and Genesis Cerrato; Liberty’s Joslyn Evans; Eldorado’s Claudia Gonzales; Basic’s Erika Ocequero; Desert Pines’ Marisa Denton; and Canyon Springs’ Heather Hollinger.

In the Sunset boys race, Arbor View, Centennial and Shadow Ridge are likely to battle for state berths. Palo Verde and Durango also are in the mix.

Arbor View won the Northwest League meet, beating Shadow Ridge and Palo Verde convincingly. Durango won the Southwest meet, but trailed the four Northwest leaders in comparison times.

Arbor View and Shadow Ridge have shown greater depth than the other three contenders. The Aggies placed four runners in the top nine at the league meet, led by Greg Marschik (third) and Blaise Hill (fourth). Shadow Ridge’s top finisher was fifth, and the Mustangs had four in the top 11.

Centennial’s Nick Hartle clearly is the Sunset boys frontrunner. He has not lost to another Sunset runner this year.

The five individual spots at state from the Sunset could include Clark’s Jake Naylor and Faith Lutheran’s Anthony Ponticello.

Arbor View and Shadow Ridge stand out in the Sunset girls field.

The two Northwest powers dominated the league race, combining to take second through 10th in a race won by Palo Verde’s Kelsi Koch. Shadow Ridge’s veteran quintet of Michelle Schenck, Mallory Reese, Elaina Vlassopoulos, Palolo Prince and Leanna Morrison would appear to have the advantage of experience over Arbor View’s Amberly Halstead, Kourtney Willey, Taylor Inghram, Tiffany Carmona and Randi Withoft. Only Inghram and Willey were on last year’s team.

Palo Verde coach Robert Davis called it a “classic battle of youth versus experience.”
Shadow Ridge coach Patrick Fitzgerald said his teams are faster than last season.

“This year both my teams are much faster than any previous season at Shadow Ridge,” Fitzgerald said. “This is evidence of how fast things are in Sunset, given the teams at the top are so close.”

If a Sunset girls team were to pull an upset and make it to state, it probably would be either Palo Verde or Clark. Koch and Clark’s Elisa Vazquez, the Southwest individual winner, are among the best runners in Southern Nevada.

Koch and Vazquez should both advance to state if form holds. The three girls joining them probably will come from the following: Stacie Mitchell (Durango); Nicole Vanderstelt and Sarah Leiserowitz (Palo Verde); Kira Espinoza-Levy (Clark); and Lizenda Licea-Diaz (Desert Oasis).