Girls finish fourth in Division I-A state meet

The Boulder City girls cross-country team was hoping to follow up its surprising Southern Region title with another stellar effort at the state championships Saturday.

But the Northern Nevada teams, training in the mountains all season, proved to be too tough on the flat course.

The Lady Eagles finished in fourth place behind three northern teams in the Division I-A cross-country state championships at Sunset Park. They were the top finishing team from Southern Nevada, edging rivals Faith Lutheran and Tech.

Boulder City scored 116 points to place fourth behind champion Truckee, which scored a low of 21 points. Spring Creek was second (34 points) and Elko was third (85 points).

“We didn’t repeat the performances that helped us win the region championship,” Boulder City coach Canaan Petersen said. “The northern teams were tough. They came down to the state race and ran tough races. My girls did not repeat their performances of the previous week at the region meet, but they were still able to come in fourth place. I am proud of what they did all season.”

The top 11 finishers were from northern schools.

Sierra Selinger led the Lady Eagles by placing 15th in 21:19.0, while teammates Jessica Embro followed at 19th (21:28.8) and Camille Torgeson was 25th (22:03.2).

By winning the region, the Lady Eagles advanced all seven runners to the state meet. Also competing at state for Boulder City were Aubrey Kouse, Karen Reuter, Sabrina Snow and Emma Torgeson.

While several of them ran personal best times at the region, they did not run at the same or better pace during the state meet.

“Because none of the girls were able to improve on their time from the previous week, it made it tough on us in a very talented field,” Petersen said. “But taking fourth place at state is also a good finish.

“It was definitely a year to remember.”

The Lady Eagles will graduate seniors Embro and Klouse.

“Losing Jessica and Aubrey will be tough, but I know girls will step up both on the athletic field and in a leadership role,” Petersen said.

Klouse said she will miss her teammates.

“It was (a) great ending to the season for the entire team to compete at state and we all finished as a team on the same day,” Klouse said. “It was an amazing experience spending my last cross-country season with the best group of girls.”

The girls team was expected to be good and challenge in the league and region, but they exceeded expectations by finishing undefeated in winning the Sunrise League and then pulling off the victory in the Southern Region against teams like Faith Lutheran and Tech.

At the region Oct. 30, the Lady Eagles scored a team low of 60 points to defeat Tech, 67 points, and Faith Lutheran, 69 points.

In the boys competition, Boulder City’s only runner who qualified for the state meet, Tyler Campbell, finished 29th.

“Tyler had a really great season and we will work to build on his success in preparation for track,” Petersen said. “I am proud of how he came along, improving so much all season.”