Strong performances could boost cross-country teams to regionals

Last week's cross-country meet at Faith Lutheran High School was a telling sign of where both Boulder City cross-country programs are heading toward the final stretch of the season.

With just two meets to go before their Division I-A Southern Region Meet at Veterans' Memorial Park on Oct. 30, both Eagles programs have steadily improved in recent weeks and could threaten for team and individual success in late October.

"Running against Faith Lutheran is always tough, as they put together a good teams year after year," coach Canaan Petersen said. "This meet was a good test to see how we stack up as a team against some of our key competitors in the valley."

The Lady Eagles look like a force to be reckoned with heading into regionals, falling only to host Faith Lutheran during the Sept. 30 meet. Grabbing a team score of 62 for second-place overall, the Lady Eagles beat out a strong Clark program (72), before falling to the Crusaders (40).

"While the Crusaders are always a challenge, the other girls team that we needed to see how we stacked up against was Clark," Petersen said. "Faith came out strong like we expected and took the event, but I liked the way we handled ourselves against the Chargers. The last team spot for a trip to state could possibly come down to Clark and us, so having this edge will build confidence as we head through October."

Sophomore Sierra Selinger continues to impress in recent weeks after hitting a rough patch to start the year, claiming second-place at the event with a time of 22:03. On the year, Selinger has now finished second overall twice, while finishing in sixth place in the Falcon Invitational freshman-sophomore race a week ago.

Joining Selinger in the top five for the event was senior EmmaLee Torgeson, who claimed the fifth spot by mere seconds over The Meadows runner Ashley Lee with a time of 23:24. EmmaLee Torgeson's younger sister sophomore Camille Torgeson also contributed heavily in the Lady Eagles' second-place finish, claiming seventh with a time of 24:25.

"The girls ran strong Wednesday, with Sierra, Emma and Camille all leading the way with strong times," Petersen said. "Those three in front will be key for our success down the final stretch of the season. Sierra alone should be in the hunt for a region championship."

Adding to the Lady Eagles top three runners Sept. 30 was junior Nantke Bonsack with a time of 25:30 to finish the event in 15th place and junior Sabrina Snow and freshman Morgan Bagovich, who finished 38th and 41st ,respectively, with overall times of 29:12 and 29:24.

For the boys, the Eagles took seventh at Faith Lutheran with an overall team score of 168, just missing out on the sixth spot by 5 points to The Meadows.

While they finished in the back half of the event, multiple boys posted personal bests during the meet.

Juniors James Embro (31st place, time of 20:38) and Caleb Shamo (50th place, time of 21:38) each shaved more than 20 seconds off their personal bests coming into the meet, while sophomore Tyson Morris finished in 56th place with a time of 22:04, nearly 10 seconds faster than his best time this season. Senior Joren Selinger lead the consistent group of runners with a 30th-place finish with a time of 20:28.

"The boys had a great meet, with most of them posting good times," Petersen said. "We're not quite in the position to threaten the top teams in the area just yet, but they've continued to improve and will continue to do so throughout October."

Also setting a personal best this season in a leading effort was junior Tyler Campbell, who has an opportunity to make it back to the state championships as an individual runner this season. Shaving more than 30 seconds off his best time this season, Campbell finished the event in eighth place with a time of 18:33. On the season Campbell now how three top 10 finishes, with his highest placing coming against Moapa Valley when he finished third overall.

"Tyler Campbell had a great race," Petersen said. "He's done very well, but he needs to work really hard this month if he hopes to repeat his trip to state again this year."

Confident in his abilities to get the job done and return as an individual runner, Campbell said that now that an early season illness is behind him, he certainly expects to compete for one of the final spots.

"I've worked really hard up until this point to get my times lowered," the junior said. "I won't stop until I'm able to regain the form I was in last year."

This Saturday, both teams will resume season play in a nonleague match against Division III opponents Laughlin, Agassi Prep and The Meadows at Veterans' Memorial Park.

Contact Robert Vendettoli at BCRsports@gmail.com.