The Lake Tahoe School track & field team finished another highly successful track season at the Tah-Neva championships in Carson City on May 16. On a beautiful sunny afternoon, 22 different middle schools from the Tahoe Basin, Carson City, Reno, and other parts of Northern Nevada and California met to battle it out, all determined to achieve individual glory and team championship trophies.
The LTS Bobcats dominated the meet and were rewarded for their efforts by claiming three D1 team championships – 7th grade girls, 7th grade boys, and the 8th grade girls. The 7th grade boys not only won the D1 title but also were the number one school in the entire Tah-Neva League.
Coach Kris Nugent is very proud of his team: “It’s been a wonderful year for our Bobcat track team. Our 7th grade girls and boys teams were dominant this year and deserve to be crowned team champions. I’m especially proud of our 8th grade seniors and their leadership. I will miss them next year. To see our 8th grade girls win only our second ever school championship in that division was impressive.”
There were a number of outstanding individual results at championships. For the 7th grade girls division, Shelby Erikson was the star of the meet. Shelby not only won 3 individual gold medals – 400m, 800m, and the 1600m – but she also broke both the LTS and the Tah-Neva League records in all three events. She was also part of the 4x400m relay team with Alex Oliva, Angie Alpers, and Darya Kutznetsova, placing 2nd. Coach Kris remarked, “I’ve never seen a middle school athlete do what Shelby did at one meet. Those three races were only hours apart and for her to break three league records was phenomenal.” Alex Oliva also had a wonderful meet by winning the 80m hurdles and finishing 5th in the individual 400m.
For the 7th grade boys division, Oliver Pietzke capped a wonderful season by finishing championships with gold in the 400m, 800m, and discus, while also anchoring our 4x400m team to a 1st place finish. Additionally, Oliver set new school and Tah-Neva League records in the 400m and discus. Brooks Erikson, a 5th grader, had a busy day at championships with a 2nd place win in the 1600m, 2nd in the 800m, and running lead on the winning 4x400m relay team. Sawyer Cannon and Jenner Piro finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in the triple jump. Sawyer set a new school record with a jump of 30-08.5.
The 8th grade girls team was small but mighty. With only 10 girls on the team they battled through the season to win the team championship. Injuries had an impact on a number of the girls throughout the season but they persevered and finished strong. Lily Cooper was a true leader and had a massive championship meet – 1st place in the 3200m, 2nd in the 80m hurdles, 3rd in the 800m, 4th in the 1600m, and she anchored the 4x400m team to a 5th place finish. Ava Sabin performed well in the hurdles finishing 5th in the 80m and 7th in the 200m. Solin Visci threw a personal best in the discus to finish 4th.
The 8th grade boys had a great day with Jack O’Donnell leading the way. Jack finished 4th in the 400m and 10th in the 200m. Jack then partnered with Ross Hochberg, Anthony Donahue, and Logan Rive to finish 5th in the 4x400m.
The focus for many of these LTS Bobcats will now turn towards preparing for the upcoming USATF and AAU track and field season with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the National Jr. Olympics in Eugene, OR, this July, where they will be joined by a number of IHS and IMS athletes. Coach Kris Nugent is looking forward to the summer ahead: “I’m excited to coach many of our LTS athletes along with IMS and IHS athletes this summer for the Lake Tahoe Track Club. We have some amazingly talented track and field athletes in our area and I’m eager to see them compete against the best kids on the west coast and the nation this summer!”
