On Thursday, Oct. 17th, the Lake Tahoe School cross-country Bobcat team competed at the Tah-Neva Middle School Cross Country Championship meet at Kahle Park Cross Country Course in South Lake Tahoe. Two courses were set for the championships, with the 5th/6th/7th grade division covering 2.2 miles and the 8th grade division running 2.6 miles. The championship meet was comprised of 18 schools, with approx. 450 runners competing from areas in the Tahoe basin, including Reno, Lake Tahoe, Douglas County, and Carson City.

In the 5th/6th/7th grade boys division, 180 runners took part in the race with Luke Davis leading the way for the Bobcats. Luke won the individual championship with an amazing time of 13:31. This smashed the existing course record that had stood for the past 8 years at 14:06 – an amazing achievement! Aiden Vieara-McCarthy was the next best Bobcat at 11th. Other impressive results for the Bobcats were Christian Busse finishing 37th, Tyler Jensen-Eykamp at 51st, Jack O’Donnell at 71st, Jacob Davis at 117th, Noah Keil at 118th, Kieran Alston at 138th, and Turner Alston at 175th. In the overall team championship, the 5th/6th/7th grade boys’ team won the small school championship with 136 points. This is the first small school championship for our 5th/6th/7th grade boys division. Alder Creek won the big school division championship with 48 points.

For the 5th/6th/7th grade girls, Madeleine Patrick led the way with an impressive performance. Madeleine was leading throughout the race but experienced some tough luck with fan interference near the final stages of the race to finish 7th against 123 girls with a time of 15:46. Maddie Vieara-McCarthy had her best race of the season to finish 23rd. Fifth grade student, Lily Cooper, also performed well with a 36th place finish. Chloe Ronning had a great season with a top 10 finish earlier in the season. Unfortunately, she experienced a cramp mid-race and finished 58th. Katy Illg followed her at 66th, Avery O’Donnell at 72nd, Tessa Drescher at 75th, and Maggie Jensen-Eykamp at 76th. Our 5th/6th/7th grade girls were also victorious with a small school team championship. This is also the first time our 5th/6th/7th grade girls have won this title. South Tahoe won the big school team championship with 31 points.

In the 8th grade division, the boys and girls ran a tough and demanding 2.6-mile course. Our team had two fantastic team captains and leaders this season. For the girls, Evee Propst was the only 8th grade girl to compete. Evee ran one of her best races of her season to finish 28th with a time of 24:34. For the 8th grade boys, Habte Kershaw was our only runner. Habte had multiple top-10 finishes throughout the season, including a 3rd place finish at the Sth Tahoe meet. Unfortunately, Habte had a tough championship meet and finished 21st.

Coach Kris Nugent remarked, “I am so proud of this team. It is easily one of the best teams that I have coached in my 13 years of cross-country. For our school to win two team championships is remarkable. I’m also extremely proud of the way this team worked together. They supported each other and displayed true Bobcat spirit all season. It’s been a great year and the future is bright for LTS.” Coach Nugent added, “Also, a big thank you to Coach Brad and Coach Rios for their help this season. Our athletes are lucky to have such caring and dedicated coaches.”