On Thursday, Oct. 14th, the Lake Tahoe School cross-country team competed at the Tah-Neva Middle School Cross Country Championship meet at the Kahle Park Cross Country Course, South Lake Tahoe. Two courses were set for the championships, with the 5th-7th grade division covering 2.2 miles and the 8th grade division running 2.6 miles. The championship meet was comprised of 17 schools competing from areas in the Tahoe basin, including Reno, Lake Tahoe, Douglas County, and Carson City.

This was our largest Bobcat team ever with 47 students competing this year. Although XC can sometimes be viewed as an individual sport, the Bobcat team loves to focus on the team championship aspect. This year, our school swept the championship meet winning all four divisions. This is something that has never been accomplished in our league. A truly remarkable feat.

There were also a number of outstanding individual results at championships for the Bobcats.

In the 8th grade boys race, Blake Rive narrowly missed out on cracking the top 10 with an 11th place finish. Joining Blake on the team were four 7th grade boys that moved up a division to round out our team and help win a team championship. Jack O’Donnell and Logan Rive finished 22nd and 23rd respectively. Anthony Donahue closely followed in 36th and Ross Hochberg 44th.

The 8th grade girls team raced well over the 2.6 mile course and won our school’s first ever team championship for the 8th grade girls division. Alyssa Hill was our lead girl and finished 7th. Elle Evans was our next Bobcat finishing 26th, closely followed by McKenna Larkins, a 7th grader running up a division, in 27th. Rounding out the team was Lili Morrison 32nd and Chloe Johnson 39th. Unfortunately, Katie Littlejohn was unable to run at championships after breaking her foot. Katie still had an outstanding season and was a key contributor to our team’s success.

With 24 runners qualifying for championships, the 7th grade boys team had the biggest squad on our Bobcat team. In the championship race, we had two Bobcats finish in the top 10 with Joey Jennings 4th and Lachlan McConnon 9th. Scoring points for our team and helping to win a team championship was Oliver Pietzke in 13th, 5th grader Sundance Jennings 17th, Patrick Rogers 25th, and John Paul Kelly and Owen Francl 28th and 29th respectively. A special mention to Brayden Davis for finishing 2nd in the open 5-7th grade race with Liam Coyle close behind in 10th.

Clearly the team to beat all year, the 7th grade girls had a dominating season led by two talented and hard-working runners, Shelby Erikson and Lily Cooper. Shelby Erikson had an undefeated season and won the individual girls championship. Not far behind was Lily Cooper in 4th place. Gisele Francl saved her best run of the season for championships and finished 19th. Rounding out the team to help win the championship title for our girls was Avery O’Donnell 26th, Alex Oliva 28th, and Larkin Schuessler 33rd. In the open race for the girls, Angie Alpers and Carolina Avakemian both enjoyed great races and finished 3rd and 4th.

Coach Kris Nugent shared, “This was a season for the history books. To win all four team championships and sweep the championship meet is unheard of.” Coach Nugent added, “I’m so proud of this team. They worked hard all season and bonded as a team immediately. The team culture was so impressive all year and I’m so happy to see them enjoy success as a team. I’m especially happy for our 8th grade runners. They were our leaders and were able to finish their final middle school XC season on a high note.”