On Thursday, April 22nd, 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 16 schools competing from areas in the Tahoe basin, including Reno, Lake Tahoe, Douglas County, and Carson City.
The Bobcat team was comprised of 31 students ranging from 5th grade through 8th grade. This was the largest team in school history. Although XC can sometimes be viewed as an individual sport the Bobcat team loves to focus on the team championship aspect. This year, the team delivered with the following results:
• Our 8th grade boys won the Division 1 (small school) team championship
• Our 7th grade girls and 8th grade girls were runner-up in Division 1 (small school) team championships
• Our 7th grade boys finished 3rd in Division 1 (small school) team championship. They missed 2nd place by 1 point!
There were also a number of outstanding individual results at championships for the Bobcats.
In the 8th grade boys race, Luke Davis led from start to finish and won the individual title. Luke also broke the championship course record on the way to victory. The course record had stood since 2011. Tommy Williams was close behind with a runner-up finish, with Aiden Vieara-McCarthy finishing just behind them in 6th.
The 8th grade girls team raced well over the 2.6 mile course with two top 10 finishes. Alyssa Hill, a 7th grade student racing up a division to help the team, finished 6th. While Deia Steinmetz was close behind in 8th position.
The 7th grade boys raced hard and just missed out on bringing home the team runner-up title. The first four Bobcats to cross the line were all 5th grade runners; Joey Jennings 10th, Noah Harssema 20th, Patrick Rogers 28th, and Oliver Pietzke 36th. Sixth-grade student, Jack O’Donnell, rounded out the team scoring with a 39th place out of 132 runners.
For the 7th grade girls, they had two top 10 runners, with Lily Cooper finishing 4th and fifth-grader Shelby Erikson finishing right behind Lily in 5th place. Elle Evans had a fantastic first XC season and finished 22nd out of 110 runners.
Coach Kris Nugent shared, “I am so proud of this team. They worked hard all season and displayed great team spirit. Every athlete improved throughout the season and helped to contribute to our team success”. Coach Nugent added, “I’m especially proud of my 8th grade runners. They were fantastic leaders this XC season and I’m going to miss them. For many, I’ve been their coach for four years and it’ll be hard to replace their leadership, excellent work ethic, and positive attitudes.”
