Pahrump Valley boys take third, girls fourth at state cross-country meet

Pahrump Valley’s boys kept their scoring runners close together, and Sophie Romero gave the girls a sixth-place individual finish as both Trojan cross-country teams placed among the top four at the Class 3A state championships Saturday, Nov. 7.

The boys finished third with 85 points, while the girls took fourth with 114 at Veterans Memorial Park in Boulder City. Both squads were the highest-finishing Southern Region teams, following their sweep of the regional championships eight days earlier.

Tahoe Truckee swept the state team titles, winning the boys race with 33 points and the girls race with 20.

For Pahrump’s boys, the strength was in the grouping. Just 27.1 seconds separated the Trojans’ first and fifth finishers over the 5-kilometer course, with their first three runners crossing consecutively.

Senior Joaquin Flores led that group in 14th place at 18 minutes, 13.4 seconds. Senior Logan Tilley followed in 15th at 18:14.7, and junior Joshua Gent finished 16th at 18:16.0. Only 2.6 seconds separated the three.

Freshman Zander Thompson placed 24th in 18:35.4, and junior Azel Machuca completed Pahrump’s scoring five in 28th at 18:40.5.

Junior Joshua Flores was close behind in 30th at 18:42.9, putting six Trojans across the finish line within 29.5 seconds. Junior Daniel Thompson rounded out the lineup in 50th at 19:44.3.

Cross-country team scores come from adding the scoring places of each team’s first five runners, with the lowest total winning. Runners from schools without a complete scoring team are removed from the team-point calculation, so an athlete’s overall finish can differ from the points counted toward the team total. Pahrump’s boys scored 12, 13, 14, 21 and 25 points for their 85.

South Tahoe finished second with 60 points. The Trojans placed 22 points ahead of fourth-place Spring Creek, followed by Moapa Valley with 125, Elko with 126, Virgin Valley with 172 and Boulder City with 184.

Tahoe Truckee senior Connor Bilodeau won the individual championship in 15:50.6, leading a field of 68 finishers.

In the girls race, Romero completed her senior-year state appearance in 21:04.4, placing sixth among 61 finishers. She finished 3.2 seconds ahead of Tahoe Truckee’s Ellery Bradley and was the second Southern Region runner across the line, behind Coral Academy’s Alexandra Herchik in third.

Junior Ava Bowers gave the Trojans a second top-20 finish, placing 19th in 22:27.4.

Junior Adelin Nelsen finished 35th in 24:10.1, followed by senior Rosie Miller in 37th at 24:19.8. Senior Alexis Clouser completed the scoring group in 43rd at 25:08.0.

Senior Anjolina Mercado placed 45th in 25:37.0, and junior Kimberly Trejo finished 53rd in 27:49.7.

Tahoe Truckee put all five scoring runners among the first 10 overall finishers. Freshman Avery Aldrich won the individual title in 18:58.4, with teammate Autumn Burks second in 19:22.7.

Elko finished second in the girls team standings with 68 points, followed by Lowry with 77. Pahrump finished 12 points ahead of fifth-place Spring Creek. Moapa Valley took sixth with 138, and Virgin Valley seventh with 182.

The state lineups included two seniors for Pahrump’s boys and four for the girls. Five boys and three girls who competed Saturday are listed as underclassmen, giving the Trojans a group with state-meet experience eligible to return next season.

Contact reporter Bill Evans at wevans@pvtimes.com.