Pahrump cross-country sweeps home meet, eyes postseason

Pahrump Valley’s runners returned from Arizona with a collection of personal bests, then swept both team titles at home four days later. For coach Erik Odegard, the most encouraging signs went beyond the stopwatch.

Runners were passing opponents on their way to the finish. Teammates were challenging one another for scoring positions. Newcomers were beginning to understand how to race.

With October approaching, Odegard sees both Trojan cross-country teams developing into postseason contenders.

“We will also be working on just competing in races, not just looking at times,” Odegard said. “With cross country, every course is so different so times are not always what you look at.”

Pahrump recorded 14 personal bests and three additional season bests at the Desert Twilight Cross Country Festival on Friday, Sept. 25. On Tuesday, Sept. 29, the Trojans won both races at Discovery Park with matching team scores of 17 points.

In cross country, the lowest team score wins. Each team adds the finishing-place points of its first five runners, with first place worth one point, second worth two and so on. Runners from schools with fewer than five finishers are excluded from team scoring, so scoring places can differ from the overall finish order. A perfect score is 15, making the Sept. 29 total just two points above the theoretical minimum.

Seniors Joaquin Flores and Sophie Romero led the home sweep, winning their respective 5-kilometer races as Pahrump claimed the first three places in both fields.

Flores finished in 17 minutes, 33 seconds, followed by Logan Tilley in 17:59.4 and Joshua Gent in 18:24.1. Freshman Zander Thompson placed fifth in 18:54.5, just two-tenths of a second ahead of Joshua Flores. Daniel Thompson finished seventh and Azael Machuca ninth.

The boys scored 17 points to Sierra Vista’s 60, Boulder City’s 81 and Green Valley Christian’s 83.

Romero won the girls race in 21:35.0, with Adelin Nelsen second in 22:17.8 and Ava Bowers third in 22:20.3. Alexis Clouser placed sixth and Anjolina Mercado seventh to complete the scoring lineup. Sierra Vista, the only other girls team with enough finishers to score, finished with 42 points.

Odegard said the Trojans adjusted their workload because the runners wanted to race at home rather than use the midweek meet as a workout. Several responded well, while others still had lingering leg fatigue from Arizona.

Desert Twilight provided the kind of unfamiliar competition Odegard wants his runners to experience.

“They don’t know the kids they are running against here so they just race,” he said.

Flores earned a medal with a 10th-place finish in the Small Schools Varsity 2 boys’ race, running a personal-best 17:02.3. Tilley placed 16th in a personal-best 17:18.0, narrowly missing a medal, according to Odegard. Gent finished 29th in a season-best 17:40.4.

All seven Pahrump boys in that race recorded a personal or season best. Odegard said the competition for the fourth through seventh positions has become particularly valuable: The runners contributing to the team score and those pushing opponents farther down the scoring order keep changing.

The open-race boys are pressing that group, too, as they compete for spots in the regional lineup.

Strong finishes have been a particular focus. Odegard singled out newcomers Zander Thompson and Machuca for passing several opponents on their way to the finish at Desert Twilight.

Romero also placed 10th in her Small Schools Varsity 2 race, running a personal-best 21:09.1. Nelsen finished 18th in 21:51.5 and Bowers 22nd in 21:59.4, both personal bests.

Odegard said Romero is beginning to take control when the team needs her to, while Nelsen is refining her second and third miles. Bowers, new to cross country this season, is learning how to manage the races. He also highlighted Clouser’s season-best 24:27.6 as a significant step forward.

The Trojans will face another test at the Central Park Invitational in Huntington Beach, where Odegard expects a technical course and strong California competition.

“The boys and girls look to repeat as the 3A Regional Champions again,” he said. “We know we have some work to do and we will spend October fine-tuning specific parts of races to get our times down some more.”