Pahrump Valley cross-country teams head to state after regional sweep

Pahrump Valley’s cross-country teams left Boulder City last week with two regional championships. Saturday, they return with a chance to turn that Southern Nevada sweep into a strong finish against the state’s best.

The Trojans will compete in the Class 3A state championships Nov. 7 at Veterans Memorial Park, the same venue where both teams won Southern Region titles Oct. 30. The boys race is scheduled for 12:10 p.m., followed by the girls at 12:45 p.m.

Both teams arrive with proven strengths. The boys used a tightly grouped scoring lineup to survive a four-point regional battle with Moapa Valley. The girls put three runners among the first four finishers and won their team title by 21 points.

Those performances provide a foundation for Saturday, when the statewide field will test whether Pahrump can keep its runners close together while competing for places throughout the lineup.

For the boys, seniors Joaquin Flores and Logan Tilley enter state after finishing third and fourth at regionals. Flores completed the 5-kilometer race in 17 minutes, 35.9 seconds, just four-tenths of a second behind Virgin Valley’s Tyzin Broderick. Tilley followed in 17:41.9.

Moapa Valley’s BJ Robison won in 17:22.9, giving the Trojans a familiar individual champion among the runners advancing from the South.

Pahrump’s regional victory, however, depended on more than its leading pair.

Azel Machuca finished 10th in 18:36.6, Joshua Gent placed 11th in 18:37.4 and freshman Zander Thompson took 12th in 18:47.2. Those consecutive finishes completed a 40-point team score, enough to hold off Moapa Valley’s 44.

Joshua Flores followed in 13th at 18:51.0, and Daniel Thompson finished 18th in 19:22.4. All seven Trojans placed among the first 18 runners.

Pahrump’s first five finished within 1 minute, 11.3 seconds of one another. Maintaining that kind of spacing will be important at state, where additional runners between teammates can quickly increase a team’s score.

Cross country rewards the lowest total. A team adds the finishing-place points of its first five runners, while its sixth and seventh runners can push opponents farther down the scoring order. Runners from teams without five finishers are excluded from team scoring.

The Trojan girls demonstrated that system at regionals, scoring 23 points to Moapa Valley’s 44 and Virgin Valley’s 65.

Senior Sophie Romero finished second overall in 21:25.5. Juniors Adelin Nelsen and Ava Bowers followed in third and fourth at 21:41.0 and 21:49.8, giving Pahrump a leading trio separated by just 24.3 seconds.

With individual winner Alexandra Herchik of Coral Academy competing for a school without a complete scoring team, the three Trojans earned the first three team-scoring positions.

Seniors Alexis Clouser and Rosie Miller supplied the remaining scoring finishes. Clouser placed 12th overall in 24:17.8, and Miller took 13th in 24:32.0. Anjolina Mercado finished 15th in 25:07.4, followed by Kimberly Trejo in 16th at 26:12.8.

Saturday will also provide a championship test for a team that sought competition beyond Southern Nevada during the season. At September’s Desert Twilight meet in Arizona, Pahrump recorded 14 personal bests and three additional season bests.

Flores ran 17:02.3 there, Tilley finished in 17:18.0 and Romero posted 21:09.1. Those marks came on a different course, but the experience gave the Trojans an opportunity to race unfamiliar opponents in a large invitational setting.

Now the setting is familiar, and the stakes are higher. Pahrump returns to Boulder City with both regional trophies secured and one more opportunity to show how its depth measures up.

Contact Bill Evans at wevans@pvtimes.com.