Bryce Odegard came in first place (16 minutes, 9.7 seconds) out of 64 runners on Friday to help his team with a second-place finish at the 3A Southern Region meet. This means the Trojans boys will be going to state as a team.
“His time was a personal best, where he beat his old personal record by 15 seconds,” Trojans coach Matt Kolodzieczyk said.
The Trojans took second place out of 10 teams with 50 points. Tech won first (42), Cheyenne was third (97), Moapa Valley fourth (115). These top four teams will go to state.
“Tech ran a good race,” Kolodzieczyk said. “They have been doing better since the Lake Mead Invitational. We have been nursing some injuries with Jacob Cipollini’s ankle and Cole Goodman’s calf.”
The team had five members finish in the top 20, Layron Sonerholm sixth place (17:15.7), Cole Goodman 12th place (17:49.7), Grant Odegard 13th place (17:50.1) and Michael Sonerholm in 18th place (18:08.9).
“Cole Goodman also ran a great race despite having calf problems,” the coach said. “This was his first race since Huntington Beach, which was early October.”
Kolodzieczyk said despite a second-place finish, he feels his boys have a good shot at first place at the state meet, which will be on Saturday at Craig Ranch Park in Las Vegas.
“The Northern teams do run in more rugged terrain, but since this will be our second time running this course at Craig Ranch, we should still have a slight edge.”
He said if the Northern teams spread things out a bit and Layron Sonerholm and Goodman can keep up with the Tech runners, then his team could catch Tech.”
The girls missed going to state as team by one place. They took fifth place (120 points) out of nine teams. First went to Tech (26), Boulder City second place (62), Desert Pines third (74) and Cheyenne fourth (98). These top four girls teams will go to state.
Two Pahrump girls were in the top 20, Diamond Sonerholm took 12th place (21:40.6), and Grace Plumb took 17th place (22:13.1). These two girls qualified to run at state as individuals.
“Alicia Quiroz, a senior, missed it by one place and that was tough to see,” the coach said.
He also said his girls had to run a perfect race to qualify for state as a team.
Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com