Seven Legends Elected to Hall of Fame

What a terrific class of seniors! Joining two other girls who are already in the Southern Nevada Cross Country Legends HOF, Katie Gorczyca (state champion 2010 and ’12) and Sydney Badger (Footlocker All-West 2011 and ‘12 and state champion 2013), are seven seniors who were elected in by the 2013 Legends Committee. Each received at least 75% of the votes; no other candidate received the necessary 50% to remain on the ballot next year.

Elected                         Percent of Votes (%)

Eddie Esquivel            100

Jackson Carter            85

George Espino            80

Martin Ponce               75

Sara Dort                    100

Marissa Suan             100

Zanae Jones                95

In a normal year, one or two boys and one or two girls will be become Legends, but this was not a normal year. Never since cross country became an NIAA sport in Nevada—boys 1972, girls 1978—have so many student athletes from a single graduating class become cross country Legends. Here is a brief look at each of the seven, boys first.

Eddie Esquivel was a unanimous selection. A two-time state runner-up—the first that has ever happened, to the best of my knowledge—Eddie had a three-year cross country career at Eldorado. He started modestly, finishing seventh in the Sophomore Frosh-Soph race in 2011 and finished 14^th in the Sunrise Regional, not good enough to qualify for state as an individual. The breakthrough came in his junior year. Eddie won the Sunrise Regional and was runner-up at state. He duplicated the effort as a senior. And he did it on his own. The Sundevils haven’t had a team qualify for state since Coach Mike O’Dea left for greener pastures—first Durango and later Palo Verde—in the early 90’s.

Jackson Carter and George Espino had almost mirror resumes’ for selection. Both ran four years for Centennial, the first two years in the shadow of Nick Hartle. As freshmen and sophomores Carter and Espino went 2-3 at Frosh-Soph, swapping places, George second in 2010 and Jackson second in 2011. Both runners qualified for state four times and both had similar success at the Sunset Regional. Carter: 13^th as a freshman, 4^th as a sophomore,1^st his junior year, and 2^nd his senior year. Espino was 28^th as a freshman, 2nd as a sophomore, 5^th his junior year, and 3^rd his senior year. Both were top-10 at state three times. Carter: 5^th, 4^th, and 8^th as a sophomore, junior, and senior. Espino: 3^rd, 10^th, and 4^th similarly. And both were key players in Centennial’s back-to-back state championships in 2012 and 2012.

Martin Ponce also had a solid four-year career. His SECTA coach, Tony Kyriacu, names him as the best runner he has ever coached, and, indeed, Ponce is the first runner from SECTA to become a Legend. Martin won Frosh-Soph as both a 9^th and 10^th grader. He was 6^th at the Sunrise Regional as a freshman, 16^th as a sophomore, and then twice a Southern Regional winner when SECTA was realigned to 1A in 2012.  He qualified for state all four years but had his greatest success when he was the D-1A runner-up his junior year. His senior year Ponce faded to 7^th at state after leading for most of the race, but one “bad” race didn’t take away from his earlier achievements.

Sara Dort was a unanimous choice for status as a Legend. She was a three-time Sunrise Region champion—the first to do that since Abby Miller won four from ’96-‘99—and twice finished third at state, her junior and senior year. Sara culminated her cross country career by finishing 34^th at the Footlocker West Regional this past December, no small accomplishment.

Marissa Suan was also a unanimous choice by the 2013 Legends Committee. The Palo Verde senior, like Sara Dort, was a four-time state qualifier. Marissa never finished lower than 6^th in the Sunset Regional (her freshman year), finishing 2^nd in 2011 and 3^rd in both 2012 and ’13. She was All State four times: 15^th in 2010, 3^rd in 2011, 2^nd in 2012, and 8^th in 2013.

Zahae Jones also had a terrific four-year career, improving every year. Like Dort and Suan she also qualified for state four times. Zanae was All Region three times: 7^th, 4^th, and 2^nd, beaten only by Sydney Badger her senior year. At state she was 7^th as a junior and 4^th as a senior. Also like Dort and Suan, she was on a state championship team: Palo Verde (Suan), 2010; Coronado (Dort), 2012; Arbor View (Jones), 2013.

All nine will be honored at the Las Vegas Track Cub Banquet in June and/or the Legends Run in August.

(Phil Lawton)