Ocegueda clocks fastest time in Nevada history

By John Dixon, DyeStatNV Editor

The course at Craig Ranch Park in North Las Vegas produced the fastest state meet times in Nevada (NIAA) history. Nine boys went under 16 minutes and eight girls were under 19. The winning boys time of 15:12 by Reed HS’s Anthony Ocegueda was the fastest Nevada state time ever. Reed’s Samantha King-Shaw was No. 2 behind only Reno’s Mel Lawrence in 2004 (17:57).

4A Boys –

Spanish Springs, running with all underclassmen in its top five, captured the championship after finishing second in 2015. A score of 48 easily defeated second place Green Valley (88). Reed’s senior, Anthony Ocegueda, won his first state championship in 15:12. He defeated 2015 state 1,600m champ John Munyan from Douglas (second in 15:36) and 2015 state cross country champ Henry Weisberg from McQueen (fourth-15:41). Spanish Springs placed three in the top six with Daniel Horner (3rd 15:39), Matthew Hakin (fifth 15:45) and Andrew Ribeiro (sixth 15:44).  Northern athletes dominated the top sevenn medals as the first Southern runner was Green Valley’s Omar Rubio (eighth-15:48).

4A Girls –

Reno won its ninth state championship, scoring 40 points to Centennial’s 54. This race was drama filled from start to finish. Over the three-lap course, spectators saw Centennial’s Alexis Gourrier take a commanding lead. Having up to a 400-meter lead with a mile to go, she seemed to have the race in hand. But somewhere in the back portion of the course, she was overtaken and faded to an 18th place finish. Reno’s Samantha King-Shaw (18:09) made her move and cruised to an 180second victory over Wooster’s Jillian Ipsen (18:27) and Spanish Springs’ Alexis Melendrez (18:38). Northern girls placed 6 in the top 10 as the #1 Southern finisher was Palo Verde’s Emma Wahlenmaier (fifth 18:40).

The drama extended to the team race, too. Centennial seemed to have the team championship in hand until Centennial's No. 2 runner, 2015 state champ Karina Haymore finished the race in 10th place without shoes. Haymore started the race with shoes but los one when someone stepped on her heel. Then, she took the second shoe off. But when she did that, she no longer had a timing chip. NIAA meet regulations clearly state that athletes must wear shoes and use shoe chip timing, so her finish was not officially recorded. The meet referee, also determining that according to the National Federation rules stating that, ”When transponder/chips are used, the official order of finish for the runners is that recorded by the transponder/chips.) (Rule 9-3-3), Haymore was disqualified. Protests were not filed and the order of finish stood. If Haymore wore shoes and placed 10th, Centennial would have won by one point over Reno.

3A Boys –

Northern schools placed 1-2 with Spring Creek, placing 4 in the top 12 and winning by 50 points over Elko (38-68). SECTA and Tahoe-Truckee each had 81 points with SECTA taking third with the better sixth place runner.Pahrump Valley’s junior, Bryce Odegard, made his move at the 4k mark and cruised in with a 15 second win over Spring Creek’s William Fallini-Hass (15:56-16:11). Odegard, with his great grandmother in attendance, was just 1 of 2 Southern boys in the top 10. The other was Boulder City’s Tyler Campbell in fifth (16:32).

3A Girls –

Northern domination once again played out in the girls 3A. Tahoe-Truckee (35), Spring Creek (36) and South Tahoe (67) placed 1-2-3 as Tahoe-Truckee won its third state championship in the past four years. Southern teams, led by SECTA, placed 4-8th. Northern girls swept the top 10 places with the first Southern, Boulder City’s Sierra Selinger in 11th.  Tahoe-Truckee senior Brenna Wapstra Scott made it look easy with a 30 second win over Spring Creek sophomore Rylie Lusk (19:07-19:23).

2A Boys –

Coach Warren Mills’ North Tahoe squad captured its 20th state championship and fifth straight with a 26-point win over Lake Mead Christian (46-72). North Tahoe was led by junior JC Schoonmaker’s second place finish (16:27). In all, five in the top 17 did it for North Tahoe. Sierra Lutheran sophomore Jared Machegger was in a battle all the way with Schoonmaker and White Pine’s defending champ Samuel Stewart, but unleashed a great kick over the last 300 meters to win by four seconds in 16:23.

2A Girls –

North Tahoe made it a team sweep with a five-point win over Sierra Lutheran (32-37). This was North Tahoe’s 10th state championship and third straight. One of the highlights of the meet was North Tahoe senior Quinn Lehmkuhl winning her third state championship. Winning as a freshman and sophomore and now as a senior, she joins Reno’s Inga Thompson (’79-’80,’81), Mel Lawrence (’04,’05,’06), and South Tahoe’s Kelsey Smith (’07,’08,’09) as 3-time state champs. Only Green Valley’s Abby Miller has won four titles (’96,’97,’98,’99). Northern girls swept the medal stand taking the top seven places. The Meadows’ Ellen Hirsberg was the first Southern finisher in eighth (21:00).