Austin Rogers and Kate Vanderstelt Join Karina Haymore and Colin Schaefer in Legends Hall of Fame, Class of 2015

Two automatic qualifiers and two elected candidates comprise the Class of 2015 Southern Nevada Cross Country Legends Hall of Fame.  Karina Haymore qualified by becoming the girls 2015 D-1 State Champion. Colin Schaefer earned his way in by becoming a qualifier for the 2015 Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) finals this past November. Although Colin no longer resides in Nevada, his two years as a varsity runner for Coronado before moving to Virginia, makes him eligible. The other two inductees 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 (%)

Austin Rogers            100

Kate Vanderstelt       84.6.

Here is a brief look at all four of the newest Legends.

Austin Rogers. Austin’s unanimous selection was no surprise and well deserved. The Green Valley senior was the top D-1 runner in southern Nevada in his senior year, and the Sunrise Region D-1 winner for the past two years. He was 4^th at state in 2014 and runner-up in 2015.  Austin ran varsity for the Gators for four years and ran at state all four years. He and Chase Wood (Faith Lutheran), inducted as a state champion last year, clearly were the two dominant runners in southern Nevada this past season. Both runners had a 5K PR of 15:45, achieved on the same day but in different races at the 2015 Southern Division Championships.

Kate Vanderstelt. Kate was four-year runner at Palo Verde and a four-time state qualifier (she and Rogers were the only two among the candidates). Although often in the shadow of teammates such as Legend Marisa Suan and, this year, Emma Wahlenmaier (a junior this fall), Kate was top-10 in the Sunset Regional three times and improved steadily in her four years: a 5K PR (19:46) in 2015 and All-State status (14^th ) as a senior.

Karina Haymore.. Karina earned her Legend status by becoming a state champion in November of 2015, but it was not without a roller-coaster ride getting there. As a sophomore at Foothill (after moving from Arizona after her freshman year), Karina won the Sunrise Regional, then finished 36^th at State. When her family moved from Henderson to Las Vegas in 2015, Karina ran for Centennial this year.  She won the Southern Division NW race but finished 16^th in the Sunset Regional (as Centennial’s seventh runner). But then she pulled off the upset of all upsets at State by going from a 36^th place in 2014 to 1^st place in 2015, leading the Bulldogs to their second straight state title.  Karina followed that up by running a 5K PR (19:17) in the Championship race at NXN Southwest Regional. She is a most worthy Legend.  

Colin Schaefer. Based just on Colin’s two years at Coronado a strong case can be made for his status as a Legend. As a freshman he was second in the 9^th grade race at the Frosh-Soph Championships, finished 8^th at the Sunrise Regional, and was 36^th at State. In Colin’s sophomore year as a Cougar, he won the 10^th grade race at Frosh-Soph, was second at the Sunrise Regional (Rogers was third), and fifth at State (behind McQueen’s Kai Benedict and three Legends: Eddie Esquivel, Dajour Braxton, and George Espino).  When Colin moved to Virginia—after his father was transferred from Nellis AFB—he really blossomed. He was 7^th at state (Virginia 6A, the top class) as junior and 4^th as a senior, as he led his team to the 6A state championship. Colin then qualified for NXN finals in Oregon with a fourth-place finish in the NXN Southeast Regional. He had a 5K PR of 15:10, achieved his senior year.

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

(Phil Lawton)