This last weekend at Ponderosa Golf Course in Truckee, 30 schools from the surrounding regions, including Tahoe, Reno, Sacramento, Roseville, gathered on the green to embark on a quick 3-mile race. The Truckee Cross Country Invitational started at 9 a.m. on the morning of Saturday Sept. 28.
The crisp fall air had spectators searching for the slices of sunlight that shone through the trees to view the race and soak up the sun. As the teams stretched, jogged, fueled up and got ready for races, the excitement and tensions grew palpable.
The racers had to move across grass, dirt and pavement. JV girls set off from the start line first, but no JV girls from THS competed. The first place runner overall was from Lowry High School. For the JV boys Charles Williams came in first for Truckee and got 10th place overall, with a 19:28 time.
The varsity teams ran strong and fast as the home team. Varsity girl Sidney McIntosh came in 7th place overall with a time of 20:28, which is only about three minutes after the first place winner.
Finally, varsity boy Kiefer Wilcox, who is in his junior year, came in first place overall. His time was 15:57, and he set a course record. Jack Hadley, a freshman on JV said, “He was running so fast he was beating the pacer.” The pacer for each race was the head coach of Truckee’s team, Coach Robby McClendon.
Teams that were invited to the meet included: Bear River, Carson, Churchill Cross Country, Coral Academy, Dayton, Douglas, Fernley, Galena, Incline, laguna Creek, Lowry, McQueen, North Tahoe, North Valleys, Oakmont, Oasis Academy, Pleasant Grove, Plumas Charter, Reed, Reno, Roseville, Sierra Lutheran, South Tahoe, Spanish Springs, Tea, Virginia City, Whittell and Wooster high schools.
As the runners competed for the top places, Truckee held high ranks for the league. This race did not go on the teams official record because it is only an invitational and not in the league, it was still good practice for the runners to go out and perform.
The fall sports season is coming to a quick close. The finals are approaching as well, for the cross country runners, the region championships are projected to be on Friday, Oct. 25 and the State Championships for 3A are set to be on Saturday Nov. 2. Good luck Wolverines!
