Sunrise Region girls cross country meet is wide-open affair

When the Class 4A Sunset and Sunrise Region cross country races take to the 3.1-mile course at Veterans Memorial Park in Boulder City today, there aren't likely to be many upsets or surprises.

But one of the races has no clear consensus on a winner.

The Sunrise Region girls race is wide open, with three teams in the hunt for the title.

Green Valley was thought to have the edge over Coronado and Foothill until the recent Southern League championships, when Coronado upset Green Valley, 32-40. Foothill finished third with 59 points.

Now the three Henderson rivals meet again for the Sunrise championship. All three are clear favorites to finish 1-2-3 and qualify for state, so this is more for bragging rights.

Who wins the individual and team titles might come down to the matchup between Green Valley's Alyssa Rapovy and Coronado's Erin Smith, the Nos. 1 and 2 runners in the Sunrise Region.

Rapovy and Smith have run head-to-head three times this year, with the Gators senior winning twice, including at the recent Southeast League meet, where they finished 20 seconds apart.

"Alyssa Rapovy's season has gone the way she runs, better and better with the best at the end," Green Valley coach Blaine Thompson said. "She has improved steadily throughout the season, and it should be a classic matchup both individually (with Smith) and teamwise (with Coronado)."

The Sunrise boys race appears to be more predictable.

Del Sol's Colin Smith is the individual favorite, and Foothill is the odds-on choice to win the team championship.

In the Sunset Region, Centennial's Nick Hartle and Palo Verde's Katie Gorczyca are heavy favorites to win the individual titles.

Centennial's boys team is heavily favored to qualify for state, along with Shadow Ridge and Arbor View. Palo Verde and Arbor View are co-favorites in the Sunset girls race.

The Sunrise boys race is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., with the Sunset boys to follow at 9:45, the Sunrise girls at 10:30 and the Sunset girls at 11:15.

The top three teams in each race and the top five individuals not on qualifying teams advance to the state meet Nov. 6 at Veterans Memorial Park.