SUNSET REGION: Palo Verde’s Gorczyca overcomes cold to win Northwest cross country title

Palo Verde freshman Katie Gorczyca wasn’t feeling her best Saturday at the Northwest League Championship cross country meet at Palo Verde.

It didn’t matter.

Gorczyca displayed the same killer instinct she had all year, winning with a time of 19 minutes, 29 seconds on the 3.1-mile course.

Gorczyca hasn’t lost a race in Nevada all season. Her only defeat came at the Stanford Invitational last month when she placed third.

“Today I had a bad cold,” Gorczyca said.

Gorczyca was followed by teammate Kelsi Koch, who finished in 19:47.

Palo Verde took first place with 25 points thanks to its 1-2 punch. The Panthers didn’t seem to make any adjustments after Arbor View decided to sit its top runner.

“We don’t change our approach because another team sits someone, or because another teams opts not to race their best,” Palo Verde coach Robert Davis said. “We’ll run our own race regardless of who’s out there.”

Arbor View was second with 44 points, and Shadow Ridge, led by third-place finisher Mallory Reese (20:19), was fourth with 54 points.

The first boy to cross the chute for the Northwest League was Shadow Ridge’s Kyle Wilson in 16:31.

“With this group, we don’t want to just make it to state,” Shadow Ridge coach Patrick Fitzgerald said. “As a coach, you can’t have that type of mindset. We race to win. So that’s what we’re gunning for come regionals: to win.”

Arbor View’s Greg Marschik (16:45) finished in second place.

As the afternoon heat climbed, so did the times for the Southwest Boys and small-school race.

Clark junior Basabose Bahati won the Southwest League race in 17:13.

“I’ve had bronchitis most of the offseason and into the first couple of meets,” he said. “And, really it’s just become a matter of getting my legs back after the sickness.”

Durango won the Southwest boys team title, beating second-place Bishop Gorman, 40-66.

“We’re good because we have a lot of middlemen,” Durango coach Jim Holben said. “They sort of remind me of those old Boston Celtics teams who won a lot but never had a superstar to lead them.”

In the Southwest girls race, Spring Valley’s Dannica Puente (21:11) led right from the start. She won by more than 33 seconds over the runner-up, Bishop Gorman’s Taylor Stueve (21:44).

Puente has only one goal as the season winds down: to beat Palo Verde’s Gorczyca at the Sunset Region meet.

“She’s beatable,” Puente said. “And I want to be the one to do it.”

Clark took the Southwest team title, edging Bonanza, 65-67.

“I’m proud of the rest of my team,” said Clark’s Julianna Thornock, who finished the race in 22:36 to place ninth. “Myself, not so much.”