Boulder City captures boys, girls titles

RENO -- Boulder City girls track coach Steve Roe made his team believe that it was nothing special, that the Eagles' win in a Class 3A regional championship was not an indicator of future success.

Roe even seemed to have convinced himself that a team title at the state track championships at Damonte Ranch High School was not in the cards.

But Roe was wrong, and Boulder City won the boys and girls 3A state titles Saturday.

"I sandbagged the girls a little bit, telling them we really needed some good performances to hang in there," Roe said. "I really was not expecting to win this -- I thought if we had a really good meet, we'd maybe have a chance."

With only one individual title -- Caitlyn Forrester's high jump of 5 feet -- and a 1,600-meter relay title, the Eagles girls' victory wasn't guaranteed. But 10 more top-three finishes gave them the win with 991/2 points, ahead of Spring Creek (93), Pahrump Valley (91) and Dayton (71).

"This was a fairly unusual year for the 3A," Roe said. "Normally, some team really scores a bunch of points. We got a little help and had a good meet, and we hung on to win it."

On the 3A boys side, Matt Lundgren's win in the 3,200-meter run gave Boulder City breathing room, as the team finished with 98 points to runner-up Fernley's 87. Faith Lutheran followed with 79 points, Dayton came in fourth with 70, and Pahrump Valley had 69, good for fifth place.

"There were really four teams coming in here who were 11 points apart," Eagles boys track coach Joe Ringen said. "But we have some kids who were on the brink of doing a little bit more than we asked. We didn't have to win a lot of events -- it was a lot of guys who just did their jobs."

Independence won the boys 2A meet with 132 points, followed by White Pine with 1121/2, Silver Stage with 81 and North Tahoe with 80. The Patriots scored 15 top-three finishes, with four individual championships, including victories by Cameron Thomas in the 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash.

Whittell cruised to the girls 2A title with 147 points, 49 better than No. 2 North Tahoe (98). Pershing County was third with 97 points, with White Pine (90) and The Meadows (83) next. Whittell won five individual championships and six silver medals.

Calvary Chapel (1141/2 points) and Spring Mountain (1071/2) far outdistanced the competition in the 1A boys finals. Sierra Lutheran was third with 451/2 points, Carlin was fourth with 39 and Sage Ridge fifth with 37.

In the girls 1A championship, Laughlin secured the title with 126 points, followed by Smith Valley (59), Calvary Chapel (51), Austin (51) and Wells (50).