Foothill senior Leedy wins third region title

History was made Friday at the Sunrise Region cross country championship in Boulder City.

Liberty junior Al Galan became the first runner from Liberty to qualify for the state meet, winning the 3.1-mile boys race in 17 minutes, 12 seconds at Veterans Memorial Park.

Foothill senior Leah Leedy became the second female runner in Southern Nevada history to capture three consecutive titles, easily winning with a time of 19:15. She joined Green Valley's Abby Miller, who won four in a row from 1996 to 1999, as the only runners to accomplish the feat since 1978.

"Really?" Leedy said when informed of her accomplishment. "I'm really happy because it's my senior year and I've won it every year I've done it. My goal was to win it again my senior year."

Green Valley's boys team captured its first team title since 2002, finishing with 53 points. Foothill (74) was second, and Tech (97) took third to reach the state meet for the first time.

Coronado cruised to its second consecutive crown on the girls side with all five runners in the top 15 to score 37 points. Leedy's performance helped Foothill (59) take second with Green Valley (97) third.

The top three teams and the top five individual runners from nonqualifying teams advance to the Class 4A state championships, which begin at 10 a.m. Nov. 8 at Veterans Memorial Park.

While Leedy was unaware of her accomplishment, Galan was keenly aware that he was the first from his school to go to state. After crossing the finish line, Galan walked off the course and exclaimed, "History has been made!"

"All the older guys and the younger guys told me we've never made state," Galan said. "I decided somebody's going up there. I knew a legacy would be made."

• SUNSET REGION -- Centennial dominated the Sunset Region championship at Veterans Memorial Park, winning the boys and girls races.

The Bulldogs easily won the Sunset boys race with a score of 47. Palo Verde (74) was second and Shadow Ridge (91) third.

Centennial's girls finished with 43 points, followed by Shadow Ridge (65) and Arbor View (74).

Centennial's Nathan Williams made short work of his competition in the boys race, leading from the start and extending his lead throughout the race.

Williams' time of 16:35 was 25 seconds better than runner-up Zack Smith of Palo Verde.

"(I was) surprised when I looked at the clock," Williams said. "It was the best time I've had all year."

The Sunset girls race was expected to be a close contest between Centennial and Shadow Ridge. That changed when Shadow Ridge's No. 1 runner, Michelle Schenck, who had been nursing a sore knee for three weeks, was forced to drop out of the race early.

Centennial girls coach Bill Miller called his squad's win a team effort.

"All seven ran hard," Miller said. "It's a seven-girl team."

In fact, all seven Centennial girls placed in the top 20, with a time spread of only 48 seconds between the Bulldogs' five scoring runners.

In a mild upset, the individual winner was Elisa Vazquez of Clark, who finished in 20:35, 13 seconds ahead of runner-up Katie Carrell of Arbor View.

Vazquez, a junior, was ecstatic with her win.

"I wasn't feeling good before the race, but I kind of pushed it at the start," Vazquez said. "That was my plan. I wanted to make it to state so bad. I kept up my pace."

• SMALL SCHOOLS -- Boulder City's Matt Lundgren and Faith Lutheran's Keely Bakken led their teams to Class 3A Southern League titles at Laughlin's Mountain View Park.

Lundgren won the 3.1-mile boys race in 16 minutes, 52 seconds as the Eagles finished first with 36 points.

In the girls race, Bakken placed first in 21:01, and the Crusaders won with 18 points.

Laughlin swept the Class 2A races. Cody McGeshick won the boys race in 18:48 to lead the Cougars to the team title. Jessica Gnadt won the girls race in 21:57. Laughlin was the only school to field a complete girls team.