Eye on the prize

BC boys defending state title, girls aim for season success

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The Boulder City High School track teams are looking forward to an exciting 2006 season, with the boys defending their 2005 state championship title. The girls, meanwhile, have several talented athletes returning this season, and have a record number of participants on the roster.

The boys team has a new head coach in Jeff Knutson. He has been an assistant track coach at Boulder City for the last five years and is the head football coach for the Eagles. He was the head boys track coach at White Pine before moving to Boulder City.

Cherise Roe is the new head girls track coach, and has been an assistant coach for eight years. She is the head volleyball coach at the high school, and was head track coach at Laughlin for four years before coming to BCHS.

The Eagles' track team hosted the Boulder City Invitational Track Meet on April 7, and the boys finished in first place with 171 points, while the girls earned second place with 144 points.

"The boys should be able to compete for the title again this year," Knutson said. "Because we're the defending state champs, everybody's shooting for us. We barely won state last year, and Pahrump is after us, so it should be a good battle this season."

The Pahrump Valley Trojans are loaded with talent this year, and want to unseat the Boulder City boys team as the state champions.

The Faith Lutheran Crusaders have added some talented athletes to their roster and may dominate several events this season.

The Moapa Valley Pirates and the Virgin Valley Bulldogs have a few good athletes, but their rosters are small, and that may make filling all the events at track meets difficult.

Senior Christian Calvo is the defending state champion in the high hurdles, and will likely rack up points this season. He will compete in the high hurdles, intermediate hurdles, high jump and the 4x100 relay race this year.

Senior Shaka Richardson also may earn plenty of points for Boulder City, as he is the defending state champion in the 100-meter race. His events are the 100 -and 200-meter races, the 4x100 relay race and the long jump.

Senior Matt Baird should do well in the hurdles, the long jump and the relay races. Senior Matt Denman should dominate the throwing events. He has already thrown the discus 139 feet.

"We've got 50 kids out," Knutson said, "and we're excited about the season. We're still moving people around, trying to find everybody their best position. Hopefully, by the end of the year we've got it all figured out, and make another run at the state title."

Some of the other Eagles expected to generate important team points this season are junior Adam Beach, senior Jeff Martin and freshmen Danny Raddant and Jake Phillips.

"We should do well this season," Roe said. "We have a strong returning athlete in Katie Palmer, who has the potential of becoming a four-event state champion. We also have some new talent, and need to wait and see how that develops. It will be interesting to see how we fare against our zone competition."

The Faith Lutheran Crusaders and the Pahrump Valley Trojans should be the teams to beat for the girls in the Southern Class 3A Division this year.

The Trojans are the defending division and state champions, and have a number of their athletes returning, including superstar Dominique Maloy, who usually wins all of her running events.

The Crusaders have improved this season, and still have Genesis Lightbourne, who dominates her jumping events for Faith Lutheran.

The Moapa Valley Pirates and the Virgin Valley Bulldogs have several talented athletes, but their team numbers are down, and it may be difficult for them to field competitors in every event.

"Our numbers are way up this season," Roe said. "I'm very happy with that, and looking forward to see where everyone fits the best."

Besides Palmer, the Lady Eagles have several strong athletes on the team this year.

Junior Sam Mackley will compete in the triple and the long jump, and is the lead-off runner in the 4x100 and 4x200 relay races.

Junior Alison Correales returns after a year off, and she soars through the air in the long jump, and is the trail runner in the 4x100 and 4x200 relay races.

Junior Chelsea Stemmer has already captured gold twice in the high jump for the Lady Eagles this season, and also competes in the triple jump.

Sophomore Kristi DeVita has been winning in the pole vault, while freshman Elise Smith is a strong sprinter for the Lady Eagles who has earned gold in the 200-meter race, and is an important part of the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams. Sophomore Ashley Rogers is throwing well in the discus.

Cross country stars JoJo Stanton, a sophomore, and Sara Richner, a freshman, are expected to dominate the long distance 1600- and 3200-meter races for Boulder City.

The four events that Palmer hopes to become the 2006 state champion in are the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, the mile and the 800-meter race.

The assistant coaches for the track teams are Lisa Corbit, Steve Roe, Jim Baeb and Joe Ringen.

The track teams will be at home for a divisional meet at 4 p.m. today, and will host the annual Ron Reisler Invitational at 3 p.m. on April 28.

"I'm looking forward to a great season," Roe said. "We have a good group of motivated girls who are excited, and have a wonderful team chemistry."

Jim Konst is a local freelance writer. Send story ideas and comments to him at jkonst54@aol.com.