Centennial boys take cross country title

By Sean Ammerman (contact)

Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008 | 5:52 p.m.

Centennial ended a decade of Northern Nevada dominance in boys’ cross country Saturday by winning the Class 4A state championship at Veterans Memorial Park in Boulder City.

Junior Nathan Williams led the charge for Centennial, passing two opponents in the final half mile of the 3.1-mile course to take third place at 16 minutes, 38 seconds.

Centennial edged out state runners-up Carson High 56-57 in the team points standings.

The last school from the southern region to win a state title was Basic in 1998.

“I’m proud for the south but I’m more proud of our kids,” Centennial coach Mike McGuire said. “We had a mountain to climb to compete with Reno and Carson, but we set our minds to it. We knew we had a chance, but we knew it was an outside chance.”

The Northern Region continued its dominance in the girls’ Class 4A championship, as Galena took first with 51 team points.

Centennial led all Sunset Region girls’ teams by taking fourth out of eight teams with 95 points.

Both Centennial’s boys and girls came into the state meet fresh off winning their respected region titles the week before.

Brittany Williams, sister of Nathan Williams and Centennial’s top girls finisher at sixth place, said the encouragement from both teams was crucial for a strong meet.

“When the guys got the state championship I was really excited about that and I thought we could do it too,” said Williams, who finished in 20:34.

The boys’ team victory marked the first state title for Centennial since it opened in 1998.

With just one point separating first and second place in the boys’ race, the pivotal runner turned out to be Centennial freshman Billy Gravely.

Gravely improved his time by 30 seconds from the regional race and placed 21st at 17:41, one spot ahead of Carson’s Brent Moyle in the state race.

“I saw the blue (Carson) jersey ahead of me and I thought I had to pass him because this could be for state,” Gravely said. “I did everything I could to catch him.”

Centennial rival Palo Verde took fourth out of eight teams in the boys’ race with 88 points.

Zach Smith and Sebastian Karbowniczek led Palo Verde by coming in together at 17:18 for 11th and 12th place, respectively.

“On this course you have to start out fast because after the first mile it goes uphill,” Smith said. “I went out a little slower than I should have and that hurt me for the rest of the race.”

The individual winner in the boys’ race was Gelena’s Bryan Tibaduiza, who finished in 16:23.

South Tahoe’s Kelsey Smith won the girls’ Class 4A race by finishing in 19:00.

The Class 3A individual winners were Faith Lutheran’s Keely Bakken, who finished the girls’ race in 20:58, and Boulder City’s Matt Lundgren, who finished the boys’ race in 17:16.

The Palo Verde girls were honored as the State Team Academic Champions after the races for maintaining a team average 3.9 GPA.