Fallon, Oasis Academy qualify for state cross country meet

The Fallon and Oasis Academy cross country teams each qualified one runner for this Saturday’s state championship at Rancho San Rafael Park in Reno.

Greenwave sophomore Savanna Regli ran the 5K course, also at Rancho, in 22 minutes, 31 seconds to qualify for the 3A state championship, while Bighorns senior Savannah Robinson ran the course in 24:01 to give Oasis Academy its first-ever appearance in any NIAA state competition. The Bighorns competed in the 1A/2A division.

The top three teams and top seven individual runners from non-qualifying teams in last weekend’s regional meet advanced to the state meet. The state meet starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Fallon results

Regli finished fourth out of the top seven by 2 seconds after overtaking Elko’s Louise Neff in the final 100 meters. Fallon coach David Ernst said Regli was able to shave an average of 30 seconds off her freshman times with a season record of 22:01.8. He also said that because of the recent rail work, “the traditional 5K course held some new challenges, including the additional of a technical single track with elevation changes.”

Sophomore Zoey Brown missed qualifying for state by 12 seconds, finishing in 26th place with a time of 23:25. She knocked 18 seconds off her 2018 time and finished the season with a new personal record of 22:04. Junior Shailynn Winter finished in 45th place with a time of 30:52. She finished the season with a personal record of 28:23.1, a near 2-minute improvement in time since the beginning of the season.

Freshman Cameron Christy led the Greenwave boys, finishing 54th in 23:03 with a season personal record of 21:39.6. Fellow freshman Quentin Dowler and Gerik Wassmuth finished 58th and 59th in 24:02 and 25:14, respectively.

Ernst said Dowler saw significant improvement across the season, dropping his overall time from 25:29 to his season record of 22:17.5. Wassmuth was the only athlete to record a personal best at regionals and was the most improved member of the team, lowering his time from 29:37 at the beginning of the season.

Ernst said junior Mason Adams was not able to compete in regionals, but finished with a season record of 31:01.9.

Oasis Academy results

Although Robinson placed fifth overall, she finished No. 1 outside of the top-qualifying teams.

Senior Sidney Jaques finished her career with a 29:54 performance for 29th. Sophomore Gavin Bracken was the only Oasis runner for the boys and he finished in 27th with a time of 20:20.