It’s November 2nd, 2024, and ten girls, ten boys, and three coaches stand together giving each other final words of encouragement before the 5A Cross Country State Championship meet. They were ready to run the race of their lives.
Months of hard work and dedication led them to this moment. In the summer, each athlete woke up at 6 in the morning, 6 days a week, in order to come to practice to prepare for the season. They ran speed work, hills, and LOTS of miles.
During the school year, they would run in 110 degree weather every day, sometimes having double workouts, which meant they had to come back to the school at night time and run another practice.
And not only would they practice at night, but the team could be caught doing their speed work around the track every Wednesday morning, at 5:30 before school.
In between all that running, members of the team would do weight training and post run in order to keep their bodies strong and healthy.
So needless to say, being successful in cross country takes extreme grit, dedication, and hard work. All of which the team has well represented this season. But, all this work was preparing them for something greater. They had their hearts set on winning state as a team.
(Aspen Stevens, Oliver Okuda) (Austin Okuda)
After a successful season, prospects for the state title were looking good, but the team knew their biggest competition would be the teams coming down from Reno and Carson City.
Nevertheless, the day of state came and Shadow’s team drove to Boulder City to run for the championship.
The girls were up first and before starting their race, gathered around for the team tradition of saying a prayer together at the start line.
After this moment to prepare, they started their race out fast, establishing their position. Throughout the race, and as it neared an end, it looked like Shadow had at least two girls very close to the front of the pack and looking in good shape to earn a top seven spot in the race overall.
But then, Ryen Huges, sophomore, and the 2nd runner for Shadow, began to fall back.
Hughes had been determined to have a good race and help her team. She gave it her all throughout the race but was running on empty by the end. Hughes ran up the final hill on spaghetti legs, collapsed right before the finish line, and in an inspiring display of true grit, pulled herself across the finish line, coming in 10th.
Hughes remarked, “At 180 meters before the finish line, my legs got all wobbly and I collapsed. Then I had to crawl across the finish. I just knew that I had to score points for my team to help us win. And even after I finished and was passed out on the floor, I kept asking for the final scores.”
But even before Hughes finished, her teammates Elynn (Spanky) Okuda, and Ava Stosich crossed the line.
Okuda, (junior) and the Shadow girls 1st runner, came in 5th overall, showcasing all the hard work she had put in during the season. She came away from the state meet with a new medal to go with her Southern Nevada 5A individual champion title she had earned the week before.
It was Ava Stosich’s (senior and 3rd runner) first season of running cross country, and she had just pulled off the impressive feat of placing 8th overall. Making up lots of spots and points during the last mile for Hughes.
Soon after Stosich and Hughes crossed, Savannah Abney, (freshman and 4th runner) came sprinting up the last hill towards the finish line.
She came in 17th, giving it her all and proving herself to be quite an accomplished runner, especially for a first year.
This left the final score up in the air. The girls were counting on their 5th runner to come in strong and earn those last points for the team.
Ashley Cottino, senior and 5th runner for the girls team, was prepared to fight hard at the state meet. She had been working towards a state ring her entire high school career and was ready to finally earn one. She knew she was the team’s 5th runner, and that the final score depended on her.
“I ran my race thinking about how much I wanted to win. Halfway through, I realized how close I was to being done with my last race, and I thought about [how hard I had pushed] every day during summer and during school.”
So, she decided to give it her all.
Cottino neared the finish line, and when she crossed, legs pumping and lungs burning, the girls gathered around to congratulate each other and await their final results.
The girls team alternates, Eily Griggs (sophomore), Mayci Barney (freshman), and Anna Scow (freshman), also joined the girls at the finish after cheering the team on during the race.
And as all this was happening, the teams 6th and 7th runners, Mandi Abney and Chesnie Hoge, both sophomores, crossed the line as well.
As the girls clustered together, anxiously awaiting the results, the teams coaches, Mark Jimenez, Andrew Flynn, and Kevin Ferre, finally announced that the girls had WON the meet! Needless to say, there were lots of happy screams and hugs.
Cottino stated, “I remember crossing the line and asking at least 5 times if we had won before anyone answered me. It felt so unreal and part of me felt like the score was wrong. I had waited so long for that moment [to find out we won state] and I just felt so proud [of all of us].”
But, there was little time to celebrate as the boys started their race right after the girls. Just as soon as the girls found out they had won, they and their coaches ran off to cheer for the rest of their teammates.
The boys team had a very strong top three this year who helped phenomenally with the team scoring. Seniors, Carson Wetzel, Justin Rawe, and Landon Larsen. All of which hold the three fastest times ever run in the history of Shadow Ridge High School.
At the end of the race, Wetzel came in 2nd overall, Rawe came in 3rd, and Larsen came in 14th. They had all earned their spots through their hard work and dedication. And needless to say, those four years of running to prepare for when they would have the chance to win the state title, were paying off.
Next, the team’s forth runner, Dylan Bailey (junior) came out of nowhere, coming in only 13 seconds after Larsen.
Cannon Bishop (sophomore), the boys team 5th runner, had been trailing Bailey for most of the race and had been looking strong. But near the end, he seemed to be really struggling to keep himself moving. Eventually, exhaustion took over and Bishop collapsed on the course.
“It seemed like a normal race and I felt pretty good, but 200 meters away from the finish line, I collapsed. I was just so close and felt like I just had to finish. I’ve learned through racing that even when you’re in so much pain, you have to find the strength to keep going and endure to the end,” Bishop remarked.
Over the next 400 meters, Bishop was able to get himself up and running, but collapsed 3 more times.
Cannon’s brother Dax Bishop, senior, followed closely behind Cannon. But he had to keep running past his brother so he wouldn’t be disqualified for helping Cannon. After finishing, he continued to cheer his brother on until he finished as well.
But even before Dax passed by, Connor Heaton, junior at Shadow Ridge, ran past and saw his teammate on the ground.
In cross country, seven athletes run in a race, but only the top five people score points for the team. The place the runner comes in determines the amount of points they earn. And the team with the lowest number of points wins the meet.
And now that Cannon was collapsing and people were passing him, it was up to Heaton, the team’s sixth runner, to make up Bishop’s lost points.
Heaton said, “[When I saw Cannon on the ground] I just knew that at that point, it was now or never, and the pressure was on.”
With that going through his head, Heaton came sprinting up the last hill and charged over the finish line to meet his waiting and cheering teammates.
The boys final score looked like it would be close, but in the end they had pulled through! Shadow Ridge had won the Boys 5A State Championship!
All teammates, including the boys team alternates, Rohan Alvarez (junior), Lincoln Hooge (junior), and Logan Larsen (sophomore), parents, and coaches celebrated together.
Heaton said, “Once I crossed the finish line, I was so worried waiting, but when I finally found out we had won and [I had helped us score the points we needed] I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy!”
Bailey (4th runner) remarked, “I was too busy dying on the ground after the race to celebrate, but I was super excited when I found out we had won. All our hard work had paid off!”
This hard earned double championship was not only the top ten girl and boy athletes victory, but the rest of the team’s as well. Everyone else had put in the work, given it their all, and run their hearts out. In fact, even once their season was over, many of the team members were at Boulder City during the state meet to help support varsity.
And last but not least, the three coaches of Shadow Ridge High School’s Cross Country Team, Andrew Flynn, Mark Jimenez, and Kevin Ferre, also shared in this triumph.
They have spent countless hours coaching, running with, preparing, and encouraging each athlete to help prepare them for the season and for the rest of their lives.
They have put so much of themselves into the team and for that, the athletes are all grateful! The coaches get nothing but thanks from their runners.
The cross country team has got grit and determination to come back next year just as strong and resolved as they have been.
