The Pahrump Valley High School cross country team finished its regular season with a pair of individual race winners, 12 medalists and a full slate of season-best or personal-best performances at the Faith Lutheran Harvest Fest Invitational on Saturday evening, Oct. 24.
Held at Faith Lutheran, the meet offered 3,200-meter and 5,000-meter races, with medals awarded to the top seven overall finishers in each 3,200-meter race and the top 30 in each 5,000-meter race. The Trojans made a particularly strong showing in the shorter distance, claiming six of the seven medal positions in both the boys’ and girls’ races.
Joaquin Flores led the boys’ 3,200-meter field with a winning time of 10:13. Logan Tilley followed in second at 12:36.4, while Josh Gent and Zander Thompson finished just two-tenths of a second apart. Gent took third in 12:50.9, with Zander Thompson fourth in 12:51.1.
Daniel Thompson placed fifth in 13:20.9, giving Pahrump the first five finishers in the race. Josh Flores added a seventh-place finish in 14:56.9 to secure the Trojans’ sixth boys’ medal. All six runners finished with either a season best or a personal best, closing their final regular-season race with an improvement on their previous marks.
The girls’ 3,200-meter race brought another strong collection of finishes for Pahrump, led by Sophie Romero’s first-place time of 12:49.2. Ava Bowers followed in second at 13:01.1, Addi Nelsen placed third in 13:19.2 and Rosie Miller finished fourth in 13:47.3, putting four Trojans at the front of the results.
Alexis Clouser crossed the line sixth in 13:54.5, and Ella Odegard claimed the final medal position with a seventh-place finish in 14:44.5. Kimberly Trejo followed in eighth at 14:55.7, placing seven Pahrump runners among the top eight finishers. Tianna Beaver completed the race in 22:12.9.
Every Trojan in the girls’ race recorded a personal best, giving all eight runners an individual milestone to take away from the evening alongside the team’s six medals.
Pahrump’s two entries in the boys’ 5,000-meter race also finished with personal bests. Juan Carlos Rodriguez-Ortiz placed 36th overall in 19:48.4, breaking the 20-minute mark. Isaiah Veloz completed the course in 22:51.1, adding another personal best to the Trojans’ results.
Across both distances, every Trojan who competed left Faith Lutheran with a season best or personal best. From the first-place finishes by Joaquin Flores and Romero to the improvements throughout the lineup, the evening gave Pahrump a rewarding finish to the regular season and a measure of the progress its runners have made through the fall.
The Trojans will next compete in the Regional Championship on Friday, Oct. 30, at Veterans Memorial Park in Boulder City.
