The Lake Tahoe School track & field team finished another highly successful season at the Tah-Neva championships in Carson City. On a windy, cool afternoon approximately 800 students from 21 different middle schools from the Tahoe Basin, Carson City, Reno, and other parts of Nth Nevada met to battle it out, all determined to achieve individual glory and earn team championship trophies.

The LTS Bobcats once again performed magnificently and were rewarded for their efforts by claiming two 1st place team trophies – 7th grade boys were crowned the small school champions along with the 8th grade boy’s also being crowned the small school champions. Coach Kris Nugent was proud of his team’s efforts, “It’s been a fun year for our Bobcat team. Our athletes persevered and showed true Bobcat spirit of never giving up and working hard all season. For our small school to bring home two 1st place team trophies against 15 small schools is amazing. We also had many individual medals and top ten finishes. I’m especially proud of our 8th grade seniors and their leadership. I will miss them next year. Also, a big thank you to team coaches Brad Bergstrom, Jon Cooper, Madelyn Rios, and Rod Tayler, for their hard work and for helping push our athletes towards being great Bobcats.”

There were a number of outstanding individual results. The 8th grade boys had a great day, finishing 1st for the small schools in the team standings and the #3 team overall at the meet. Zek Kershaw led the way with a gold in the 200m, a silver in the 100m, and a bronze in the 400m. Zek also anchored our 4x100m relay team to a silver medal with Harrison Fung, Sean Kirkland, and Xander Beaulac. Harrison Fung won a closely contested 80m hurdles race. Sean Kirkland won the triple jump and Xander Beaulac won the 8th grade boys high jump. Coach Kris Nugent remarked, “our 8th grade team really led the way for the entire team. I’ll miss these boys next year.” 8th grade girl, Kylie Reeth, battled hard all day and finished with season best marks in the 80m and 200m hurdles for the 8th grade girls division.

For the 7th grade girls division, Maddie Patrick, 6th grader, enjoyed a great day. She ran well and enjoyed a 2nd place finish in the 3200m with a time of 13:30 and a 5th in the 1600m. She also was a part of the 4x400m team with teammates Chloe Ronning, Evee Propost, and Maddie Vieara-McCarthy. The relay team finished 5th and broke the LTS school record. Evee Propst had a great day as she finished 3rd in the 80m hurdles, 6th in the 200m hurdles, and 10th in the long jump, while also running on the 4×100 and 4×400 teams, which finished 8th and 5th respectively. Emma Berns was 11th in the girls discus with a season best result.

For the 7th grade boys division, Habte Kershaw was the standout performer with three individual bronze medals in the 100m, 200m, and 400m, while also anchoring our 4x100m team to bronze and our 4x400m to a silver. The 4x400m team of Tommy Williams, Lincoln Fung, Aiden Vieara-McCarthy, and Habte also broke the school record with an impressive 4:44. Aiden Vieara-McCarthy also broke a school record with a time of 1:03.57 in the 400m to finish 2nd. Tommy Williams placed 3rd with an amazing 1600m run.

The focus for many of these LTS Bobcats will now turn towards preparing for the upcoming USATF and AAU summer track and field season. With the ultimate goal of qualifying for the National Jr. Olympics in Sacramento this July. They will be joined by a number of IHS and IMS athletes. Coach Kris Nugent knows there is still much to accomplish this summer, “I’m looking forward to coaching many of our LTS athletes, along with IMS and HIS athletes, this summer for the Lake Tahoe Track Club. I’m confident that many of our athletes will make it to the Jr. Olympics again this season and represent our small Tahoe club. It’ll be a fun summer!”