Centennial’s Alexis Gourrier runs to second straight region crown

Centennial senior Alexis Gourrier conceded that she didn’t have the “best summer training” before the cross county season started in August.

No matter.

She’s still the best runner in the Class 4A Sunset Region.

Gourrier finished the 3.1-mile course at Veterans’ Memorial Park in 19 minutes, 54 seconds to win her second consecutive girls region title Friday in Boulder City.

“I kind of, in the beginning of the season, had to work my way up,” Gourrier said. “I wasn’t my best at the beginning of my races. I’m starting to feel a little bit more like myself.”

Gourrier finished 10 seconds faster than second-place finisher Emilia Puskas of Bishop Gorman.

Centennial’s Kloe Littleman, Josephine Ruggieri, Leslie Barba and Delani Dietrich teamed with Gourrier to help the Bulldogs secure 33 points and the team championship ahead of Gorman, which had 80.

Centennial coach Kisha Finch said her runners push one another and create a culture of competition.

“They’re competitors as teammates, but they’re also friends,” Finch said. “It kind of helps to foster that relationship of pushing each other. That’s kind of how we teach them in practice.”

Foothill’s Myna Buckley won the Class 4A Sunrise Region girls race in 20:01, but Coronado’s depth helped the Cougars claim the team championship ahead of the second-place Falcons.

“We knew we were one of the better teams. We had to just put it together,” Coronado coach Mark Tondryk said. “They’re competing on the team to be one, two, three, four. That carries over to the meets.”

Claire Rawlins, Caitlin Shannon, Ellen Wise, Kylee Baird and Emma Schmid finished in the top 11 for the Cougars, giving them 35 points.

Buckley, who helped the Falcons record 62 points, was happy with her performance.

“Everyone was so compact trying to stay behind each other so they can draft off each other. I was thinking about doing the same thing,” said Buckley, who trains for triathlons throughout the year. “I just sprinted.”

Raquel Chavez of Basic finished second in 20:24.

Class 3A

Desert Pines’ Jazmin Felix huffed and puffed down the final strip of grass. And the sophomore blew away the competition, winning the 3.1-mile meet by almost one minute.

Felix finished in 20:39, beating Jaguars teammate Nayeli Perea-Barco (21:34), to claim her first individual title.

“I’m happy that I won regionals,” said Felix, who transferred from California this season. “I wasn’t expecting this. … I paced myself a lot to run better in the race.”

Boulder City’s Sierra Selinger was third in 21:52, Pahrump Valley’s Diamond Sonerholm fourth in 22:11 and Virgin Valley’s Viviana Archuleta-Vegas fifth in 22:21.

Tech had five of the next seven finishers to win its second consecutive region title with 44 points. Desert Pines was second with 75 and Pahrump Valley third with 92.

Class 2A

Ellen Hirsberg (21:38) and Ashley Lee (22:54) took the top two spots to lift The Meadows to its sixth consecutive region title with 22 points. Laughlin finished second with 40 points. White Pine (41) was third, and Lincoln County (45) and Needles (85) rounded out the top five.

Lincoln County’s Hannah Bleak placed third in 23:22, ahead of White Pine’s Odessa Stewart (23:36) and Laughlin’s Maritza Cruz (23:48).

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter. Contact reporter Ashton Ferguson at aferguson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0430. Follow @af_ferguson on Twitter.