Fernley girls place fifth; Paz takes seventh individually for boys at State Cross Country

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

The Fernley girls cross country team finished fifth at the 3A State Cross Country Meet last Saturday, while Kael Paz finished seventh in the boys race to earn first-team All-State honors.

The girls team qualified as the fourth team from the North and finished ahead of three of the four teams from the South.

Coach Kristian Slater said it was a good year for the team.

“The ladies were able to upset Elko in regionals to qualify as a team for the third time in the past four years being led by our strong senior class,” he said. “On the boys side we were led by Kael Paz, a junior, that was able to improve on his second team All-State performance from last year moving into a first team position this year.”

Kori Scott was the top finisher for the Fernley girls, placing 23rd with a time of 24:18. Laila Kinnick finished 30th with a time of 24:46, with teammate Corbyn Gillespie right behind her in 31st place with a time of 24:50.

Trinity Garcia-Anders came in 40th with a time of 26:02 and Telaine Wasson finished 56th in 34:33.

Lyla Landy of South Tahoe was the state champion with a time of 19:42.

As a team. Fernley compiled 122 points. Truckee won the team championship with 26 points.

For the boys, Paz ran in a time of 18:13 to place seventh, while Fernley’s other qualifier Alex Mergell placed 30th with a time of 20:01.

Austin Key of North Valleys was the individual champion with a time of 16:35, while Spring Creek was the team champion.

“It is always exciting to see strong individual performances, especially when it comes from amazing individuals that we have littered throughout the team,” Slater said.