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Reno High sophomore second in Foot Locker finals

For the second straight year Mel Lawrence of Reno was runner-up in the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships at Balboa Park in San Diego.

The sophomore from Reno High, which finished runner-up to South Tahoe High at the Nevada state championships last month, finished 8 seconds behind winner Aislinn Ryan of Bellvale, N.Y. They were timed in 17:31 and 17:39, respectively, in the 5K race.

In the boys’ race, Ken Cormier of Douglas, Ariz., won in 15:22.



Smith 107th out of 316 runners

Kelsey Smith led South Shore youth runners at the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics cross country championships on Saturday near Chicago.



Smith, 13, was 107th in a large 316-runner field for the youth girls’ division. The Kingsbury Middle School seventh-grader was timed in 16:14.

“I’m not completely satisfied,” Smith said. “I think I could have gone a little faster, but I gave it my all and I had fun and that’s all that matters.”

Jordan Hasay of San Luis Obispo won the age group by 24 seconds, completed the 4-kilometer race at Busse Woods Forest Preserve in Schaumburg, Ill., in 14:19.

“She’s definitely a natural talent and she works at it really hard,” Smith said. “If I work at it really hard, I think I can be like her.”

Smith’s younger sister, Kira, came in 206th in the bantam division. She took up the sport a week before the Pacific Association championships last month and still found a way to qualify for her first nationals.

However, the Zephyr Cove Elementary School student didn’t want any part of repeating her race in the blustery subfreezing conditions.

“Not exactly. Maybe if we were running in the Bahamas,” she said.

Jordan Yingling, a South Tahoe Middle School seventh-grader, placed 148th in a 306-runner field in the midget division. He was timed in 11:25 for the 3K race.

Carson City’s Nick Schlager earned All-American honors in the same division by finishing 10th in 10:20.

Other area highlights from the meet included the Silver State Striders taking the young men’s team championships behind the eighth-place finish of Daniel Geib, who was timed at 15:47 in the 5K.

Silver State also fared well in the midget girls’ division, placing fourth. Tiffany Heflin led the team with a runner-up finish behind winner Nicole Hood of Pleasanton. They were timed in 10:46 and 10:49.


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