Centennial boys, Coronado girls prevail

It was a strong day for valley schools Saturday at the state cross country meet, especially in the Class 4A ranks.

The Centennial boys brought home their second straight state championship, while the Coronado girls claimed their second title in school history at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park in Reno.

“The hardest part in coming up here is traveling the day before,” Centennial coach Chris Martinez said. “We leave at 6 a.m., get up here about 3 p.m. We didn’t run until after 1 p.m. today, so there’s a lot of sitting around and waiting. But the kids have a lot of experience, and they’ve been strong throughout the season.”

The Bulldogs returned six runners from last year’s team, and Martinez said the trio of Tucker Raymond, Ty Huel and Eduardo Lopez-Cortez have formed the leadership core.

Raymond was second overall with a time of 16 minutes, 54 seconds, to lead Centennial to a winning score of 54 — the sixth crown in school history. Reed finished second with 78, and Arbor View was third with 103. Huel was 15th (17:28), sophomore Adrian Kotero was 17th (17:30), and Lopez-Cortez was 21st (17:36).

Faith Lutheran senior Raymond Millero was the individual champion in 16:47, and his teammate and fellow senior Aidan Baughan was fifth in 17:08. Palo Verde junior John List finished third (16:58), and Arbor View senior Mario Gutierrez was fourth (17:01).

Valley senior Christian Franklin won the 3A championship in 16:33, while Democracy Prep junior Oracio Garcia was fourth in 17:45. Beatty senior Jose Granados (17:57, sixth) was the valley’s top finisher in the 2A race.

Coronado claims girls title

Coronado posted a team score of 50 to add a second state title to the one it claimed in 2012, 38 points ahead of Reno. Palo Verde was third with 107.

Senior Porshe Eismann led the Cougars with a second-place finish in 19:50, and they had three other runners in the top 21. Sophomore Kelly Denninghoff was 14th (20:47), senior Ellen Wise was 16th (21:04), and Kylee Baird was 21st (21:21). Centennial junior Ashley Roberts was the valley’s only other top-five finisher. She was fourth in 19:59.

Boulder City was third in 3A with 85 points and was led by sophomore Mary Henderson (fourth, 20:32). Moapa Valley sophomore Emma Hughes was third in 20:24.

In 2A, Laughlin was third with 51 points, led by freshman Leslie Quintero and her second-place finish in 22:27. after admitting to an NBC Sports reporter his spin at Texas Motor Speedway was deliberate and other drivers do it all the time.

“Until they do anything, no. I’m not the only one to do it,” he said in a phone video recording.

Wallace was reacting to earlier comments made by championship contender Kyle Larson, who had the outcome of last Sunday’s race altered when Wallace intentionally spun to avoid losing multiple laps for a flat tire. That caution changed the complexion of Larson’s race and dumped him into a huge hole in the standings.

There’s only Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway outside of Phoenix remaining to claim the final two spots in the title-deciding race. One of the drivers who could qualify on points if he doesn’t win, Las Vegas native Kyle Busch, earned the pole on Saturday with a top speed of 140.116 mph.

Larson said his Chip Ganassi Racing team had pulled data from Wallace’s car to confirm Larson’s belief it was a deliberate attempt to bring out a caution.

“We looked at Bubba’s data and you can definitely see him swerving, he turns right and then at the same time he turns left and stabs the throttle and spins out. It’s whatever at this point,” Larson said.

NASCAR said Saturday the data was not enough to prove Wallace’s intent and his fine was for the “complete admission of guilt” he made to NBC Sports.

NASCAR met with Wallace and his Richard Petty Motorsports team Saturday morning.

“We fully understand NASCAR’s position and expectations of its competitors,” said RPM competition director Philippe Lopez. “NASCAR has a difficult job officiating race events and we do not need to make the task more challenging.”

Larson’s criticism immediately after Sunday’s race brought the issue of deliberate cautions to the forefront during an intense competition for the two remaining positions in the next week’s final four. NASCAR champion Joey Logano had a flat tire and spun two weeks ago at Martinsville and the timing of it was suspicious enough to raise eyebrows.

Logano has said the flat tire made him spin, and Larson is among drivers who believe him. But the Wallace spin made this a hot topic that had drivers opining on NASCAR’s role in making judgment calls.