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Lakers Josii Johnson breaks school record at regionals

North Tahoe’s track and field team joined the best Class 2A athletes from across the Northern League last weekend to compete in this year’s regional championship.

The Lakers put together a solid performance during the two-day meet in Yerington with 36 top-five finishes, including six gold medals. The team also finished the meet with 30 state-qualifying marks, and had the boys and girls’ squads finish as Class 2A Northern League runners-up.

The boys finished with 141.5 combined points, falling to Yerington’s 160 points; while the Lady Lakers tallied a combined 135 points. Yerington won the meet with 165 points.



Junior Josii Johnson led the way for the North Tahoe girls with first-place performances in the 800 meters and 1,600 meters, and will represent the team in three events at this weekend’s state championships.

Her time of 2 minutes, 29.39 seconds in the 800 meters broke the school record, and topped the field by more than 10 seconds. Senior Jillian Ferre will join Johnson in the event as a state qualifier.



The Lakers junior then captured first place in the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:47.04. Johnson also joined Ella Carr, Ferre and Elan Lindsey to take first place in the 4×800 meter relay with a time of 11:25.71.

Carr, a junior, also took gold in an individual event, winning the 3,200 meters with a personal record time of 12:18.56. She will be joined in the event by Lindsey and sophomore Kathleen Hanly. Carr also qualified for the state meet in the 1,600 meters.

Freshman Mika Parra qualified for the state meet in the sprints with a personal record time of 13.69 in the 100 meters to finish third at regionals, and a personal record time of 28.44 in the 200 meters for her second bronze medal of the meet.

The Lady Lakers also qualified a team for each of the four relay races and are the defending champions in the 4×800 meter relay.

In the field events the girls will be represented by sophomore Julia Joynt in the high jump, and senior Bailey Shaw in the shot put.

On the boys’ side, the 4×400 meter relay team of Joe Pierce, Keelan Giannini, Etienne Bordes, and Riley Hacker captured the regional title in the event with a time of 3:41.99. Bordes, Hacker, Pierce, and Koson Verkler brought the boys their only other gold medal of the meet, taking first in the 4×800 meters with a time of 9:02.00.

Junior Dillon Hudson will be the Lakers only representative in the sprints, finishing the 200 meters with a personal record time of 24.64 for fourth place.

Hacker and Pierce both earned spots in the 800 meters, finishing second and third at regionals, respectively. Pierce will also run in the 400 meters after finishing in second place at regionals with a time of 53.37.

The Lakers will have three athletes competing in the distance events. Junior Corey Joslin ran to a personal record in the 1,600 meters (4:54.99) for second place, and also hit a personal record in the 3,200 meters (10:43.04) for third place. Freshman Phoenix Sanchez finished third in the 1,600 meters (4:55.40) with a personal record. Junior Alex Witham also qualified for state with a personal record in the 3,200 meters (10:44.80).

Sophomore Nikolas Burkhart stamped his ticked to the state meet in both hurdles events with a pair of personal records for bronze in the 110-meter and 300-meter distances.

The Lakers also qualified a team in each of the four relay events.

Sophomore John Zapata will be the team’s only field competitor, with a third place finish in triple jump at regionals. Zapata leaped to a personal record of 37 feet, 10.50 inches.

The two-day Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Class 2A Nevada State High School Track & Field Championships will begin of Friday, May 18 at 2 p.m. at Carson High School.

Justin Scacco is a reporter for the Truckee Sun. Contact him at jscacco@truckeesun.com.


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