The Carson High School (CHS) Boys and Girls Cross-Country Teams hosted running clinics for fourth and fifth-grade students at each of the six elementary schools in Carson City this season.
The athletes took time to work one-on-one with the younger runners and help encourage physical fitness in the upcoming generation.
For several weeks, more than 111 grade school students participated in fun, high-energy activities at their local school, where they learned proper stretching techniques, pacing strategies and the fundamentals of distance running from CHS student-athletes and coaches, all designed to make fitness fun and accessible for all ability levels.
The running clinics culminated at the Carson High track yesterday afternoon, with many elementary students eager to run and race the 1-mile course. The young runners earned and wore t-shirts (color-coded by school) saying “Future CHS Runners.”
Seeliger Elementary won the girls team event with an impressive score of 39 – their top five runners came in the top 13 positions. Bordewich Bray Elementary came in second and Fremont Elementary came in third.
Evie Bagley, fourth-grader at Seeliger Elementary School, won the girls race with a 1-mile time of 7:02.46. Maddy Mahe, fifth-grader at Fritsch Elementary School, came in second with a 1-mile time of 7:05.27, and Mila Camper, fifth-grader at Bordewich Bray Elementary School, came in third with a 1-mile time of 7:05.84. Nailah Nunez, fifth-grader at Fremont Elementary, Alani Munoz, fourth-grader at Seeliger Elementary, Clara Papez, fifth-grader at Fritsch Elementary and Victoria Giurca, fifth-grader at Fritsch Elementary, rounded out the top seven. Each received a medal.
Fremont Elementary won the boys team event with a nearly as impressive score of 56 – their top five runners came in the top 18 positions. Mark Twain Elementary came in second and Bordewich Bray Elementary came in third. Team scoring tied between Bordewich and Fritsch, but Bordewich’s sixth runner beat Fritsch’s.
Cameron Bartak, fifth-grader at Bordewich Bray Elementary School, won the boys race with a 1-mile time of 6:25.88. Yael Estrada, fifth-grader at Empire Elementary School, came in second with a 1-mile time of 6:32.76, and Quest Dunbar, fifth-grader at Bordewich Bray Elementary School, came in third with a 1-mile time of 6:43.81. Jackson Gerber, fifth-grader at Fremont Elementary, Conan Harlan, fourth-grader at Seeliger Elementary, Evan Blodgett, fourth-grader at Empire Elementary and Jayden Miller, fifth-grader at Fremont Elementary rounded out the top seven. Each received a medal.
“The goal was to inspire younger students to stay active and show them how running can be a lifelong sport,” said CHS Head Cross-Country Coach Russ Munyan. “Our athletes love giving back and serving as role models—it’s one of the highlights of our season.”
The leadership fostered among the high school runners and their younger counterparts not only offered encouragement but also provided tips on how to build endurance, run farther and get faster.
“Fremont and Seeliger should be commended for their high enrollment in the Future CHS Runners program with 36 and 23 participants, respectively,” said CHS Assistant Cross-County Coach Jon Hager. “Additionally, I have to give a shout-out to the CHS cross country juniors and seniors who coached the kids over the past 4 weeks. I’ve heard from parents that their kids loved practicing with their coaches.”
All times and scores for the races can be found in the following Google sheet – girls on the first tab and boys on the second tab.
Organizers hope to make the clinic an annual tradition that continues to connect Carson City students across all grade levels through athletics and community spirit.
