Preps: Vo-Tech pulls off rare double win

With the usual slate of soccer and volleyball matches on the schedule, Monday may have seemed like an average athletic day for most Las Vegas-area high schools.

But for Vo-Tech, a school whose sports programs rarely make headlines, Monday was anything but ordinary.

For the first time in the 1990s and perhaps the first time ever, two Roadrunner varsity teams won on the same day.

"To my knowledge, that's the first time that's ever happened," said Mark Call, the school's athletic director for the past five years.

Vo-Tech's boys soccer team, which already has shown signs of vast improvement with ties against area powers Green Valley and Bonanza this fall, picked up Monday's first win -- a 7-0 victory over Boulder City.

Soon after that, the Roadrunner girls volleyball team posted its first win of the season, downing Rancho, 15-8, 15-5.

"To see the look on the kids' faces on both teams was a joy," Call said. "These kids have been beaten so often, when they win it's like they won Megabucks."

The school, which offers nearly 1,700 students the opportunity to learn a vocation, has expanded its athletic department in recent years. Vo-Tech now houses cross-country, soccer, volleyball, basketball, bowling and swimming teams.

"We're a vocational school, and athletics are an alternative for kids to take part in," Call said. "Our programs are headed toward the positive column, and that doesn't necessarily mean wins and losses."

Up North

The Northern Zone's most anticipated 4A football matchup lived up to its advance billing last Saturday.

Perennial powers McQueen and Wooster, ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in last week's Top 10 poll, battled down to the wire before the visiting Lancers pulled out a 21-14 victory.

Early on, it was all McQueen, with the Lancers building a 14-0 halftime lead. After the Colts stormed back to knot things up, however, the defending state champs needed a late 80-yard touchdown drive to come out on top.

Brian Clark reeled in a Matt Gotta pass and took it 65 yards for the winning score with just over two minutes to play.

In other northern action, Douglas held off Hug 22-17, Reno handled South Tahoe 43-26, Elko slipped past tough 3A foe Spring Creek 17-16, Reed downed Lowry 26-6, Carson roughed up Churchill Country 30-12 and Sparks posted a 26-19 road win at Galena.

* BLAZERS MOVE UP: Durango's boys took over first place in the latest Southern Nevada Cross Country Coaches Association poll, while Green Valley remained in first place on the girls side. Silverado moved into the No. 2 spot in the boys poll, followed by Basic, Bonanza and Cheyenne. Basic remained No. 2 in the girls poll, with Durango, Cheyenne and Cimarron rounding out the top five.

* SUNDEVILS TAKE THIRD: Eldorado's boys soccer team placed third at the 12-team Chino Cup Tournament in Prescott, Ariz., over the weekend. The Sundevils shut out their first two opponents before falling to Blue Ridge (Ariz.), 3-2, in the semifinal round. Eldorado, who has participated in the event the last five years, closed out play with a 4-1 victory over Sedona (Ariz.) in the consolation final.

* ON THE AIR: Prime Cable Channel 48 will broadcast Friday night's Bishop Gorman at Cheyenne football game next Wednesday at 7 p.m.

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