DON McDERMOTT / PVT The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association and Lifetouch National School Studios Inc., honored two Pahrump Valley High School coaches -- Julie Floyd, above, and Craig Rieger, below. DON McDERMOTT / PVT The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association and Lifetouch National School Studios Inc., also honored Pahrump Valley High School student-athlete Devyn Moen. Advertisement

Julie Floyd's girls golf team won its third straight Nevada Class 3-A state championship (and fourth over six years) last fall.

Craig Rieger's wrestling team, after a couple of near misses the previous two seasons, claimed a 3-A state title this past winter.

Devyn Moen has been a quality practitioner in on the athletic field and in the classroom.

Which is why those three Pahrump Valley High School individuals have been honored by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, Floyd and Rieger for their coaching accomplishments and Moen's performances as one of the top 10 student-athletes in Southern Nevada.

Floyd, the girls varsity golf coach for 17 years, has guided the Lady Trojans to five state championships -- 1997, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007 -- as well as numerous Southern Nevada league and regional titles.

In the 2008-2009 school year, Floyd and her team will face a different challenge -- competing in the Class 4-A Sunset Region Southwest Division, which includes perennial state power Las Vegas Bishop Gorman.

Rieger has been the Trojans' wrestling coach for 14 seasons. His last four teams swept league and regional championships, then capped off the 2007-2008 campaign by running away with the state Class 3-A title, outpointing perennial powers Spring Creek, Mesquite Virgin Valley and Winnemucca Lowry. James Chapman and Zach Weldon won individual titles for the Trojans.

The 2006-2007 team finished second, just eight points behind Spring Creek, and had three individual champions (Elias Armendariz, Chapman and Jeremiah Ward).

As with the girls golf team and all other PVHS squads, wrestling competition will be in Class 4-A next season.

Joining Moen in the Top 10 list were:

* LeNette Battle, Las Vegas Shadow Ridge;

* Jared Dean, Lake Mead Christian Academy;

* Jesse Houchens, Henderson Coronado;

* Eric Leider, Las Vegas Cheyenne;

* Kourtney Moody, Las Vegas Spring Valley;

* Frank Satterfield, Henderson Green Valley;

* Samantha Scott, Las Vegas Palo Verde;

* Nicholas Underwood, Las Vegas Silverado and

*Randall VanKempen, Las Vegas Mountain View Christian School.

The Top 10 student-athlete awards are sponsored by Lifetouch National School Studios, Inc. The Southern recipients -- coaches and athletes --will be honored at a banquet to be held May 19 at Sam's Town Casino-Hotel in Las Vegas.

The North's top 10 will be honored May 22 at the Atlantis Resort in Reno.

Each school in Nevada is request to submit an application for one male and one female athlete; all candidates must be seniors.

The general categories include scholastic achievement, including class rank; Moen is the Class of 2008 salutatorian. This weekend, Moen will be with the PVHS track team at the Southern Class 3-A regionals at Moapa Valley High School in Overton.

Also considered is a student-athlete's overall sports participation, other contributions, an essay and letters of recommendation.

Winners receive commemorative awards from the NIAA and its sponsors, which include the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Reno Gazette-Journal and KRNV-TV (NBC Channel 4 Reno).

The awards include a $500 savings bond, a souvenir portrait, a Top 10 souvenir newspaper edition and a NIAA courtesy card. Winners can take as many as seven guests, free of charge, to the banquet.