Lady Wildcats lead after first day

ALBUQUERQUE — Going into the second day of the Class 5A state track championship, the Clovis girls and Cibola boys each hold double-digit leads. Cibola’s lead is expected to last.

While the Cougars racked up 40 points with an unmatched combo of talent and depth, it was the Clovis Lady Wildcats who slightly outperformed expectations, scoring 30 points and staking out a 16 3/4-point lead without any Clovis athlete placing first.

Clovis girls coach Darrel Ray figured his team would lead after the first day, where nearly every score comes from field events. The Lady Cats started the day with a 2-3-4 performance in the high jump by Jasmine McDonald, Lainey Flatow and Phoebe Bruening and never looked back.

Meagan Baglien took second in the discus and third in the shot for Clovis.

“We had goals for 30 points from the field, because we know a lot of our strengths are in the field,” Ray said. “We’re at 30 points, and we’ve still got two events (today).”

The two remaining field events are javelin, where senior Jennifer Vaca has the state’s top throw of 125 feet, 4 inches, and triple jump, where Antiesha Brown will compete. Brown got on the board for Clovis on Friday with a second-place effort in the long jump.

Even with high finishes in those events, Ray figures Clovis’ lead is going to evaporate once the track finals begin. Cibola is in fourth place with nine points, but Ray knows the Cougars have the top two runners in the 100 and the 200 meters.
He hopes reaching the finals today in all four of his relays will help.

“What we’ve got to do is minimize what they get in the 4-by-100 and 4-by-200,” Ray said.

On the boys side, the Cibola lead is not expected to disappear. The Cougars took four of the six scoring places and pushed Clovis standout Manuel Robles to third in the first event, high jump. Cibola never relinquished its early 16-4 lead, as seven Cougars scored points.

“I wasn’t at the top of my game,” said Robles, who cleared 6-5 in the high jump and also took third in the long jump at 21-11 1/2. “I made some mistakes I shouldn’t have made. Cibola came out strong and didn’t make mistakes and did a good job.”

The Cougars lead 40-15 over Eldorado. Clovis is fourth with 10 points.

“We’ve got to run really well, and hope some teams make mistakes,” Clovis boys coach Darren Kelley said. “I guess Cibola could help us, keep doing what they’re doing and take points away from everybody else.”

The Wildcats qualified three relays teams, but missed qualifying the 1,600 meters by one one-hundredth of a second.

Kelley didn’t think there was much to be disappointed about, and is hopeful that Zac Gerzon can place in the 110 hurdles and Robles can win his fourth consecutive triple jump title. Kelley said he’s not aware of any other four-time winner in a Class 5A boys event.

“You’re not going to see many ninth-graders win a 5A event, then stay healthy for three years,” Kelley said.
It’s a challenge Robles looks forward to.

“That’s what keeps me happy,” the senior said with a laugh.

Class 5A boys
Team standings: 1. Cibola 40; 2. Eldorado 15; 3. Highland 14; 4. Clovis 10; 5. Rio Rancho 9; 6. Alamogordo 7; 7. La Cueva 4; 8. (tie) Hobbs, Mayfield 3; 10. (tie) Onate, Sandia 2; 12. Manzano 1.
Friday’s finals
3,200: 1. Bryce Palmer, Eldorado 9:40.57; 2. Zach Doran, Highland 9:49.50; 3. Kevin Palmer, Eldorado 9:53.35; 4. Jacob Loazno, Hobbs 9;53.70; 5. Christian Meyer, Sandia 9:54.54; 6. Vincent Montoya, Cibola 9:57.01.
High jump: 1. Brandon Simpson, Cibola 6-7; 2. Mycah Huitron, Cibola 6-5; 3. Manuel Robles, Clovis 6-5; 4. Daniel Gooris, Cibola 6-5; 5. Tim Young, Onate 6-3; 6. Tony Minerd, Cibola 6-1.
Pole vault: 1. Daniel Gooris, Cibola 16-4 (state record); 2. Sam Potter, Cibola 14-9; 3. Eric Pietryga, La Cueva 14-3; 4. Daniel Fant, Rio Rancho 13-9; 5. Brandon Maurer, Mayfield 13-3; 6. Aaron Holt, Rio Rancho 13-3.
Long jump: 1. Rolando Trammel, Highland 23-5 1/2; 2. Eddie Eubanks, Cibola 22-3 3/4; 3. Manuel Robles, Clovis 21-11 1/2; 4. Mycah Huitron, Cibola 21-10 1/2; 5. Gilbert Guzman, Highland 21-7 1/2; 6. Nick Linden, Manzano 21-6 1/2.
Discus: 1. Marcus Oakley, Alamogordo 151-0; 2. Andrew Medina, Rio Rancho 148-4; 3. Willie Pounds, Eldorado 148-0; 4. Daniel Fiaseu, Cibola 141-1; 5. Dominique Chairez, Clovis 143-11; 6. Kyle Tiemann, Mayfield 141-5.
Class 5A girls
Team standings: 1. Clovis 30; 2. Los Lunas 13 1/4; 3. Valley 12; 4. Eldorado 11; 5. Cibola 9; 6. (tie) Highland, Manzano 7; 8. (tie) Alamogordo, La Cueva 5 1/4; 10. Albuquerque High 4; 11. Gallup 3; 12. Rio Rancho 2 1/4; 13. Hobbs 1.
Friday’s finals
1,600: 1. Rachel Velarde, Eldorado 5:06.40; 2. Laura Lavezo, La Cueva 5:18.11; 3. Allison Bedonie, Eldorado 5:19.33; 4. Jordan Brown, Gallup 5:22.66; 5. Erin Weeda, Albuquerque High 5:27.96; 6. Sarsah Ellison, Alamogordo 5:29.64.
High jump: 1. Lesly Torres, Los Lunas 5-5; 2. Jasmine McDonald, Clovis 5-3; 3. Lainey Flatow, Clovis 5-1; 4. Phoebe Bruening, Clovis 4-11; 5. Laura Norero, Rio Rancho 4-11; 6. (four-way tie) Nicole Jenrette, Los Lunas; Kim Frenz, Rio Rancho; Amy Buffett, La Cueva; Yanique Whyte, Alamogordo 4-9.
Long jump: 1. Monquisha Coleman, Manzano 17-11 1/2; 2. Antiesha Brown, Clovis 17-9; 3. Jalisa Benson, Alamogordo 17-4; 4. Lesly Torres, Los Lunas 17-2 1/4; 5. Ziarra Kirksey, Albuquerque High 17-2; 6. Amber Menke, Cibola 17-1 3/4.
Shot put: 1. Madison Bean, Valley 38-6; 2. Shayla Flores, Cibola 36-3 1/4; 3. Meagan Baglien, Clovis 35-7 1/2; 4. Deanza Davis, Los Lunas 34-9 1/2; 5. Miriam Rathner, Valley 34-8 1/2; 6. Angalisha Franklin, Hobbs 34-4 1/2.
Discus: 1. Lashira Adams, Highland 116-1; 2. Meagan Baglien, Clovis 113-1; 3. Keke Varnado, Clovis 109-4; 4. Miriam Rathner, Valley 106-5; 5. Shayla Flores, Cibola 105-10; 6. Monique Hodge, Cibola 105-2.