Tucumcari cross-country has rough run

Manny Hernandez and Erin Encinias were Tucumcari's top boys and girls cross-country runners during the Hobbs Invitational on Thursday.

"We did not run well at this meet," Tucumcari coach Gary Hittson said. "We need to get it together before district."

Hernandez finished 36th in the varsity race with a time of 19 minutes, 55 seconds over the three-mile course. Teammate Charles Prieto finished 45th in 21:15. They were Tucumcari's only runners in the varsity competition.

Clovis won the team title with 25 points, while Hobbs totaled 58 points. A total of 47 boys ran in the varsity race.

Encinias was the only varsity girls runner from Tucumcari, finishing 23rd in a time of 23:42.

Hereford's girls won the team title with 31 points, followed by Lovington with 53. A total of 35 girls ran in the varsity race.

In the junior-varsity boys race for Tucumcari, Joe Martinez finished 54th (24:10), Nathan Mardo 57th (24:56), Britt Lusk 61st (26:43) and Joe Garcia 63rd (27:32).

Lovington and Hobbs tied for first for the JV boys title with 41 points. A total of 67 runners competed.

In the JV girls race that was shortened because of bad weather, Leslie Navarette finished 36th (12:31) and Melanie Jones was 40th (14:39) for the Lady Rattlers.

Hereford won the JV girls title with 22 points, followed by Carlsbad with 64.

Tucumcari's cross-country teams also ran Saturday in the 5K Fun Run and Walk at Kvols Park near Tucumcari High School. No other teams competed in the event, but Hittson said, "It's a workout for them."

Josh Chavez, who didn't make it to the Hobbs event, arrived at the finish line first in a time of 18:18. Hernandez was second.

Tucumcari's next meet is at the Pecos Valley Invitational at Roswell at 9 a.m. Saturday.