Girls track district champs

Thanks to a few surprises and the usual strong performances, the Tucumcari girls track team wound up as district champions during the Class 3A, District 4 meet Friday at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell.

Tucumcari racked up 146 points at the meet, far outpacing runner-up Dexter’s 101. Rounding out the rest were Tularosa’s 96 and NMMI’s 69. The Lady Rattlers will send nine athletes to the state meet Friday and Saturday at the UNM Track-Soccer Complex in Albuquerque.

The Tucumcari boys finished third at district and will send eight to the state meet.

Tucumcari coach Wayne Ferguson said he was excited for his girls winning a district crown but knew they were capable.

“We had some big surprises with the girls,” he said. “Sometimes the girls get overlooked because of the boys, but I knew going into it we’d have a better chance winning district with the girls. And at the break (of the meet), the girls had enough points already to win the meet.”

State qualifiers Friday for the Tucumcari girls were:

• Emily Lisabelle, 800-meter run, first place, 2:52.56.

• Erin Encinias, 1,600-meter run, second, 6:16.52; 3,200-meter run, first, 14:27.87.

• Elena Gutierrez, 300-meter hurdles, first, 0:52.93.

• Aliyah Herrera, long jump, second, 14-10; triple jump, second, 30-8.

• Kalani French, high jump, first, 4-8.

• Secilee Skinner, shot put, first, 34-6; discus, first, 109-4.

• Julie Salas, shot put, second 30-9 ?.

• 400-meter relay, second (Aaliyah Brown, Herrera, French and Ashley Shipley), 0:52.92.

• 800-meter relay, second (Brown, Herrera, French and Shipley), 1:53.56.

For the boys, Dexter won the meet with 136 points, and NMMI finished a strong runner-up with 126. Tucumcari scored 107 points, and Tularosa finished with 63.

State qualifiers for the Tucumcari boys were:

• Gerardo Villa, 400-meter dash, first, 0:50.98.

• Josh Chavez, 800-meter run, first, 2:08.58.

• Seth Martinez, 110-meter hurdles, first, 0:15.30; 300-meter hurdles, first, 0:40.90.

• TJ Lampkin, javelin, first, 143-7.

• Jesus Ramos, high jump, second, 5-6.

• 800-meter relay, second (Casey Carter, Robbie Hartmann, Chavez, Villa) 1:32.81.

• 1,600-meter relay, first (Martinez, Chavez, Hartmann, Villa) 3:36.00.

• 1,600-meter medley relay, first (Carter, Hartmann, Chavez, to be announced) 3:52.20.

Tucumcari’s 400-meter relay team finished third but had a state-qualifying time of 0:44.18.

Ferguson said he didn’t fare as well as in other seasons at district because he didn’t have many strong upperclassmen in the field events.

“We’re just not as deep as we were,” he said. “I’ve always had two to three javelin throwers and one to two shot putters, and I just don’t have them this year.”

That said, Ferguson said one of his field event qualifiers — Lampkin in the javelin — has a good shot at placing at state because the field in that sector is weak this year.

Martinez, a two-time state champion in the hurdles, seems likely to earn a third because those races also are weaker in Class 3A, Ferguson said.

“Unless something drastic happens, he doesn’t have a lot of competition,” he said.