Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Tucumcari was the host school for the season-opening Rattler Relays track and field event, but it was Moriarty that ruled the roost.
Both the boys and girls teams from Moriarty took home titles during the nine-team event Saturday at Rattler Stadium.
It was the first track and field event for area teams in more than two years after the COVID-19 canceled the 2020 track season.
In the boys competition, Moriarty boys finished with 138 points, well ahead of runner-up Logan’s 88. Tucumcari finished fourth behind Clovis Christian with 42 points. San Jon was sixth with 18 points.
Other teams participating at the Rattler Relays were Texico, Floyd, Dora and Mosquero.
For the girls, Moriarty finished with 120 points, comfortably ahead of runner-up Logan’s 77 points. Tucumcari was fourth with 44 points. San Jon did not score.
For the Rattlers boys, Khobie Salvador was a double winner in the discus and shot put, and he earned provisional state-qualifying distances in both. He threw the shot 39 feet, 2 1/2 inches, and the discus 115-4 1/2.
Tucumcari coach Wayne Ferguson said Andrew Henderson-Clark finished second in the javelin throw at 113-2, close to a provisional state-qualifying distance.
He said Manny Hernandez finished third and fourth in the 3,200-meter and 1,600-meter runs, respectively, despite being hampered by an injury.
For the Logan boys, first-place finishers were Christian Kotara in the 400-meter dash (57.44 seconds) and Haden Judd in the 300-meter hurdles (46.14).
For San Jon, Chad Becerra won the javelin throw in 113-11, and Marvin Reese won the 110-meter high hurdles in 22.34.
For the girls, Tucumcari’s Delilah Acosta won both the shot (27-5) and discus (72-10), with her getting a provisional state-qualifying distance in the shot.
Caylee Benavidez won the 800-meter run in 2:57.34 for the Lady Rattlers.
Ferguson said he also was pleased with freshman Kylie Ann Rincones’ performances in the 100 and 200-meter dashes. He said Elena Gutierrez’s second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles was in a provisional state-qualifying time.
“We’re really young and inexperienced, but we had some good things that happened,” Ferguson said. “We’ll be better as we go along. I moved some eighth-graders up; I think I’ll be able to move some girls togethers so we can run some relays later.”
For the Logan girls, Kaylee Williams won the 100-meter dash (13.34), and Sierra Horne won the long jump (16-8). The 400-meter relay team also won in a time of 53.34.
“I was proud of the way both teams competed,” Logan coach Robert Young said. “I was happy to have several kids reach the (state) provisional mark at our first meet of the season.”