Published 10/23/08
Pojoaque High School cross country coach Alan Lockridge has suffered some serious setbacks on his girls team this season. He lost senior Camille Martinez when she opted to enter an early college program, and he lost freshman Ariel Castañeda to a torn meniscus in her knee.
But his team’s performance at the Rio Rancho Jamboree Oct. 18 had Lockridge smiling.
With junior Sophia Torres leading the way, the Elkettes finished fifth overall in the Class A-AAA girls race. More importantly, they were third among the Class AAA teams that attended the meet, behind the Zuni Thunderbirds and St. Michaels Horsemen. Those were the same two teams ahead of the Elkettes at last year’s state championships, when Pojoaque came home with a third-place trophy.
“I’m really, really pleased because when they hit the finish, they were trying to pass people at the end,” Lockridge said.
Although defending state champion Torres lost her duel with St. Michaels sophomore Kate Norskog, she still finished in a quick 19:52 for seventh place. Norskog finished first with a time of 18:36.
Lockridge said junior Anndria Quintana turned in her best race of the season with a time of 21:12, for 26th place. Senior Vanessa Roybal, junior Patricia Poncho and junior Jesenia Valera rounded out Pojoaque’s pack of scorers.
Lockridge’s boys team came in fourth with 142 points. Zuni and St. Michaels were again the only Class AAA teams in front of them. Navajo Pine, a Class AA school, won the meet.
“They’re working so hard and they’re all improving,” Lockridge said. “They’re helping each other.”
Leading the way for Pojoaque’s boys was sophomore Daniel Santistevan, who was 18th with a time of 17:16. James Viarreal wasn’t far behind at 17:21, with Dominic Martinez and Sam Roybal hot on his heels in 17:32 and 17:37, respectively.
Española Boys
Española Valley High School ran a tight race in the Class AAAA-AAAAA boys meet, just like coach Lawrence Naranjo taught them to do.
Rudy Salazar led the way, coming in 51st with a time of 17:40. Derrick Martinez and Luis Alvarado kept each other company throughout the race and crossed the finish line practically together, finishing 60th and 61st. Adam Martinez was 70th and Stevan Trujillo was 80th.
The Sundevils finished in 11th place. The Sundevils’ top five runners were all within 40 seconds of each other.
“If we can move just a little bit farther up, we’ll be all right.” Naranjo said.
The Española girls came in 14th, paced by senior Naomi Maestas.
“I’m hoping that Naomi can cut one loose soon,” Naranjo said. “She and Gabriella (Fresquez) have a shot at being all district.”
The Mesa Vista Trojans were without freshman Hailey Lucero in the girls’ Class A-AAA race. Lucero, who was seventh at state last year, had a cold and missed the meet, coach Ben Sandoval said.
Sandoval was pleased that for the first time, he had all his top male runners together.
The Trojans finished 15th. Among the Class AA schools, they were seventh; Sandoval said they can be among the top five at state.
Pacing Mesa Vista was freshman Benjamin Sandoval, who was 27th. Senior Keenan Smith came in 56th for the Trojans.
“If you take out the Class AAA runners, Benjamin would have been 11th and Keenan 24th,” Sandoval said.
The Trojans will battle with Santa Fe Prep for the District 2A-AA title later this season. Prep finished 11th at Rio Rancho, even though their top runner was 50th.
“Their strength is they all run together,” Sandoval said.
The McCurdy Bobcats were 23rd among the 27 teams that competed in the small-school race. The Bobcats scored 574 points and their top runner was Dennis Trujillo, who was 86th overall.