Escalante High School’s Justin Atencio realized a goal May 6 at the state Class AA track and field meet in Albuquerque.
Atencio took a spot on the medal podium for the first time at the last track and field meet of his high school career. The Escalante senior, headed to New Mexico State University in the fall to study wildlife biology, started the day by heaving the javelin 155 feet to take fourth place in Class AA. One hour later, he finished sixth in the 110-meter hurdles to earn his second medal.
The medals were the first of his high school career. Atencio was a three-sport athlete, who played quarterback for the football team and point guard for the basketball team.
“I’ve been chasing that podium for four years,” Atencio said. “It’s been one of my lifelong goals.
The Lobos’ team finished with six points with Atencio earning four of them. The other two points were scored by junior Eric Belser, who ran his best time of the year in the 400-meter run with a 52.62 to take fifth place.
Escalante placed 19th out of 26 teams that scored at the meet. Despite the Lobos low place in the standings, coach Diego Brusuelas noted that the program had made progress. Last year, the Lobos didn’t score a point at state.
“We’re going home with some hardware,” Brusuelas said. “It’ll give them motivation to keep working hard for next year.”
The Lobos missed junior John Salazar. Salazar had the longest qualifying jump entering the state meet at 21 feet and was a key member of the Lobos’ 400-meter and 800-meter relay teams. Salazar was in California attending the annual conference and awards ceremony of Business Professionals of America, of which he is a member.
“(Salazar) could have been state champion,” Bruesuelas said. “Michael Cano stepped up and gave a valiant effort.”
Cano replaced Salazar in the relays. He did not qualify in the 800-meter for the finals and came within a whisker of a medal in the 400-meter, finishing seventh by less than .01 of a second to Eunice in the finals.
The Escalante girls scored one point at the state meet. Bonnie Salazar finished sixth in the shot put.
Mesa Vista
Mesa Vista sophomore Julia Martinez was leading the Class AA 800-meter run with 50 yards to go, but the legs that had carried her to first place failed her in the final 50 yards of the race. Estancia’s Adrienne Montoya and Sabrina Lee both passed Martinez in the homestretch with Montoya winning in 2:23.76. Martinez came in third at 2:24.81, a new school record.
‘My legs just gave out,” Martinez said. “I couldn’t give it anymore.”
Martinez had to recover quickly. Just an hour later, she was scheduled to run in the finals of the 400-meter run.
In that race she was near the lead but couldn’t catch Santa Fe Prep’s Kiara Glover and Elizebeth Lanman, who finished first and second, respectively. Martinez wound up with her second third-place finish.
“I think I got my legs back,” Martinez said. “They were just gone at the end.”
Martinez still had one more race to run, anchoring the 1600-meter relay for the Lady Trojans.
“I have two hours to get my rest,” she said before the race.
Martinez did her job on the anchor leg, passing two teams and moving the Lady Trojans from sixth to fourth at the finish line. Eighth-graders Selina Siqueros and Brandy Valdez ran the first and third 400-meter legs of the relay, respectively, with senior Samantha Giron running the second. Siqueros provided a surprise.
“Julia didn’t have the fastest leg,” Mesa Vista coach Ben Sandoval said. “(Martinez) ran a 65 (seconds. That little eighth-grader (Siqueros) ran a 64 (seconds).”
Martinez has two more years left to make up the time she needs to stand on the podium.
“I’ll be doing a summer program that really helps me,” she said.
The Lady Trojans finished 12th out of 26 teams in Class AA with 12 points.
The Mesa Vista boys team failed to score at the state meet.
Dulce
The Dulce Lady Hawks scored five points and finished 17th in the Class AA team standings. All of their points came from sophomore Kyetiil Vicenti, who placed second in the high jump.
Vicenti was in the thick of the jumping competition May 5, but had to leave to compete in the preliminaries of the 300-meter hurdles. She returned to the high jump after running her hurdles’ heat, but she wasn’t the same.
“I had just cleared 4 feet, 10 inches (before the hurdles),” Vicenti said. “I wish I hadn’t had to run the hurdles.”
Vicenti finished 15th in the hurdles competition and did not qualify for the finals. When she returned to the high jump, she couldn’t improve on her height. Texico’s Kaitlin Luscombe cleared 5 feet to take first.
“It’s unfortunate she had to run the hurdles,” said Dulce coach Carson Vicenti, who is Kyetiil’s father. “She had to rush her jumps.”
The Dulce girls had a successful season, winning the District 2AA championship and finishing first at the Northern Rio Grande meet April 26 in Dulce.
I was very happy to win the NRG and District the same year,” Carson Vicenti said. “I had 16 girls out this year. Those numbers really helped.”
The Dulce boys scored five points and finished 21st in the team standings. Sophomore Graham Thomas earned all of the Hawks’ points, finishing fourth in the 1600-meter run and fifth in the 800-meter run for Dulce.
McCurdy
The McCurdy boys and girls teams failed to score at the statemeet. Novela Salazar finished eighth in the discus for the Bobcats. The McCurdy boys’ 400-meter relay missed qualifying for the finals by 0.5 seconds, finishing ninth overall.