Mesa Vista hosted the district cross country meet, and it was their first race on the Ojo Caliente course in years.
“It’s a great privilege to be able to host a meet in general, much less the district meet, at our home place,” said Mesa Vista senior Jordan Cervantes.
Mesa Vista coach PJ Martinez said he did not know when the last time they hosted a meet was, but it had been many years.
“It’s a privilege and it’s awesome to be able to bring something to the community of Ojo Caliente and Mesa Vista High School,” Martinez said.
The course also includes one of the toughest hills possible in the final third, with a major elevation change filled with rocks.
Peñasco’s girls team squeaked out a win in the District 5-1A/2A championships on Oct. 28, winning by just two points over McCurdy, in a preview of what could be a close finish at the top at next week’s state championship.
Cecilia Campos from the new Chesterton Academy school won the individual girls race at 22:45 (the slowness of the top times indicated the difficulty of the Mesa Vista course), with Peñasco’s Charnelle Gonzales 21 seconds behind her, and McCurdy’s Aubrey Cordova in third.
The team standings were so close that McCurdy had thought they won after the race, based on coach Chris Sanchez’s mental math.
“Of course we wanted first place, but we didn’t know if it was possible for us right now,” said McCurdy senior Allison Cantrell. “It really is a blur. That whole race went by so fast, I don’t remember half of it.”
Sanchez had the team run what he calls “roller coasters,” a roughly 200-meter circle filled with ups and downs, to prepare for the most difficult courses.
During the season, the McCurdy girls have grueling days and practice weeks, with most of the team also playing volleyball.
“They’re practicing with me for an hour, and then they’re going to practice volleyball for two hours every day,” Sanchez said.
Oak Grove Classical Academy crushed the boys race, with Revolution Rivera-Felix taking the win at 18:52, and with additional runners placing third, fourth and sixth. Mesa Vista took second place as a team to qualify for state, led by eighth-grader Ezequiel Nevarez in seventh at 20:30, and Cervantes in ninth.
“Feels good to be a leader on a pretty fast team,” Nevarez said, and Cervantes said that Nevarez has been a big addition to the team this year.
Martinez said he hopes to get to the top five or top 10 in the state meet next week, a likely goal that would be a big improvement on their 15th-place finish from last year.