Mesa Vista sophomore Andres Valdez had his sights set on shining at the New Mexico state track and field meet last season, before life got in the way.
It turns out he was fortunate just to be able to participate at all.
“Last year, the day before state, I was headed down from practice and it just rained and we ended up in a really bad car accident,” Valdez said. “The day of state, I was really sore. I gave it my all, though.”
Valdez, who had qualified in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, long jump and was counted on to anchor a couple of relays, was expected to carry home a handful of medals.
Instead, he left empty-handed but with an even greater desire to succeed.
“It motivated me more because when I was at state, I saw people get medals and it made me want to,” Valdez said. “And maybe become a state champion. For this season and especially with a new coach this year and with his training, my expectations grew much higher. And my potential is much higher and I honestly feel I can do really well at state this year, so I’m setting my expectations high. And my coach is setting expectations high for me, too.”
New coach Ben Sandoval has high expectations not only for Valdez, but all of the Trojans this season and into the future.
“We have the horses and we just need to believe in ourselves and believe in the team,” Sandoval said. “We can compete at the state level. We’ve been communicating to them that we can win a state trophy. It’s never been done here before. But scoring 40 points isn’t unheard of with the team that we have.”
Sandoval said he’s tried to instill the thought of competing as a team, rather than as a group of individuals. It’s something he used with the cross country squad, as well.
“We have guys who can finish top three,” he said. “We can probably place three relays. That would be something, but this is something that future Mesa Vista athletes can see and we can build on that. We get on the podium and the following year, build on that and keep building.”
In addition to Valdez, big things are expected from sophomore Ezequiel Nevarez after he was third in the 800 — with teammate Kenneth Gallegos, now a senior, right behind in fourth — sixth in the 1,600 and second in the 3,200.
Girls coach Alycia Campos also is looking for big things from her squad.
“I think we’re looking pretty good,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of improvement. We have a lot more relays involved this season. And the girls, they seem to have a lot more dedication.”
Campos also has a lot more athletes to work with after starting with just five three years ago, seeing the team grow to 15 now.
The Trojans have a nice sprinters core made up of basketball players: freshman Isabella Gallegos, eighth-grader Aaliyah Boies, and sophomore Aubrey Maestas.
Fellow basketball player and senior newcomer Hannah Lopez, who transferred from Escalante, has taken the lead on the hurdles and high jump, but also was third in the 400 last year, and anchored the Lobos third place 4×200 relay team.
“Track has always been my sport, but I have a love and hate relationship with it,” Lopez said. “Ever since I was in fifth grade, I’ve ran track.”
She has set her sights high this season, saying, “I would like to get at least two first places. This year, I’ve been working hard and I have a lot of dedication. I’m willing to work obviously, but also I play baseball so I’ve been splitting my time more.”
In other field events, senior Anarissa Archuleta is striving in discus and shotput and junior Jordan Serrano has taken to the high jump, even though it’s her first season.
“I just want them to improve and my main goal outside of competition is that at the end of the season, they can feel proud of themselves and that they’ve accomplished something,” Campos said. “Ideally, when we go to districts we can qualify as many girls as possible, especially the relay teams. We have younger girls so if we can get them experience, next year and the coming years, that they don’t have that fear of state. But the girls all came with an attitude that they want to accomplish something.”