Alicia Quintana, two years later, had one last chance to defend her sprint medals at the state track meet.
“It had been a long time since I had been on this track,” Quintana said.
But it will not be the last chance for Quintana to race at the University of New Mexico track and field complex. Far from it.
The Pojoaque Valley High School senior will continue her career in Albuquerque racing with UNM.
“Knowing I have four more years here, it’s exciting,” Quintana said, as her trio of medals clanged from around her neck. “I’m glad I had the competition I did this year. I’m excited for the competition I’ll see next year.”
The Pojoaque Elkettes girls track and field team finished seventh overall at the June 25 state meet. Among the 20 athletes that competed, Quintana and senior Hennessei Calabaza both reached the podium multiple times.
“Competitiveness,” Pojoaque coach Pat Mares said he saw from the team. “The willingness to finish what they started. And heart. We’ve got to fight through certain things to make sure that we succeed. They did that today.”
Mares commended the effort from the two senior Elkettes to set personal records while placing in the top five.
“They’ve been working their tails off,” he said.
While not as hot as some June days in Albuquerque, the athletes battled 90-plus degree heat at the meet.
Mares said he also had to adapt to not being allowed to coach from the infield on the track, and having to find a new position. But he joked that as a football coach, he was able to adjust.
The meet came after the 2020 season was canceled, giving many athletes their first chance in two years to compete at the highest level.
“This past year, I learned a lot about myself,” Quintana said. “What I can do, especially not being able to run last year. I was waiting for this moment for two years now. And I’m glad I have four more years to see what I can do.”
Calabaza said the biggest challenge this year was in conditioning and going through practices.
Calabaza had qualified sixth in the discus throw. Her first throw placed her momentarily into second place after the first round. Though she fouled on the next two, it was enough to qualify for the final round of eight for three more attempts.
On the fourth throw, Calabaza said she cleared her mind, and let her rhythm take control.
“I’ve been practicing it for a while,” she said. “I’ve just been practicing the same form, and I just let my body let it go. It felt more together, and more under control than the other ones.”
She threw the discus 100 feet, 5 inches, a new personal best and a Pojoaque Valley school record, and launched into third place. That mark stood for the bronze, and was just one inch back of second place. Calabaza finished well ahead of other competitors who qualified in front of her.
Calabaza’s strong performances continued into the shot put.
Almost all competitors finished below their season best, including the senior who had the fourth-best qualifying mark. The second throw was her best of the day at 33 feet, 2 inches, though she came within inches of that mark multiple times. That put her into fourth place by a wide margin, and she was just 1.5 inches behind third and 2.75 inches behind a silver medal.
Calabaza also gave her best in the javelin, with a second throw of 87 feet, 8 inches despite a strong headwind for most of the event. Though she did not make the final round, that was good for 11th place, ahead of her No. 15 qualification in the event.
“I was feeling a little excited, nervous, and a little tired,” Calabaza said. “It’s a lot to take in, because of all the competition and how well people are doing. You don’t know if you’re going to have a good day or a bad day, or how things are just going to flow. Or if any of the other people are going to have a good or bad day.”
And she said that, while excited, she was nervous standing on the podium in front of so many people.
But the future Adams State Grizzly’s two podium placements were beat out by Quintana’s hat trick in the sprints.
Quintana credited her teammates for pushing her and giving her competition throughout the year.
In the 100 meters, she made the same third place finish as she did at districts, beating her personal best with 12.96 seconds. At 200 meters, Quintana finished only behind four runners from Los Alamos (the Hilltoppers dominated throughout the day) for a podium finish at 27.36.
“I felt well rested, and I was mentally in the zone to run,” Quintana said.
And in 400 meters, which Quintana said is her favorite race, she set a new personal best at 1:01.02 and grabbed a silver medal.
“For the 400, I was just mentally preparing for that one throughout the day,” she said. “That race is a tough race, but it’s my favorite race. I have a love-hate relationship with it. It’s not necessarily a short distance race or a long distance. But, I think mentally it challenges me. It pushes me to just go all out.”
Alicia’s sister, Sonya, finished 14th overall in the 100 meter dash at 13.43, and 11th in the 200 meter event.
Junior Anthony Meloy Chavez finished 15th in the boys 100 meters, with a 12.08 time.
Senior Maya Archuleta competed alongside Calabaza in the girls discus, and threw 75 feet, 3 inches for 16th place.
And in the boys javelin, sophomore Adam Pacheco fell just short of the final eight round with his mark of 128 feet, 2 inches, and did not have a chance to improve on his personal best, which would have been good enough for a podium position.
The Elkettes finished a disappointing 10th in the 4×100 meter relay after falling behind. The boys finished 13th in the relay at 46.06.
The team also gave a strong effort in the 4×800 meter relay, a new event for 2021, finishing 13th with a 9:36.98.
Mares said it “meant everything” for the team to compete at state after losing the 2020 season.
“It’s your goal at the beginning of the season to make it to state,” he said. “No matter if it’s an individual sport, team sport, it’s always your goal to compete on the last weekend. We made it to the last weekend. We represented well, and I couldn’t be more proud.”
He also said that, for the younger athletes, they saw their performances and want to return stronger next year.
“We know we can get here, so let’s do it better next year,” he said. “Yes, we made it, but next year’s going to be different.”