It was a tough meet Oct. 4 at Santa Fe Indian School. For one, the flat course threw off runners who are used to more varied terrain.
“It wasn’t what I expected,” Española Valley High School sophomore Kristal Sanchez said. “We’re used to running hills.”
And there were other, more difficult obstacles to success. Española coach Lawrence Naranjo put two of his best male runners, Adam Martinez and Steven Trujillo, in the junior varsity race for failing to show up at the previous week’s meet at Robertson High School.
“I had to make a statement as far as missing meets,” Naranjo said.
Nonetheless, the Española boys managed eighth place behind strong performances by Derrick Martinez, Rudy Salazar and Luis Alvarado — who all finished in the top 50 and broke the 18-minute mark. Actually, Luis Alvarado finished in 18:01, but he lost seconds when he took a fall midway through the race.
The Pojoaque High School boys team also suffered a fall — by freshman Sam Roybal, usually the Elks’ strongest runner. Roybal’s teammates stepped up and captured fourth place overall, led by junior James Viarreal and sophomore Daniel Santistevan.
Pojoaque coach Alan Lockridge said although this year’s team is young, with virtually no chance of winning a state title, he’s pleased that they’re running as a pack. In fact, the times of his 13 best athletes are so close that he’s been able to play musical chairs with two or three varsity spots, to build experience among different runners.
“With the boys I was really happy because it’s been this way all season,” Lockridge said. “They work hard in practice to try to stay together.”
The Pojoaque girls team finished sixth with a handicap of its own — it was missing two of its top five runners. Ariel Castañeda was sidelined by a knee problem and Patricia Poncho was attending pueblo ceremonies, Lockridge said.
The Elkettes still nipped at the heels of District 2AAA rivals Indian School, in fourth place, and St. Michaels, in fifth. Those three teams will battle with West Last Vegas for the district’s three state-meet berths.
“Our district is very, very strong,” Lockridge said. “Somebody’s not gonna go down to state.”
The Española girls team finished eighth and placed four runners in the top 40, led by Gabriella Fresquez.
“There was a 30-second gap between the four, which is awesome,” Naranjo said.