Five weeks into the season, Pojoaque had just their second full meet of the season.
At Pojoaque’s first meet of the year, in Farmington, they finished some field events but cut the meet short and canceled all track events due to weather. The next two weeks, meets at Moriarty and Gallup were canceled. The first full meet was at Santa Fe the next week, just one week ago.
Pojoaque and Española were among the more than 15 schools at the Meadow City Invite at Robertson High School on April 8, and both had strong competitors qualify for state. The Pojoaque girls team finished fifth overall, and the Española boys finished sixth.
Terrell Calabaza, a 2017 graduate, took over the track and field team in January. He had previously been the team’s throwing coach. He is looking to continue to grow a program that has become one of the best in the region, but still pales in comparison to district rival Los Alamos. And he is still looking to build a team with assistant coaches.
“The way you have that motivation to get up every single day and come out to a hot sunny field and coach kids,” he said. “It’s more than just coaching kids, it’s changing their mentality, changing that perspective for them.”
Sophomore Mikayla Calabaza (Terrell’s younger sister) was the star for Pojoaque in the throwing events. She won the shot put with a 32 feet, and the discus at 99 feet, 10 inches, though both were shorter than she often hits. Calabaza has qualified for state in both events, and currently sits third in 4A in the shot put and fifth in discus.
“Her older sister, Hennessei, threw a couple years ago, and it sparked some interest in her,” Calabaza said. “It’s just finding that perfect combination of speed and making it flow together with her technique.”
The younger Calabaza is smaller than most of her top competitors in throwing events, but said she is able to focus on speed.
Sonya Quintana also had a strong day, with a win in the javelin at 97 feet, 3 inches. She was second in the 200 meters with a slower time than normal, and was third in the 100 meters.
Terrell Calabaza said Quintana is learning to handle pressure the way her older sister, Alicia (a former state medalist) could.
Alan Padilla finished third in the 300M hurdles, fifth in the 100M hurdles and fourth in the javelin at 129 feet, 9 inches. Calabaza said he expects Padilla to improve and come closer to qualifying for state. Elijah Hall finished fifth in the discus.
Kaylee Salazar finished fourth in the long jump at 14 feet, 10.75 inches, and Mia Herrera was fifth.
“I’m glad to be out here coaching these kids,” Terrell Calabaza said. “I know I’m young for being a head coach, but I get a lot of support from the parents, and I like to commend them for giving me the opportunity to coach their kids.”
The Española Sundevils were led by Victor Parra’s performance in the high jump, taking first place. Parra entered the day with a season best of 5 feet, 6 inches. He cleared that height, and made it all the way up to 5-10, reaching the state championship qualifying height. He nearly cleared 6 feet
Española track coach Daniel Velasquez said he believes Parra can get up to 6-2, which would be the highest in the state for this year in 4A, and would have been second at last year’s state championship.
“He clears the bar … it’s a matter of technique,” Velasquez said. “Getting his legs over. He usually clips it either with his behind or his calf or his heel.”
Española’s relay team, with Parra alongside Adrick DeLeon, Alex Chavez and Andres Valenzuela, finished second in the 4×100 meter relay, .05 seconds behind Santa Rosa. They were also second in the 4×200. Parra, DeLeon and Chavez finished fifth, sixth and seventh in the 100-meter dash. Attilio Winn placed sixth in the 3200 meters.
Española has had transportation issues this season, and have struggled to consistently find buses and drivers for events. For multiple events, athletes have had to self-transport, and carpools have to be pre-approved by the district. For the trip to Las Vegas, they had a district Suburban available, but seating is limited, and some athletes were unable to come.
“We were limited with as many people as came, but I saw some positive things,” Velasquez said. “As long as they keep putting in the work, we’re only going to make strides and bounds.”