Although it’s unlikely any of the local boys track and field teams will be vying for the blue trophy when the Class 1A-3A state meet kicks off Friday at The University of New Mexico Track and Soccer Complex, that doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty on the line.
Chief among them is Mesa Vista’s attempt to not only repeat as 2A 4×800-meter relay champions, but to better the Trojans’ state record that they set last season at 8 minutes, 26.57 seconds.
The Trojans return three of those runners in junior Andres Valdez, sophomore Jonathan Martinez and junior Ezequiel Nevarez. Now-senior Santiago Martinez appears to have secured that fourth spot in that a powerful quartet.
That being said, the top six teams last season also bettered the old mark and second and third place finishers Oak Grove Classical and Texico also return three of their runners.
“That one right now is our bread and butter, but I think we’ve moved from being strong in just that one,” Mesa Vista boys coach Ben Sandoval said. “We want to focus on all the relays and go after them all.”
This season, the Trojans also pushed through on the 4×400 and the medley relay.
Sandoval is trying to build a sustainable program through a proven concept of dominating the relays and filling in the individual events with top athletes when possible.
“Before I was here, the focus was on one or two relays, but I’ve tried to change the mindset,” Sandoval said. “We want to focus on all of the relays and get all of them qualified and get those extra points for us. We’re trying to build to offset the southern teams who stack their relays. We’re training guys to run relays really hard then have a few stars placing in individual events.”
So this was a big step, he said.
“Having three relays qualify for state is huge,” Sandoval said.
When it comes to individual performances, junior Andres Valdez looks to be carting off a wheelbarrow full of medals and in addition to the relays, he’s also qualified in the 100, 300 hurdles and long jump.
“I think Andres should place in all of his events,” Sandoval said.
Sophomore Mark Trujillo, who is just finding his way in the field events, qualified in the shot put and discus and has a real chance to make some noise in the latter, where he is four feet from setting a school record.
“Right now, he might sneak into the finals and could find himself on the podium and that would be a pleasant surprise,” Sandoval said. “He got it with the discus this year. Something clicked.”
Nevarez, who qualified for the 800 and 1,600, will vie for top three finishes in both events.
“We qualified everybody that I figured would get there,” the coach said, adding there were a couple of nice surprises at the district meet when eighth graders Noah Ortiz in the 3,200 and Zachery Trujillo in the 100 hurdles both qualified. “Hopefully we can get into the 30s (points) or high 20s like last year.”
At McCurdy, it’s the Ethan Bolton show as he qualified for both the triple jump and javelin.
“Ethan Bolton has done every sport and being a senior, this is icing on the cake for him,” Bobcats coach Carlos Martinez said. “He’s been to state in every sport and now he gets to go to state in track with two events.”
Bolton, who also plays baseball, would go from one practice to the other, persevering equally in both sports.
“He pitched a lot, but he worked hard on both sides,” Martinez said. “He’d come in after baseball and throw the javelin and work on his triple jump. He’s very motivated right now, not just to go to state. He wants to compete and I think he has every opportunity to walk out with some medals.”
Class 1A-3A boys track and field qualifiers
McCurdy
Triple jump, Ethan Bolton
Javelin, Ethan Bolton
Coronado
400, Santos Martinez
800, Malachi Valdez
800, Marcos Chacon
110 hurdles, Eli Martinez
300 hurdles, Eli Martinez
Javelin, Malachi Valdez
4×100 relay
Mesa Vista
100, Andres Valdez
800, Ezequiel Nevarez
1,600, Ezequiel Nevarez
3,200, Noah Ortiz
110 hurdles, Zach Trujillo
300 hurdles, Andres Valdez
Long jump, Andres Valdez
High jump, Jonathan Martinez
Shot put, Mark Trujillo
Shot put, Jordan Gallegos
Discus, Mark Trujillo
4×800 relay
4×400 relay
Medley relay
Escalante
200, Julio Lujan
200, Braylon Emery
400, Julio Lujan
4×100 relay
4×200 relay
4×400 relay
Dulce
Pole vault, Daymain Hammond
4×200 relay
4×400 relay
4×800 relay