Pojoaque Valley had to design a new 5-kilometer course from scratch for the district meet.
Throughout the year, Pojoaque had been unable to run on either side of the school campus, and had to bus to various places for practice. But the Pojoaque Pueblo finally let them use nearby land for the district meet.
And it all paid off as Pojoaque hosted the district cross country meet on Friday. Their boys team won third place to qualify for state, and other individuals from Pojoaque and Española Valley qualified.
Coaches including head Pojoaque coach Gloria Martinez spent weeks designing the course, measuring various routes, walking through, and athletes ran with watches. Gloria’s husband, Randy, rode several times on a bicycle. And legendary longtime coach Allan Lockridge assisted with the team this year and helped with the course.
“It really was a true cross-country course,” Gloria Martinez said. “This one, even for the top teams, was a little challenging.”
At the end of the day, the course drew praise from competitors for the use of various surfaces and hills.
“It was a really fun course,” said Española Valley’s Haily Renteria. “It was something new.”
Pojoaque’s boys finished the day in third, sneaking past Moriarty 102 to 108. And Martinez said the team had to run without coaching as the coaches focused on hosting the meet.
“I knew my boys could make it,” Martinez said. “But I’m shocked, they did it on their own.”
Matteo Nagle led the team with a 13th-place finish, running the course in 19 minutes, 14 seconds. Los Alamos and Taos took the top 12 individual spots. But they needed the whole team to be on their best game to get the bronze — and Matias Tiede, Daniel Herrera, Dalian Lopez and Jordan DeAguero all finished within two minutes of Nagle and in the top 28.
“I put everything into this race,” Nagle said. “We’ve all put our entire effort into this race … We showed today that we can overcome challenges, that we can overcome adversity, and come together as one.”
The last time Pojoaque’s boys team made state was in 2019.
“I was honestly expecting that we were going to go to state,” Tiede said. “We were working so hard, I think we deserved it.”
Taos had the top two finishers in the race, but Los Alamos had the team victory. Moriarty finished fourth.
Española Valley’s boys team placed fifth on the day. Both Elijah Martinez and Tyller Lomayma qualified for state as individuals, placing 14th and 15th. The top three individuals that were not part of the top three teams all qualify for state.
“This race wasn’t my best,” Elijah Martinez said. “But I’m going to come back next week, and I’m going to be ready.”
On the girls side, Los Alamos had the top four finishers and won the race. Moriarty placed second and Taos third.
Renteria placed fifth for Española at 22:04, and Neveah Cachora was seven seconds behind her. Both qualified for state. And a group of eighth-graders recently called to varsity helped the Sundevils finish in fourth.
Cachora said she enjoyed running against the top competitors in the state from Los Alamos, and they finished under a minute behind the leaders.
Pojoaque Valley finished in fifth. Elizabeth Towles finished in seventh place at 22:13, and will represent the Elkettes at state.
The state meet will be at Albuquerque Academy on Saturday.
Gloria Martinez expects the boys team to finish in the top eight. Individually, Española’s runners are hoping to get a top-20 medal.
“I know that now, after today, they truly believe in themselves, and they know that they can do it,” said Gloria Martinez.