Northern New Mexico small school athletes performed well at the state meet, showing that athletes from the north can compete with the best of the state.
Several Bobcats had a strong showing in the state 2A track meet June 18, as well as other area athletes from Escalante High School and Mesa Vista High School.
Chief among them was Andres Martinez (see: Athlete of the Week) who took home state crowns in the long jump and the triple jump.
“That’s what we had been working for all season,” said McCurdy coach Cecilia Brown. “So, we were super happy to see all of that pay off. He has great athletic talent, he really does. But he also put in the work.
Martinez also ran in the 100 meters, where his 12.08 time finished No. 10 in the state, and he was also 10th in the 200 meters at 24.63 seconds.
Jeneva Serrano
McCurdy senior Jeneva Serrano ran strong in the 800 meters, beating her qualifying time and finishing in fifth place at a 2-minute, 42-second half mile.
“To see her get fifth place, to get up on the podium,” Brown said. “She’s been running for me since she was an eighth-grader. So, to see her hard work pay off, and she got that individual medal, was amazing. She had a phenomenal finish, she wanted that medal bad.”
The girls 4×100 meter team consisting of Serrano and sophomores Emma Lovato, Allison Cantrell and Audriana Maestas, finished ninth overall in the event. The 4×200 meter team finished ninth, with senior Heavenly Arellano replacing Serrano on that relay team, and Alyssia Sandoval instead of Cantrell. And they finished seventh in the 4×400 relay while running in the slower heat.
“To be able to make it to state, not only running qualifying times but being in that top 16, was really an impressive feat for them to accomplish,” Brown said, referencing the state’s stricter qualifications during the pandemic-shortened season.
One day event
Throughout the day, rather than the standard two-day event of preliminary races and finals, there was only one day of competition. In most running events, there were multiple heats, with one heat consisting of the top qualifiers, and the final rankings were determined by comparing times.
That led to scenarios such as in the boys 4×200 meter relay, where the Bobcats team of Joaquin Suazo, Josh Serrano, Casey Nevarez and Isaiah Abeyta won their heat by nearly two seconds, but finished behind six schools from the faster heat to finish in seventh place.
“I really think that if we would have been in that faster heat, then we would have placed,” Brown said. “Because we ended up first, there wasn’t that rabbit in front of us to chase. You don’t know where you’re at. If you’re not pushing yourself because you can’t physically see it … it’s kind of hard. So, that was a little tough.”
Aubrey Cordova, an eighth-grader, finished 13th in the 400-meter dash. The McCurdy boys team also finished in eighth place in the sprint medley relay, with a 4-minute, 17-second combined mile time. And Arellano finished 11th in the high jump, clearing 4 feet, 4 inches.
“The thing that I love about getting all of these kids to state is, we’re a pretty young team,” Brown said. “The state meet is great experience for them. We always like to get the younger kids to state, just because it’s a whole ‘nother level. We’re glad that they all got that experience, and we’re expecting big things from all of them next year.”
Mesa Vista
The Mesa Vista Trojans had two athletes place in their events with strong future potential. Sophomore Amarissa Quintana ran a 28.70 in the 200-meter dash, good for sixth place. And Brandon Sandoval, also a sophomore, finished sixth in the long jump. His third jump was his best – an 18-foot, 10.5-inch leap well above his previous best. The two will look to continue to improve over the future years.
The boys 4×100 meter relay team of Sandoval, senior Jose Trujillo, sophomore Jordan Cervantes, and eighth-grader Kenneth Gallegos finished ninth in the state. The girls 4×100 relay team was 10th, and they finished eighth in the sprint medley relay, while the boys team was ninth in that event.
Senior Alyssa Cervantes won the third heat of the 100 meter dash at 13.74, and Quintana was right behind her, but their times were only enough for ninth and 11th.
Cervantes also finished seventh in the long jump, just a quarter-inch shy of a medal placement, with her last jump coming at 15 feet even.
Escalante
For Escalante, sophomore Nathaniel Martinez was the top performer, grabbing third place in the 110-meter hurdles, despite finishing with a time well behind his season best. And in the 300-meter hurdles, he ran a 46.77, good for fifth in the state.
Junior Reina Terrazas was the high-scoring Lady Lobo with her performance in the 400 meters. Her 1:02 season-best time was fourth in the state, and was just five-hundredths of a second behind third place. And she placed seventh in the hotly-contested 100-meter dash, despite finishing fourth in the top heat.
The Lady Lobos also placed in the 4×400 meter relay, winning the lower heat to take sixth place, and taking sixth as well in the 4×800 meter relay.
Freshman Luka Torres also placed sixth in the boys 400-meter dash, despite racing in the lower heat, he beat out several runners who had qualified ahead of him. He also finished eighth in the high jump, though his 5-foot-8-inch jump tied for third place before tiebreakers.
Senior Andres Salazar placed fifth in the discus throw, with his fifth throw at a season-best 106 feet, 10 inches.
The Bobcats ultimately finished ranked No. 11 with 14 ranking points, and Escalante right behind them with nine points. The Lady Lobos also finished No. 14 with five points.