The Pojoaque and Española Valley boys cross country teams fell just short of reaching their dreams Nov. 7 at the state cross country meet in Rio Rancho.
Pojoaque couldn’t catch Santa Fe Indian School for first place in Class AAA, while Española was just four points short of taking home a trophy. The following is a roundup of how all the local teams and individuals did at the meet.
Pojoaque
Arms locked, the Pojoaque boys cross country team walked as one from the Rio Rancho High School football field to their waiting fans after the completion of the Class AAA boys cross country race. Pojoaque had been beaten by District 2AAA rival Santa Fe Indian School at the state meet, denying the Elks their dream of winning a state championship.
“They’re here for us guys,” senior James Viarreal said. “Heads up.”
The Braves had won the team title by scoring 55 points and placing their top five runners among the top 20 finishers. Santa Clara Pueblo’s Trevor Merhege led the Braves with a sixth-place finish. The Elks had just three runners in the top 20 finishers and scored 80 points. Miyamura High School from Gallup scored 104 points for third among the 12 teams.
“We wanted to run as a pack and stay together the whole way,” Merhege said. “Everyday we told each other to run like we know how, and it will come naturally.”
Indian School had finished behind Pojoaque at several meets during the season, but beat the Elks at the District 2AAA championships Oct. 31 in Pojoaque to win the district championship.
“We’ve been running like this all year,” Indian School coach John Grimley said. “It’s been real easy to work with these kids.”
Viarreal paced Pojoaque with a time of 16:07 in third place. He had taken it out fast at the beginning of the race and was leading after two miles. At that point, Bloomfield’s Evan Bekes and Hope Christian’s Eric Fenton pulled away from Viarreal. Bekes turned it on in the last mile and finished with a time of 15:15 in first place. Fenton finished in 15:56 and held on to second in the field of 96 runners
“I lost the lead at the end of the second mile,” Viarreal said. “I was digging deep but that second wind never came.”
Daniel Santistevan finished eighth for Pojoaque in 16:32 and earned All-State honors, awarded to the top 10 finishers. Sam Roybal was 12th, Dominic Martinez 29th, Jereme Santistevan 31, Brandon Jaramillo 35th and Justin Vigil 49th for Pojoaque.
In the Class AAA girls race, the Pojoaque Elkettes finished seventh with 183 points. Zuni took first with 64 points, while Santa Fe Indian School was second and defending champion St. Michaels was third.
Pojoaque’s Sophia Torres, the 2007 Class AAA girls state champion and a five-time All-State performer during her career, finished in fifth with a time of 19:09 in her final high school cross country race. She finished well ahead of the next Pojoaque runner, sophomore Ariel Castañeda, who placed 32nd overall. St. Michaels’ Kate Norskog won a second consecutive title by placing first in 18:05 in a field of 87 runners.
“I’m sad, but I’m keeping it in,” Torres said.
Torres is one in a long line of outstanding Pojoaque runners that includes three-time state champion (1997, 1999-2000) Jacquelyne Gallegos.
“(Torres) was a team person but also ran for herself,” Lockridge said. “There’s only been one better — Jackie Gallegos.”
Española
The Española Valley Sundevils fell four points shy of taking home a third-place trophy from the Class AAAA state cross country championships.
“It was close there at the end,” Española coach Lawrence Naranjo said. “A person here or a person there could have made the difference.”
Albuquerque Academy and Los Alamos had staged one of their perennial battles for first and second place. This year Academy, which placed its entire team of seven runners in the top 10 finishers, took first with 24 points. Los Alamos, led by individual champion Kyle Pittman, was second with 40 points among the 18 Class AAAA teams
It was a dogfight between three teams for third place: the Sundevils, Albuquerque Del Norte and Belen High Schools.
“We were out to get Belen,” Naranjo said. “We barely missed them.”
Belen finished fourth with 176 points, just one better than the Sundevils 177 points, but it turned out to be Del Norte that took third with 173 points. Del norte’s Tyler Saiz was the only runner not from Academy or Los Alamos to crack the top 10 finishers.
“We ran pretty dang well,” Naranjo said. “They all ran to their potential.”
Española was paced by Derrick Martinez, who missed his goal of being in the top 10 by 18 seconds, coming in 14th with a time of 16:30. Pittman’s winning time was 14:59, while 16:12 was the time of Academy’s Louis Jochems in 10th place.
Luis Alvarado was 30th for the Sundevils, while Rudy Salazar III was 42nd, Stevan Trujillo 45th, Darren Martinez 46th , Adam Martinez 47th and Jeremy Trujillo 80th for the Sundevils in the field of 128 runners. Derrick Martinez, Alvarado, Trujillo and Adam Martinez are seniors.
“It’ll be awhile before I get another group that tough,” Naranjo said.
While most of Española’s boys team will graduate, all of Española’s girls team should return, as there are no seniors. The Lady Sundevils finished fifth as well, scoring 167 points among the 17 Class AAAA teams. Los Alamos took first with 47 points, Academy second with 80, Belen third with 119 and St. Pius X had 145 points in fourth. Academy’s Julia Foster finished the race in 17:48 for first place.
“They’ll be right in there next year,” Naranjo said. “They’re tough little gals.”
Junior Gabrielle Fresquez was the top finisher for Española, coming in 22nd with a time of 20:01 over the 3-mile course. Eighth graders Marquita Talache, Francesska Serrano and Jackie Avitia were 28th, 42nd and 44th, respectively. Sophomore Erika Sanchez was 31st in the field of 128 runners.
Class A-AA Race
It was hard to spot Mesa Vista sophomore Haliey Lucero at the start of the 2009 Class A-AA girls cross country race. The diminutive Lucero was the only runner wearing the black uniform of the Lady Trojans among the crowd of 95 runners.
It was a lot easier to spot her at the finish line. Lucero came in seventh with a time of 19:43 for Mesa Vista. It was Lucero’s third straight All-State performance. She was sixth in 2007 as an eighth grader and fifth as a freshman last year.
“It wasn’t what I expected,” Lucero said after the race. “I still have two more years.”
East Mountain sophomore Caroline Kaufman won this year with a time of 18:35, successfully defending her 2008 state title.
Lucero is the only female runner from Mesa Vista and has no teammates to run with during her races. Members of the Trojans’ boys team greet her after she finishes a race.
“I consider the boys my teammates,” Lucero said. They are there for me the whole way.”
Lucero missed two weeks during the season with a cold, but came back strong Oct. 30 to win the District 2A-AA title.
“She really dedicated herself the last three weeks,” coach Ben Sandoval said.
The Mesa Vista boys team took 10th overall with 284 points in the 18-team field. Jemez Valley took first with 55 points, while Peñasco finished second with 81 and Pecos had 102 points in third.
Pecos’ Antonio Varela finished in 15:30 for first place. Benjamin Sandoval paced Mesa Vista, finishing 36th in 18:05 in the field of 137 runners.
McCurdy School’s Dennis Trujillo came in 71st for the Bobcats and Ernesto Gonzales 86th. Coronado’s Jessi Chavez was 101st, Johnny Chavez 124th and Patrick Cordova 126th for the Leopards.