Last year, Silver more or less ran away with this thing. This year, things look a little tighter in the 3A boys race. Here's what a virtual meet of reported season performances to date looks like among the 3A boys teams. It's not scored the way New Mexico does scoring, but it's a nice window nevertheless as we approach the midway point of the season:
2013 NM HS M Outdoor Track Team Scores
Calculated as of April 05, 2013
These rankings were calculated by scoring the rankings as a meet. We took the individual rankings and relay rankings and scored them as a conventional meet: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.
| 1. | Lovington High School | 107 |
| Alexis Mata (800m 6 = 6) | ||
| Alvin Simpson (HJ 1.5 = 1.5) | ||
| Angel Sanchez (TJ 5 = 5) | ||
| Colton Rice (PV 3 = 3) | ||
| Dante Rios (110H 5 + 300H 10 = 15) | ||
| Edgar Salazar (LJ 3.5 = 3.5) | ||
| Iram Lara (HJ 1.5 = 1.5) | ||
| Ivan Salcido (D 3 = 3) | ||
| Javier Garcia (J 3 = 3) | ||
| Juan Luis Fernandez (J 8 = 8) | ||
| Kaiden Ochoa (200m 6 = 6) | ||
| Luis Larios (300H 5.5 = 5.5) | ||
| Matt King (D 2 = 2) | ||
| Paul Catlett (PV 6 = 6) | ||
| Pecos Arreola (D 1 = 1) | ||
| Relay Team (24) | ||
| Ryan Thomas (LJ 10 + PV 3 = 13) | ||
| 2. | Hope Christian High School | 99.4 |
| Caleb Meyer-hagen (HJ 5.2 + TJ 4 = 9.2) | ||
| Elieto Boujaoude (3200m 2 = 2) | ||
| Jacob Torres (1600m 5 = 5) | ||
| Jason Atencio (PV 9 = 9) | ||
| Jonathan Millar (D 10 + S 10 = 20) | ||
| Josh Diltz (1600m 10 + 3200m 10 = 20) | ||
| Pat Wood (3200m 3 = 3) | ||
| Relay Team (8) | ||
| Sam White (D 5 + S 8 = 13) | ||
| Steven Moyer (HJ 5.2 = 5.2) | ||
| Zach Beem (J 5 = 5) | ||
| 3. | Silver High School | 80 |
| Andrew Little (110H 10 + 300H 8 = 18) | ||
| Armando Rodriquez (400m 4 + 800m 1 = 5) | ||
| Branndon Molina (D 6 + S 5 = 11) | ||
| Bud Salmon (S 3 = 3) | ||
| Carlos Vega (J 1 = 1) | ||
| Dakota Bencomo (J 10 = 10) | ||
| Frank Castillo (100m 4 = 4) | ||
| Jeremiah Burk (PV 3 = 3) | ||
| Relay Team (22) | ||
| Zach Mccauley (PV 3 = 3) | ||
| 4. | Ruidoso High School | 76 |
| Alejandero Arguelles (TJ 2 = 2) | ||
| Bryce Pompos (100m 2 + LJ 6 = 8) | ||
| Deandre Mason (100m 6 = 6) | ||
| Derrick Montelongo (1600m 3 + 3200m 1 = 4) | ||
| Devon Carr (100m 10 + 200m 10 = 20) | ||
| Luis Leyva (400m 1 = 1) | ||
| Mathew Carr (D 4 + S 6 = 10) | ||
| Relay Team (7) | ||
| Rutger Carr (800m 2 = 2) | ||
| Travis Moshier (110H 6 + HJ 10 = 16) | ||
| 5. | Taos High School | 69.5 |
| Devion Ortega (100m 1 + LJ 1.5 = 2.5) | ||
| Donevan Gravelle (1600m 2 + 3200m 4 = 6) | ||
| Isaac Gonzales (400m 10 + TJ 8 = 18) | ||
| Joaquin Medina (200m 1 = 1) | ||
| Jonathan Cordova (LJ 5 = 5) | ||
| Nick Lemley (110H 8 + 300H 5.5 + LJ 1.5 = 15) | ||
| Relay Team (22) | ||
| 6. | St. Michael's High School | 51.4 |
| Armando Blea (800m 4 = 4) | ||
| Isiah Dominguez (HJ 5.2 + TJ 6 = 11.2) | ||
| Johnathon Arevalo (110H 3 + 300H 1 = 4) | ||
| Joris Hochanadel (S 2 = 2) | ||
| Mathias Hochanadel (D 8 + S 4 + TJ 3 = 15) | ||
| Nathanyel Leyba (100m 3 = 3) | ||
| Relay Team (5) | ||
| Salomon Martinez (HJ 5.2 + TJ 1 = 6.2) | ||
| Wyatt Moran (110H 1 = 1) | ||
| 7. | Pojoaque Valley High School | 45 |
| Andres Duran (200m 3 = 3) | ||
| David Neuman-Roper (200m 4 = 4) | ||
| Isaac Martinez (400m 6 = 6) | ||
| Jereme Santistevan (800m 5 = 5) | ||
| Justin Naranjo (800m 3 = 3) | ||
| Keane Frady (1600m 1 = 1) | ||
| Relay Team (23) | ||
| 8. | West Las Vegas High School | 41 |
| Brandon Gourd Gallegos (400m 8 = 8) | ||
| Moises Coca (1600m 4 + 3200m 5 = 9) | ||
| Nick Gurule (J 6 = 6) | ||
| Nick Maestas (100m 5 + 200m 8 = 13) | ||
| Relay Team (5) | ||
| 9. | Hot Springs High School | 29.5 |
| Owen Harrison (100m 8 + 200m 5 + LJ 3.5 = 16.5) | ||
| Tyler Slaven (J 4 = 4) | ||
| Zerod Underwood (PV 9 = 9) | ||
| 10. | Shiprock High School | 27 |
| Manuel Ic (400m 5 = 5) | ||
| Relay Team (8) | ||
| Shawvan Levi (1600m 6 + 3200m 8 = 14) | ||
| 10. | Robertson High School | 27 |
| Brian Maestas (1600m 8 + 3200m 6 + 800m 8 = 22) | ||
| Keith Romero (400m 3 = 3) | ||
| Nathan Lesperance (J 2 = 2) | ||
| 10. | Sandia Prep High School | 27 |
| A.j. Beach (800m 10 = 10) | ||
| Relay Team (17) | ||
| 13. | Socorro High School | 25.2 |
| Adam Paz (HJ 5.2 + LJ 8 + TJ 10 = 23.2) | ||
| Dylan Gallegos (200m 2 = 2) | ||
| 14. | Portales High School | 14 |
| Kobi Shillings (400m 2 = 2) | ||
| Matthew Shelly (110H 2 + 300H 2 = 4) | ||
| Michael Nichols (110H 4 + 300H 4 = 8) | ||
| 15. | Bloomfield High School | 7 |
| Adrian Vigil (300H 3 = 3) | ||
| Jacob Langford (PV 3 = 3) | ||
| Nathan Pope (S 1 = 1) |
Lovington qualifies as a bit of a surprise here. Last year, Lovington finished a distant third at the 3A state meet, but the Wildcats have things purring nicely this year. Better still, the relays are working well for Lovington, which bolds well for a state meet using a scoring system that gives extra weight to relays. Hurdler Dante Rios and jumper/pole vaulter Ryan Thomas are big guns for Lovington at this point, but the biggest gun of all is the team's ability to score points almost across the entire spectrum of events. When you're putting points on the board in almost every event, and scoring big in a few, you become very difficult to overcome.
Doing their best to overcome Lovington will be Hope Christian, defending state champion Silver, Ruidoso, and Taos.
For Hope Christian, relays haven't yet become a big part of the picture, but a credible state title run will essentially require that of the Huskies. Guys like Josh Diltz, Sam White, and Jonathan Millar can take you a long, long way, but you still need those caches of big points found only in relays.
Silver knows the value of relays from last year's experience. The throws department of Branndon Molina and Dakota Bencomo will do their thing. Andrew Little will do his thing in the hurdles, but ultimately the chances for Silver to repeat will ride on how well the relays perform.
It's a similar story at Ruidoso and Taos.
So far, Ruidoso hasn't developed the relays much, but their numbers of talented individual performers give indication the potential is there. With the kind of speed Devon Carr and Travis Moshier bring to the table, you know the relay potential is there for Ruidoso.
Taos's sheer numbers don't match up with the other teams in the hunt, but they're still managing to score points and the relays are doing very well in the morning shadow of the Sangre de Cristos.