New Mexico Week in Review: March 31 - April 6

8th Annual Harry J. Hayes Invitational

If you don't know who Harry Hayes was, you probably didn't know this meet was hosted by Bloomfield, but now you do.

The shot put heave by Jemez Valley's Jazmine Chosa alters the landscape in a couple of different ways. One, they're probably still trying to even out the divot in the shot put sector at Bloomfield's Bobcat Stadium. Two, Chosa moves straight to the top of the rankings in the girls shot put in New Mexico. No stopping at Go! to collect $200 on this throw. 

That's the big news out of this meet, but it's probably also worth a short note that Kirtland Central's Chantel Foutz had a nice long jump of 16-5.5 and that Kirtland Central's Jerrod Noble had a four-event kind of day, winning the 100, 200, 400, and long jump.

On more of a note of personal curiosity, the name of Jade Altheide, winner of the girls high jump, looked a bit familiar. Curiosity got the best of this cat, so I went digging. Turns out that she of the 5-0 high jump at this meet is also she of the third-place finish at the 1A state cross country meet in November. 

Arcadia Invitational

I'm not at all sure I've located all of the NM performances out of Arcadia (and please feel welcome to let me know if you are aware of ones I miss mentioning), but I do know the distance crew had some nice performances in sunny southern CA. Specifically, Mikayla Pulliam of LA (Los Alamos, not Los Angeles) posted an 11:24 3200. Sean Reardon, Nick Hill, Colin Hemez, and Zak Kennison all run under 9:45 there as well. In summary, the top of the 3200 rankings for NM got seriously rewritten this past weekend.

Aztec Top Gun Invitational

The more I learn about New Mexico track and field, the more I appreciate the way things happen in Aztec. Steve Lanier runs great meets and, by the way, has a pretty good track team up in Aztec as well. 

Piedra Vista's Zhianna Flores did her usual thing in the 100 and 200, but it was her 300 hurdles mark of 44.45 that woke the sleepers in the back row. Here's hoping Flores makes the trip down for the Marilyn Sepulveda meet. Aztec's Sarah Root and Kayli Farmer had their usual banner days in the field events to keep things looking up for the home-team Tigers. It would also be a shame if either of these two missed the Sepulveda meet due to travel considerations.

Among the boys, Farmington's Avery Rasher put himself on a few radar screens by taking a double title in the 400 and long jump, while Kirtland Central's Christian Mackey won the shot and discus with a total throw distance of over 195 feet. 200 feet should be sight soon.

Cimarron Invitational

Eventually, spring comes to every part of New Mexico. It just arrives later in Cimarron than in most parts of the state. Still, they got a pretty decent meet in on Saturday.

For meet highlight, I'll take Santa Fe Prep's Konrad Asprodites winning the 100 in 11.5h and 23.9h. Don't look now, but Santa Fe Prep seems to have a nice stable of sprint talent and could be throwing together some pretty nice sprint relays in the not-too-distant future.

Los Alamos Classic

Despite the fact that a large chunk of the distance brigade at LA headed off to California for the weekend, they still held their usual invitational at the green Mondo oval. And despite the altitude at Los Alamos and lack of green-clad chasers, Luis Martinez still laid down a 9:34 3200. That should count for more than just a first place.

Cleveland's Elicia Gallegos found the Mondo surface to her liking, posting big times in both the 200 and 400, but she got pressed a little in the 400 by teammate Larimar  Rodriguez. Yes, that would mean Cleveland has two sub-59 400s in the house (and still ran a 4:11 4x400 without either one of them!). 

Amy Neal of Los Alamos got her pole vault going at 9-9, Brandon Lawrence of Cleveland ran the fastest 400 of the spring at 49.80, LA's Brady Stokes won the javelin at 157-0, and Cleveland's Camden Davis gave us another long jump name to think about with a nice leap of 21-9.5.

Los Alamos puts on a good event, and there wasn't much about this year's show to change anyone's mind about that.

Mike Castillo Invitational

Down in the southwest corner of the state, they run some pretty good track and field in Silver City. And this event is their annual show for the local folks.

I understand it's probably a handheld time, but the 12.80 for Silver's Brittany Andrade in the 100 has a way of getting your attention. That gives her a pretty nice standing in 3A. Wendell Hayes looks to be once again ready to own the 2A boys sprint titles, the 11.08 and 22.83 don't leave a lot of room for doubt. Silver's Ismael Jacques ran a nice lap at 51.58, and teammate Andrew Little continues to impress in both hurdle events. J. D. Perez of Deming winning the javelin at 160-9 earns a nod of recognition as well.

Miyamura Patriot Invitational

Meets can get big when all the schools around Gallup get together. This meet got big, but would have been bigger yet if Gallup had brought the entire squadron.

The sprints were positively blazing. Jalen Chavez of Los Lunas won the 100 and 200 at 10.81 and 22.46, respectively. East Mountain's Amanda Bishop sent a message or two to 2A with a 12.50 in the girls 100. She would also win the 400 in 1:00.14. Los Lunas parked three boys 400s in the 51s--Jaden Torres, Randy Moore, and Aaron Saiz.

At a longer distance, Miyamura's freshman sensation Niles Thomas did it again, winning the 1600 in 4:36.00. Rehoboth's Shelby Peterson added a nifty 16-1.5 in the long jump to the day's causes for celebration.

Ron Singleton Invitational

Carlsbad hosts the Ron Singleton meet, but the Odessa team out of Texas went home with top honors for both boys and girls. Still, there was much for the NM folks to be looking up about. The folks from Clovis, though, appear to have the most to be cheering about.

Clovis has a nice sprinter in Traivon Sopila. My guess is that he was also part of that 43.13 4x100 and 1:29.93 4x200. Look for some solid relays wearing purple at state. Teammate Jenna Sievers ran a very solid 15.04 in the 100 hurdles, coming back later with a 47.56 in the 300s. Yet another Wilcat, Kamal Cass won the boys long jump at 21-9.5 and the triple jump at 44-2.

Moving eastward from Clovis a little, Cameron Kemp of Hobbs sent his javelin for a ride of 168-1. 

Tularosa Rose Relays

While Carlsbad took in the larger schools in SE New Mexico, Tularosa hosted the smaller schools at their event. Only the Alamogordo JV showed up and rolled through the field a little. Alamogordo, by the way, is apparently a very deep team.

In a couple marks of note, Magdalena's Jaydin Stephens won the 100 hurdles in 17.70 and Cloudcroft's Karlee Alvord outleaped both the long jump field at 15-5 and the triple jump field at 34-0. Neither ranks as a PR mark for the Cloudcroft senior, but both stand as measures of her consistency in the horizontal jumps.