This weekend is the big weekend for New Mexico's A and AA track and field athletes.
In the space of the next 60 hours, New Mexico will be crowning four new state high school track and field champions.
In Class A, the big question concerns whether Cimarron's boys can make it a clean sweep of the cross country and track and field titles for this school year? The cast of characters for the Rams is much the same as it was in cross country, but that alone won't get the job done. Whatever run Cimarron makes at a state title will be founded largely on relays, distance, and hurdles.
Looking to upset the applecart for the Rams will be teams like Cliff, Mountainair, and Menaul.
Among AA boys, Lordsburg will be looking to defend their 2012 title, but with many of the guys who won that title gone the way of graduation, it will be an uphill battle for the Mavericks. In the position of favorites this year are teams like Eunice, Texico, NMMI, Laguna-Acoma, and Tucumcari. It should be a good contest and one that may not be decided until deep into Saturday.
Class A girls has been the domain of Fort Sumner for time out of memory. The Vixens are definitely among the favorites again this year, but it's not a foregone conclusion they take the blue trophy home with them. Any team that would beat Fort Sumner, however, must overcome the sprint tandem of LaNay Crenshaw and Orianna Ortiz, and the hurdling of Ashley Landreth. That's a lot to overcome.
Mountainair and Jal appear to be the teams best positioned to make a challenge but, make no mistake, it will still take a near-flawless kind of weekend to rewrite the familiar script.
AA girls holds the potential to be the tightest team race of the four to be contested this weekend. There isn't a team in the field that doesn't need a few things to go their way for the win, but stronger entries look like Tucumcari, NMMI, Tularosa, East Mountain, Santa Rosa, Bosque, Eunice, and Clayton. Take your pick, and never underestimate the point-scoring potential of relays. Several of these teams will be depending heavily on points some athletes going four or five events. Occasionally, those athletes hit the bottom of the tank before the end of the meet and scoring takes some unexpected turns in those cases.