Zuni and East Mountain battled it out in the pinon/juniper of Sandia Park last weekend, but will be headed in separate directions this weekend. Contributed photo.
Do you love cross country? There are lots of places to go this weekend in New Mexico to find it.
If you live in the greater Albuquerque area, you can take in either the Highland Invitational at Bullhead Park or the La Cueva Bear Brawl at Ben Greiner Field. The Highland Invitational is shaping up as the bigger meet of the two, but both have some quality. Since a lot of teams went big at the Albuquerque Academy Invitational last weekend, we may see a few teams hunkering down and laying low this weekend, but that's not a promise.
I suppose Valencia also qualifies as the "greater Albuquerque area." Their meet was a little on the smaller side last year, and I've not yet seen a list of teams for this year.
Over in Gallup, they're running the Curtis Williams Invitational. I visited Red Rock Canyon park this summer, and I confess I'm a little jealous of running a cross country meet there. Definitely not the fastest course in the world, but clearly a cool place to race. Just about everybody in NW New Mexico is headed that direction.
In Las Cruces, Oñate is hosting the Rob Winter Classic, but it's not supposed to feel like winter yet, so don't get hopes for cooler temperatures too high yet. With 13 New Mexico schools and another half-dozen or so from the El Paso area, this one figures to be the biggest cross country event in the state this weekend. I will endeavor to post start lists for this meet tomorrow so all can get a feel for the level of competition to be expecting come Saturday.
Giving up precious little to the Rob Winter Classic will be the SFIS John Grimley Invitational. Stop and think about this--how many small school meets are you seeing on this weekend's schedule? So, if SFIS is hosting a small school meet, what should you be expecting? That's right, all the very best in small school action that New Mexico has to offer. If I could be in New Mexico this weekend, this is precisely where I would be headed, and without meaning in the least to slight any of the larger school meets. This meet should give us our first really good look at the comparative strengths of the small schools in a large meet. The Jamboree, of course, will give us our second look in a couple of weeks. The only disappointment here is that it appears the western New Mexico small schools are mostly headed to Curtis Williams.
For several schools, though, this week is the opportunity to get out of state. And the out-of-state destination of choice is the Desert Twilight in suburban Phoenix. The good news--since there is a whole lot of suburban Phoenix--is that it's in the part of suburban Phoenix that's closest to New Mexico. Taking part in the twilight-and-into-darkness festivities will be Los Alamos, Socorro, Rio Rancho, Piedra Vista, the Saints, and perhaps a couple more. Look for some teams to learn in a hurry how they stack up against competition of a severe variety.
Keep checking back this weekend for results. We'll post 'em as we get 'em.