Last Week in New Mexico XC: Sept. 8-14

Sampson Sage

 

Los Alamos' Madison Foley rolled to a 31 second victory at the ATC Everyody Invite. Cover Photo and above Photo by Blake Wood.

 

(Editor's Note: I did receive results from the SPX 5-Star Relay, but since the Meet was so "redifined, reinvented, and dissected" [words of Coach Turcotte], I'm still trying to find the best method to upload the results so they can be recognized in the database. Until I can find a best practice, they unfortunantly won't be posted.)

Albuquerque High School XC Invitational

Cibola continued their early season domination by sweeping all titles at the Hardrock Pavilion. Scoring 16 Team Points, the Lady Cougars were led by Nicole Lawrence and Nichole Gomez. While their 1:44 Pack Time can be improved, the fact that their 21:14 Team Average was 2:05 faster than the Team Runner-up shows how dominating their win was.

Not to be out done, the Cibola Boys were led by Chris and Ryan Harlow, and Lukas Matthews who went 1, 2, 3 and helped the Team score 19 points. Again, 91 seconds for their Pack Time can see improvement, but a Team Average that's 55 seconds faster than the Runner-up made their win emphatic. It's been a good two weeks for the Cougar Program.

Meet Results

ATC Everybody Invitational

Madison Foley's 31 second victory helped the Lady Hilltopper's to a 62 point Team Victory. The Shiprock Lady Chieftan's finished as a solid Runner-up in the Team Standings.

Jakob Bernal. Two races in the 2014 XC Season. 2-0. Impressive start to the Season. In the Team standings, Los Alamos showed their pedigree with a 76 point team victory completing the Hilltopper sweep of Team Titles.

Cathedral Loretto Invitational

This meet was nicely covered in the Southwest Region in review, but a few more words can't hurt.

Onate's 36 point team victory behind a 1st and 3rd place finish from Meghan Aguilera and Renee Baldwin were the highlights in the Girl's Race. But don't let the 5:59 Pack Time of Santa Teresa fool you. Britani Gonzalez, Regina Marquez, and Joanna Miranda are a potent 1, 2, 3 and with seven weeks until the Big Dance, don't be surprised if the Lady Desert Warrior's are fighting for a podium finish.

In the Boy's Race, Thomas Salas' Individual Runner-up effort was the highlight.

Meet Results

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights

 

Liberty Bell Cross Country Invitational

One week after the Mountain Vista Boys came south, conquered, and returned north, the Albuquerque Academy Boys got a bit of revenge for New Mexico. Behind Jordan Lesansee's 15:37 clocking, the Chargers split 40 seconds for 1-5 and averaged 16:05 taking Team Honor's in the process. Averaging 16:05, that's capital "F" Fast.

The Academy Girl's placed 5th out of 22 Teams being led by Cameren Kristensen's 18:54. The Lady Charger's 1-4 split 5 seconds, with their 5th making it a 30 second Pack Time. Let that 1-4 split sink in before moving on...whoa.

On-Site Coverage

Putting Liberty Bell to rest

I'm not sure which of the Rairdon sisters this is--I am unskilled at making those distinctions--but there is a message here for 2A girls cross country. Photo by Jeff McCoy.

Alhamra (14:58) & Gregory (17:16) crush Liberty Bell, but Monarch girls...WOW!

Fort Collins sophomore Lauren Collins smoked a 17:16 5K on Friday at the Liberty Bell Invitational in Colorado, which puts her as the second fastest in the country. Meanwhile, her nationally ranked team as well as Cherry Creek both got bull rushed by the Monarch girls who took down both US top 25 ranked teams in decisive fashion with their team tally of 53 points putting 5 runners in the top 15 places with a time range from 17:55 to 18:32. 

Liberty Bell 2014 preview (updated)

As you start thinking of out-of-state entries who have the potential to snare a Liberty Bell crown, Jordan Lesansee of Albuquerque Academy should be on your list. Colorado Track XC file photo by Alan Versaw.

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights

Southwest XC Challenge

In the smoky aftermath of a prescribed burn in the San Juan Mountains, Newcomb's Corminda Henry placed 5th Overall breaking up the Colorado domination of the Top 10. Navajo Prep took top New Mexico Team Honor's placing 3rd ahead of Socorro Lady Warriors and the Rehoboth Lady Lynx.

On the Boys' side, Soccoro's duo of Manuel Licano and Matthew Lucero took top New Mexico honor's with their 4th and 5th place finishes, helping the Warriors finish two points behind a quality Durango team.

On-Site Coverage

September 8 - 14 week in review: small schools

Running like a seasoned veteran, St. Mary's freshman Hannah McReavy bided her time early and came up big late for a fifth-place finish at the Pueblo Central Inviational. Photo by Alan Versaw.

Taos Cross Country Invitational

Hosting Home Meets are always a blast. Sleeping in your bed, waking up at a decent hour, knowing every inch of the course, are some of the bonuses of hosting a meet. The Taos Tigers took full advantage this past weekend.

Minus Roy Madrid, the Taos Boys ran only six Varsity Runners, but still took six of the top seven spots, led by the familiar duo of Donevan Gravelle and Mateo Vigil, easily outdistancing themselves from both Mora and Mesa Vista.

In the Girl's Race, the Lady Tigers outdid the Boys by recording 15 points while taking seven of the Top 8 spots.

On-Site Coverage

Girls Highlights

Volcano Vista XC Invitational

The Girls Race saw a tight Team Battle ensue as the short-handed Rio Rancho Lady Rams notched a 5 point victory over the host Lady Hawks 25-30. The Lady Hawks used a 59 second Pack Time to counter the 1, 2, 3 finish by Andi Almodovar, Reina Paredes and Sierra Delaware's of the Lady Rams.

In Boys Race, Rio Rancho made it a clean sweep with Devin Paredes and Michael Goke clocking 16:08 for 1st and 2nd place. The Rams 33 second Pack Time and 16:21 Team Average was too much for the host Hawks.

On-Site Coverage

And, here, we, go.

The tight start of the Southwest XC Challenge requires athletes to get out quicker than normal. Photo courtesy of Sampson Sage.