Josh Bennett is probably best known around these parts as a long jumper.
3A Boys
St. Michael's won this one, going away, last year. Will this year be more of the same?
Well, probably not--at least not the going away part. St. Michael's has a history of being good and history tends to repeat itself in track and field. But, last year's triumph was fueled by a few seniors and it may take some time to fill in all the gaps.
Don't be surprised if St. Michael's is very much part of the game come May, but there will be other schools looking to take home that trophy this year as well.
Sandia Prep is one of those schools you want to start thinking about. The Sundevils have a lot of top-end talent in jumper Josh Bennett, hurdler Donovan Roberts, sprinter Luke Sauerman, thrower Josh Pratt, and middle distance type Stephen Emeamwa. Bennett and Roberts are potential state champions in one or more of their disciplines.
What Sandia Prep doesn't have is a stranglehold on the possibilities.
That would be because Cottonwood Classical Prep, Socorro, Zuni, and New Mexico Military Institute are each looking like they'll have the potential for solid teams as well this spring. We hedge our bets just a bit with NMMI because the school has a higher rate of students coming and going than most other schools, but they appear to be wholly worthy of our attention, regardless.
Cottonwood Classical leans heavily on track events. They've established themselves as a small-school distance power, but they have some sprint and hurdle potential in Mason Roberts and Randel Veglio as well. Distance and middle distance will fall to the likes of Alex Ortiz, Justin Howey, and Zachary Jeantete to do the damage. Howey ran a very solid second at state cross country this fall.
Socorro has a spectacular sprint tandem in Andrew Garcia and Nathaniel Fresquez. Garcia didn't, however, see much late-season action last spring and we'll have to wait and see what's in store for him this sprint. Fresquez, however, finished fourth in the 100 and fifth in the 200 at state last spring.
Long jumper Garrick Gutierrez is the best of the rest of the returners on the Warrior roster. If Socorro is going to keep pace with the best of 3A, they'll need Garcia and they'll need other talents to develop.
NMMI has a breadth of talent coming back--or at least they have the potential for a breadth of talent--coming back. Carson Perry and Juan Aguirre are solid middle distance types. Colton Claypool should be among the classification's best in the shot put. Miguel Luna and Louis Charles are established sprinters. Shakir Kariu has nice potential in the hurdles. But, we'll have to wait until we see the pieces come together with this program.
Zuni. Did you see the state cross country meet? Did you even see the results? If the answer to either question is yes, then you already know.
Zuni could quite possibly just about clean house in the distance events if all the top guys come out for track. That's Deshawn Goodwin, Kameron Eustace, Jarek Chimoni-Zunie, Jacy Edaakie, and Dominic Yuselew. Maybe more, who knows? If they're all out and running at cross country kind of levels, there won't be many distance points left to be had by other folks. On top of that, Zuni has high jumper Condreco Barryer and hurdlers Markell Baca and Trey Laweka.
If all the pieces come together for Zuni, the Thunderbirds will be very tough to beat.
And now we come around to St. Michael's. The Horsemen have a few possibilities this spring themselves.
Hurdler Daymon Lujan is the top returning talent. Lujan didn't have a great state meet last spring, but he was a freshman last spring. That should be behind him now and replaced by a bright future.
Throwers Seth Temple and Jaden Mifsud bear watching, as do high jumpers Lucas Coriz and Jake Rockwood. Justin Sanchez improved a lot in cross country this fall and may be ready to take a step up in the 800, and possibly other distance events as well.
And, there are not a few other Horsemen nipping at the edge of becoming state scoring possibilities. In a program like St. Michael's, they have a solid shot at getting over that edge, but we'll have to see it happen first.