Academy Invite debuts the Chargers and the Storm

Albuquerque Academy's Justin Hickey took home his first win of the season on his home course. (Photo by Jaren Brooks)

RELATED: Weekend Recap New Mexico March 12 - 14 | Academy Invite HubAcademy Invitational Photos | New Mexico XC Girls 5k Rankings as of March 16 | NM Results Central

Storm Reload for 2021, Hickey is the Man to Beat in 4A

The boys' varsity race saw a quality duel between a 4A and 5A powerhouse in the Chargers and the Storm that saw them take up the top 14 spots. Justin Hickey proved early on that he is deserving of being the individual 4A favorite as he put 27 seconds of distance between himself and Cleveland's Ricky Rangel. The Storm is back to business as usual with nearly a whole new cast, as Cody Toya is the only returner from that 2019 5A State Championship squad. A noticeable addition is former Santa Fe Indian School runner Chris Humetewa was Cleveland's #2 finisher. Competition for 5A was already pretty thin at the moment and if no Albuquerque schools compete for state it will be hard to not see the Storm as heavy favorites. Academy ran a competitive race with and it served as a nice tune-up to next week's district meet with rival Los Alamos. St.Pius was led by senior Aidan Trujillo as the Sartans look to add depth after a few departures from 2019 team.

Boys Varsity Results

==========================================================================================================
        Name                              Yr       Team                               Mark          Pace
==========================================================================================================
1       Hickey, Justin                          Acad                               16:47.3
2       Ricky, Rangel                           Cleve                              17:14.1
3       Deprez, Joaquin                         Acad                               17:15.6
4       Chris Humetewa                          Cleve                              17:15.8
5       Jon Fragua                              Cleve                              17:32.7
6       Armijo, Brian                           Acad                               17:51.8
7       Cody Toya                               Cleve                              18:21.5
8       Caden Nunn                              Cleve                              18:31.5
9       Weinstein, William                      Acad                               18:38.7
10      Tobias, Miller                          Cleve                              18:47.0
11      Sanchez, Jesse                          Acad                               18:49.8
12      Dudley, Owen                            Acad                               18:50.9
13      Colin, Ross                             Cleve                              18:52.0
14      Spears, Andrew                          Acad                               18:57.7
15      Trujillo, Aidan                   -     Pius                               19:19.5
16      Buershen, Sam                     -     Pius                               19:45.3
17      Taylor Quintana                         Bosq                               19:55.9
18      Myles Allen                             Bosq                               22:03.5
19      Branch Demersseman                      Bosq                               22:04.5
20      Garcia, Andrew                    -     Pius                               22:59.7
21      Montoya, Donovin                  -     Pius                               24:39.9
22      Salciedes, Brenden                -     Pius                               26:51.8
23      Silas Peeders                           Bosq                               28:07.0

Cleveland's Leah Futey separated early eclipsing the field by over a minute. (Photo by Jaren Brooks)

It was all Futey in the Varsity Girls Race

Leah Futey is already in championship form and the only question is whether anyone can attempt to maintain pace with the defending state champion from 2019.  The Chargers had a good outing on home turf as Emma Patton led them to a 42 point victory. St.Pius impressed surpassing Cleveland by a single point as Bosque School rounded out the field. This is a true rust buster of a meet but does it have any foreshadowing to what may happen two weeks from now. St.Pius was not in the discussion a year ago when they finished 8th as a team, fast forward to now and they have girls landing 5,6,7 while taking on the Chargers and the Storm. Hidden among the talent of this field, Bosque school was able to run against some of the best in the state which will benefit when they take on the likes of Cottonwood Classical and Sandia Prep next week.

Girls Varsity Results

1       Leah Futey                                 Cleve                              20:02.2
2       Patton-11, Emma                            Acad                               21:10.3
3       Perez-11, Sara                             Acad                               21:48.6
4       Archibeck-12, Grace                        Acad                               21:54.4
5       Cordova, Trista                   -        Pius                               22:00.8
6       Marquez, Maricia                  -        Pius                               22:54.8
7       Salcido, Carissa                  -        Pius                               23:17.1
8       Hanna Kiess                                Cleve                              23:34.1
9       Ella Adams                                 Bosq                               23:37.3
10      Baca, Gracie                      -        Pius                               23:41.9
11      Jackie Crump                               Cleve                              24:17.3
12      Elise Toya                                 Cleve                              24:23.1
13      Siembieda-9, Addie                         Acad                               24:25.9
14      Marina Weideman                            Cleve                              24:55.4
15      Hannelore Copland                          Bosq                               25:11.9
16      Kate Henderson                             Bosq                               25:12.8
17      Aragon, Grace                     -10      Pius                               25.42.1
18      Gwendolyn Copland                          Bosq                               26:02.7
19      Kelly, Katrina                    -        Pius                               26:17.1
20      Czuchlewski-9, Abby                        Acad                               26:23.0
21      Steffan-10, Sophia                         Acad                               27:24.2
22      Alana Chimenti                             Bosq                               27:42.3
23      Elliot Patton                              Bosq                               28:02.3
24      Mitchell-10, Vivian                        Acad                               28:42.7
25      Montoya, Layla                             Pius                               30:35.3