Hope Christian after winning first state title (photo by Jaren Brooks)
RELATED: NMAA State Cross Country Championship Central | NMAA State Cross Country Championship Photos | NMAA State Cross Country Championship Videos| NMAA State Cross Country Championship results
Hope Christian takes down Goliaths of 4A
In a year where surprises and the unexpected should be commonplace, The Huskies of Hope Christian taking down the best of 4A on a late March afternoon in 2021. They were a team that had been building under head coach Shane Cleveland for the past few seasons but this was the year where everything came to fruition. Straight out the starting box Hope's Rendon Kuykendall, Eric Scharton, and Cade Martin zoomed into the lead position and would not let up. The Husky trio coasted their way into the stadium single file as Kuykendall earned his first state title as a Sophomore while Scharton claimed runner-up and Martin in 3rd. Evan Stewart's 12th place finish would secure the win for Hope and the youngster of the group, eighth-grader Brady McGahie would round out the squad. Albuquerque Academy's Justin Hickey would claim 4th place on his home course while Wakei Hettinga and Rafael Sanchez would go 5 -6 for the Hilltoppers. Hope Christian won 4A with a stellar 18 points to Los Alamos 28 and Academy's 37.
4A Boys Results
4A BOYS 5000 METER RUN FINALS PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT POINTS 1 Rendon Kuykendall 10 Hope Christian High School 15:17.84 2 Eric Scharton 12 Hope Christian High School 15:28.37 3 Cade Martin 12 Hope Christian High School 15:43.19 4 Justin Hickey 12 Albuquerque Academy 16:00.53 5 Wakei Hettinga 11 Los Alamos High School 16:10.56 6 Rafael Sanchez 12 Los Alamos High School 16:14.96 7 Joaquin Deprez 11 Albuquerque Academy 16:17.50 8 Ryan Aldaz 11 Los Alamos High School 16:36.01 9 Adrian Will 12 Los Alamos High School 16:44.91 10 Tayan Benson 11 Miyamura High School 16:49.71 11 Brian Armijo 12 Albuquerque Academy 16:50.64 12 Evan Stewart 12 Hope Christian High School 16:51.89 13 Israel Garcia 10 Del Norte High School 17:07.87 14 Demitrrius Young 12 Shiprock High School 17:08.75 15 Mauricio Toledo 12 Bloomfield High School 17:14.61 16 Jesse Sanchez 12 Albuquerque Academy 17:23.84 17 Orye Franklin 11 Shiprock High School 17:26.44 18 Logan Pioche 10 Shiprock High School 17:30.24 19 William Weinstein 10 Albuquerque Academy 17:31.89 20 Andres Campos Santa Teresa High School 17:37.05 21 Derick Castellanos 10 Lovington High School 17:41.73 22 Juan Branch 12 Espanola Valley High School 17:51.55 23 Aidan Trujillo 12 St. Pius X High School 18:04.82 24 Brady McGahie 8 Hope Christian High School 18:04.89 25 Eddie Duran 12 Taos High School 18:11.95 26 Kendon Augare-Deal 9 Gallup High School 18:15.32 27 Benjamin Mcmurtrey 12 Moriarty High School 18:16.08 28 Edgar Rodriguez 12 Ruidoso High School 18:21.89 29 Henry Schuett 11 Moriarty High School 18:24.01 30 Ryan Segura 11 Ruidoso High School 18:31.92 31 Jordon Murillo 12 Del Norte High School 18:33.11 32 Jaden Avalos 11 Ruidoso High School 18:35.50 33 Justin Bitsilly 12 Shiprock High School 18:35.51 34 George Piestewa 11 Miyamura High School 18:35.79 35 Daniel Sanchez Espanola Valley High School 18:36.75 36 Matthais Deherrera 11 Bloomfield High School 18:36.97 37 Samuel Buershen 10 St. Pius X High School 18:43.97 38 Sebastian Solis Santa Teresa High School 18:48.27 39 Alexander Villasenor Lovington High School 18:56.70 40 Ricky Padilla 11 Espanola Valley High School 19:05.93 41 Jose Castro 11 Espanola Valley High School 19:06.29 42 Brian Kalb 10 St. Pius X High School 19:13.36 43 Adam Phillips 11 Shiprock High School 19:18.84 44 Ian Simpson 11 Ruidoso High School 19:20.82 45 Diamond Carter Lovington High School 19:23.18 46 Shance Johnson-Hood 11 Miyamura High School 19:28.79 47 Moises Flores-gonzalez Highland High School 19:37.71 48 Sergio Chavarria 11 Miyamura High School 19:41.55 49 Ismael Martinez 10 Lovington High School 19:43.83 50 Colton Sellers 12 Lovington High School 19:43.95 51 Michael Castro Santa Teresa High School 19:54.56 52 Blaze Sheets 10 Belen High School 19:56.96 53 Michael Young 11 Goddard High School 20:00.66 54 Joshua Helfenbein 9 Miyamura High School 20:06.72 55 Evan Carbajal Portales High School 20:10.86 56 Tristan Jiron Del Norte High School 20:11.06 57 Keith Bridge 11 Los Alamos High School 20:11.21 58 Matias Padilla Belen High School 20:17.99 59 Damian Jacovo 12 Portales High School 20:23.51 60 Alexis Quintero Chaparral High School 20:24.05 61 Jonathan Smith 10 Goddard High School 20:24.73 62 Diego Martinez Belen High School 20:27.57 63 Kevin Barragan 11 Santa Teresa High School 20:32.33 64 Julio Flores 12 Goddard High School 20:48.55 65 Liam Johnson Del Norte High School 21:01.62 66 Cody Webster 10 Portales High School 21:23.88 67 Adrian Quintero Chaparral High School 21:30.94 68 Zachary Salazar 11 Espanola Valley High School 21:36.09 69 German Jr Baca Highland High School 21:36.54 70 Ezra Rabourn 9 Ruidoso High School 21:53.88 71 Nixon Reyes Del Norte High School 22:09.06 72 Nick Fresquez Belen High School 22:15.55 73 Santos Sisneros 11 Belen High School 22:45.47 74 Traise Cain 12 Portales High School 23:03.28 75 Landon Grawrock Portales High School 25:21.77