Rio Rancho Rams hoisting State Championship trophy (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
Rio Rancho brings home their third blue trophy in program history after just missing the podium last year. The Rams went through a changing of the guards as this championship roster including youngsters and newcomers that found the perfect recipe for success. Eldorado's Laurynn Sisneros showed some senior savvy in the backstretches of the race overcoming a talented Leah Futey of Sue Cleveland and inevitably pulling away to capture her first individual cross country title in 18:35. Futey would be runner-up with a sub 19:00 performance and Rio Rancho's Tessa Holderman would claim the 3rd spot and get crucial points her Rams squad. Ellary Battle of Alamogordo turned an 80th place finish in 2019 into a 4th place finish this season in what was probably the best improvement in terms of place we've seen this championship. Ava Straton came up big as well, the Albuquerque sophomore finished 5th and also happened to cut off about 40 places from her previous season. The Rams remaining four that overcame a close matchup with Eldorado included Loryn Trujillo(8th), Violet Francisco(9th), Marleigh Smith(16), and Esther Cameron(20th). The final tally came down to Rio Rancho's 50 points overcoming Eldorado 61 and Alamogordo was able to land on the podium for 3rd with 74 points.
5A Girls Results
5A GIRLS 5000 METER RUN FINALS PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT POINTS 1 Laurynn Sisneros 12 Eldorado High School 18:35.78 1 2 Leah Futey 10 Sue Cleveland High School 18:57.15 2 3 Tessa Holderman 12 Rio Rancho High School 19:30.76 3 4 Ellary Battle Alamogordo High School 19:41.46 4 5 Ava Straton 10 Albuquerque High School 19:48.91 5 6 Rory Claussen Eldorado High School 19:50.23 6 7 Vanesa Najar 12 Alamogordo High School 19:57.15 7 8 Loryn Trujillo 11 Rio Rancho High School 19:58.77 8 9 Violet Francisco 10 Rio Rancho High School 20:01.70 9 10 Yisel Palacios 10 Hobbs High School 20:09.57 0 11 Savannah Ames 10 La Cueva High School 20:10.58 10 12 Samanth Rose Schuh Manzano High School 20:11.18 0 13 Janae Shaklee 11 Alamogordo High School 20:19.63 11 14 Daniela Jurado 12 Hobbs High School 20:20.66 0 15 Vivian Micono 12 Albuquerque High School 20:24.94 12 16 Marleigh Smith 9 Rio Rancho High School 20:25.42 13 17 Ellie Suo-anttila 10 Eldorado High School 20:37.82 14 18 Thiel-Hadjilambrino La Cueva High School 20:45.10 15 19 Katarina Arbogast Clovis High School 20:46.81 16 20 Esther Cameron 10 Rio Rancho High School 20:57.06 17 21 Sofia Hren 11 Albuquerque High School 20:58.32 18 22 Madeline Hwang 12 Eldorado High School 21:11.65 19 23 Gabriella Sandoval 12 Alamogordo High School 21:12.08 20 24 Tea Bloomfield 11 Onate High School 21:16.69 0 25 Meagan Harenberg Eldorado High School 21:21.80 21 26 Lana Reid 12 Cibola High School 21:34.13 0 27 Kendall Downing 10 La Cueva High School 21:34.17 22 28 Liliana Sanchez Volcano Vista High School 21:43.11 0 29 Isabel Santillano 12 Gadsden High School 21:47.23 0 30 Jordan Downing La Cueva High School 21:48.13 23 31 Safiya Zavala-sweet 11 Albuquerque High School 21:52.44 24 32 Madison Germaine 9 Farmington High School 21:53.65 0 33 Hannah Kiess 12 Sue Cleveland High School 22:03.87 25 34 Briana Blea Volcano Vista High School 22:06.40 0 35 Kiyah Padilla 10 Los Lunas High School 22:11.53 0 36 Sofia Sanchez 11 Albuquerque High School 22:15.41 26 37 Jackie Crump 11 Sue Cleveland High School 22:16.87 27 38 Shylee Tree 11 Clovis High School 22:19.26 28 39 Amanda Sparks 12 Los Lunas High School 22:22.60 0 40 Marina Weideman 10 Sue Cleveland High School 22:27.13 29 41 Josslynn Ochoa 11 Onate High School 22:30.10 0 42 Elise Toya 11 Sue Cleveland High School 22:40.82 30 43 Deianira Hoyle Centennial High School 22:41.99 0 44 Noemi Gaytan 12 Gadsden High School 23:02.34 0 45 Nicole Pierce 9 Piedra Vista High School 23:04.79 0 46 Ava Eicherly Los Lunas High School 23:08.64 0 47 Makaila Hill 11 Onate High School 23:18.56 0 48 Allison Tree 12 Clovis High School 23:28.63 31 49 Chantelle Marrujo 12 Alamogordo High School 23:40.37 32 50 Vanessa Macias West Mesa High School 23:49.70 0 51 Ariel Clemens 12 Manzano High School 23:53.44 0 52 Isabella Storms 12 La Cueva High School 24:04.33 33 53 Brynn Olsen 11 Onate High School 24:06.48 0 54 Riley Wilson 9 Piedra Vista High School 24:31.57 0 55 Celeste Oaxaca 11 Hobbs High School 24:33.17 0 56 Zoe Char Carlsbad High School 24:43.99 0 57 Janelle Ferrer Hobbs High School 25:21.65 0 58 Dominique Jiron Los Lunas High School 25:27.69 0 59 Marily Ortega Carlsbad High School 25:58.80 0 60 Kira Tree Clovis High School 26:05.59 34 61 Chloe Masaitis Clovis High School 26:44.48 35 TEAM SCORES PLACE TEAM POINTS SCORERS TIMES 1 Rio Rancho High School 50 3+8+9+13+17 1:26 1-5 Split | 20:10 Avg 2 Eldorado High School 61 1+6+14+19+21 2:46 1-5 Split | 20:19 Avg 3 Alamogordo High School 74 4+7+11+20+32 3:58 1-5 Split | 20:58 Avg 4 Albuquerque High School 85 5+12+18+24+26 2:26 1-5 Split | 21:04 Avg 5 La Cueva High School 103 10+15+22+23+33 3:53 1-5 Split | 21:40 Avg 6 Sue Cleveland High School 113 2+25+27+29+30 3:43 1-5 Split | 21:41 Avg 7 Clovis High School 144 16+28+31+34+35 5:57 1-5 Split | 23:52 Avg