Tessa Holderman winning 3200m (photo by Jaren Brooks)
Distance
The 3200m was highlighted by runners fresh off a cross country season like Tessa Holderman of Rio Rancho who set the pace early on and never let up. Holderman had in fact won her first 3200m race ever in convincing fashion of 11:45 as teammate Marleigh Smith and Pecos Vanessa Dominguez would follow in the finish. The boys race would include a top returner in Los Alamos Kieth Bridge going up against the likes of Rio Rancho's Cebastian Marquez and a pair of Storm runners with Ricardo Rangel and Chris Humetewa. This matchup taking place on a track and not a course allowed for some to show off their speed as Bridge was able to hold off the field and claim his first win of the year in 10:01. Marquez and Humetewa would finish just a fraction behind Bridge all within 10:01.
Justin Hickey winning 1600m (photo by Jaren Brooks)
In the 800m, Academy went 1-3 with Joaquin Deprez (1:59) leading the way ahead of Justin Hickey (1:59) as both were able to run to sub 2:00 performances as Owen Dudley finished in 3rd with a 2:06. On the girl's side, Katie Wingo (2:32) of Los Alamos held off Tessa Holderman (2:33) while Emma Mclaughlin of Academy ran to a 3rd place finish of 2:36.
The 1600m was a race of last-minute kicks on both sides. Starting with the boys' race, slow pacing for the first 1200m gave way to a sudden breakaway from Justin Hickey (4:45) as he would go on to win in a time of 4:45 as Brian Armijo (4:47) would claim 2nd and Rafael Sanchez (4:51) of Los Alamos in 3rd. The girls 1600m would be Los Alamos' Hailey McDowell (5:45) out kicking Academy's Grace Archibeck (5:46) and Katie Patton (5:48) to start her year with an impressive win.