New Mexico Cross Country Countdown Series

The New Mexico Cross Country Countdown breaks down the top 25 New Mexico boys and girls teams returning this fall. These rankings will include projected top runners and weighing how each team may do in their respective districts and state competitions. Changes to class alignments and adaptions to the state championship format have been taken into consideration. These rankings are based on past two seasons of performances and do not include teams that did not compete last year due to a lack of athletes and team information. All top returning runners are only projections and may include athletes no longer on the team due to transfer or out-of-state relocation.

#17 Hobbs Eagles

Don't let the 10th place finish at last year's state meet fool you into believing this Hobbs squad isn't returning a great group of veteran runners. The Eagles could potentially be lining up the most senior-heavy lineup among all 5A schools which would make last spring's performance at the state meet irrelevant. Led by senior Adrian Villegas who claimed a 28th place finish could be aiming for sub-17-minute performances all year long. Caelan Pando, Jair Cruz, and Alex Blanchard are the remaining seniors who competed at the state meet while the lone junior Sebastian Martinez will also be a key contributor to that scoring five. They are dominant among district 4-5A and should continue the trend this season as for their role among 5A schools it is not entirely out of the realm of possibility that Hobbs could land on the podium if this bunch of experienced runners find a groove and adapt to their second year with the ABQ Academy course.

5A Boys

2020 State Finish: 10th

State Titles: 1965, 2015, 2016

Individual State Titles: Chris Hollis (1965) Andrew Bosquez (2015,2016)

2021 Hobbs Rankings

New Mexico Ranking	17th
5A Ranking	8th
District 4-5A Ranking	1st

Top Returning Runners

Name	Grade	Personal Best	Best State Finish
Adrian Villegas	Sr	17:38	28th
Caelan Pando	Sr	18:50	49th
Jair Cruz	Sr	19:11	54th
Alex Blanchard	Sr	20:26	63rd
Sebastian Martinez	Jr	25:10	65th