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.

#16 Los Lunas Tigers

Since making the move up to 5A, Los Lunas has found itself steadily climbing up the rankings against tougher competition. A 9th place team finish last spring and now hoping to continue the momentum with junior Micah Sparks leading them as he comes off a 41st place performance in March. District 5-5A consists of six teams, therefore, guaranteeing only half of those teams will get the opportunity to compete for a blue trophy any given year. The Tigers are sitting tight in one of those qualifying spots as they look toward making a bigger presence against some of those top five schools that repeatedly find themselves on the podium. Los Lunas returns a quality squad with seniors Treyton Padilla, Brandon Shiplet, and Andrew Mckinney to nearly round out the scoring five. They are one runner away from likey being a contender for a top-three team finish this fall.

5A Boys

2020 State Finish: 9th

State Titles: 0

Individual State Titles: B.Jojola (1964) Chuck Aragon (1975,1976)

2021 Los Lunas Rankings

New Mexico Ranking	16th
5A Ranking	7th
District 5-5A Ranking	1st

Top Returning Runners

Name	Grade	Personal Best (5K)	Best State Finish
Micah Sparks	Jr	17:21	30th (2019)
Treyton Padilla	Sr	17:25	55th
Brandon Shiplet	Sr	18:45	58th
Andrew McKinney	Sr	19:12	62nd