Photo by Jaren Brooks

ATC will seek to hold on for Three Straight A/2A Victories

Fresh faces on the podium this weekend as we look at what the A/2A girls have to offer for the 2021 Western Sky Community Care New Mexico State Cross Country Championships on November 6. This classification has been dominated by two teams of recent memory but that will look to end as Gateway Christian has become the team to beat heading into this race. For a team that missed out on the podium in the spring by two points, they return a solid squad including the dynamic duo of Hannah Lilley and Sarah Lilley. They have shown strong performances this season with a 2nd place finish at the Academy Extravaganza C race beating 3A and 4A teams in the competition. No other team among the ranks carries a team average quite like they have been able to this season. They handled their district meet with ease and now look to dethrone Academy for Tech and the Classics. That's no easy feat for a team that has won the last two titles and has done it in a convincing fashion. They return Josette Gurule the runner-up finisher who just added 800m and 1600m titles to her trophy case in late June. Also back for ATC includes Lily Rittmeyer and Maiah Trujillo from their veteran championship squad. Don't be too quick to make this a two-team race as Penasco has been performing well throughout the season led by an individual champ contender in Rochelle Lopez. Pecos should never be counted out despite graduations and might Ramah make a push up towards a possible podium spot after other teams have fallen off.

Photo by Jaren Brooks

Individuals

We have a sure top returner in Josette Gurule from ATC but there remain runners from all class A/2A that could challenge. Look out for her teammate Lily Rittmeyer to keep pace with Gurule throughout the race. Pine Hill's Kairi Etsitty is one of those that have a strong chance at running away with it. Etsitty has seen huge improvements from her Rio Rancho Jamboree including a 4th place finish at Academy C Race. If she continues success at this ABQ Academy course she will be hard to beat. Hannah Lilley enters the conversation for her consistency as a top ten finisher while others like Rochelle Lopez and Cimarron's McKenna Sahd are all among the top five hopefuls. Others that could be in the top ten contentions include Rehoboth Christian's Emily Garcia, Oak Grove's Maleah Goldie, Capitan's Evelyn Daugherty, and McCurdy's Aubrey Cordova. 

State Qualifiers

Teams	Individual Qualifiers
Academy for Tech and the Classics	Alannah Roybal (Cimarron)
Capitan	Elayna Cardenas (Cimarron)
Dulce	McKenna Sahd (Cimarron)
Gateway Christian	Jayde Perea (Estancia)
Jal	Lailyn Romero (Jemez Valley)
Laguna Acoma	Sonrisa Gonzales (Legacy Academy)
McCurdy	Gabby Vasquez (Loving)
Mora	Danae Grant (Mescalero Apache)
NACA	Caydence Palmer (Mescalero Apache)
Pecos	Kirshawna Plummer (Navajo Pine)
Penasco	Maleah Goldie (Oak Grove)
Ramah	Kairi Etsitty (Pine Hill)
Rehoboth Christian	Shannon Martinez (Pine Hill)
Santa Rosa	Ria Baker (Santa Fe Waldorf)