Photo by Jaren Brooks

Buckle up for the ride, Girls 5A Championship will be a show 

This is going to be the closest matchup of the entire championship as Rio Rancho seeks to defend their state title from this past spring.  For all the races the 2021 Western Sky Community Care New Mexico State Cross Country Championships has to offer it is a mystery what will unfold in the last race of the day. It's only fitting this event to be the finale of a season that has seen new stars emerge, new teams, rise to the occasion, and fast finishes every weekend.  the Rams return Gracey Lovato who missed out on last year's championship team but is no stranger to the big stage. Loryn Trujillo, Violet Francisco, and Esther Cameron all return as the 8th,9th, and 20th place finishers to make this quite the squad. Volcano Vista unlike their boys' team was not even competing in the spring state meet but found themselves contending for the blue trophy this week.  This team should look almost entirely fresh from the state runner-ups of 2019 as the lone returner from that team is Angela Korte.  Carysa Marquez has gone toe-to-toe with all the front-pack leaders in the state capturing a win early on in her career with Academy Extravaganza A race. They possess the counterparts to match the Rams for what will be a good race. Eldorado is never truly out of podium contention no matter how many they graduate the season prior. long gone are Laurynn Sisneros and even a couple of years removed from Jasmine Turtle-Morales they remain competitive this year with Ellie Suo-Anttila leading the charge for the Eagles. Albuquerque High will also remain among the group of teams with eyes set on a trophy with freshmen Daniela Figueroa. Also the 3rd place team from this past spring Alamogordo holds on to dynamic duo Ellary Battle and Janae Shaklee as they enter this meet as potential top ten finishers for the Tigers.

Photo by Jaren Brooks

Individuals 

Just as the team race may be in for a close finale so is this individual race that has seen everyone getting a share of victories in this season. Leah Futey will be in the mix as well Carysa Marquez in which they just wrapped up the district meet tuner race just a week ago. Albuquerque high's Daniela Figueroa is another freshman with championship-caliber finishing abilities coming off an APS Metro title. La Cueva's Ariana Thiel-Hadjilambrinos has been a shoulders length away from all of these girls season long and is fresh off a district 2-5A title. This only being metro area athletes, looking elsewhere we find Hobbs Yisel Palacios finished 10th in the spring state meet, Ellary Battle is the 3rd place finisher from this past spring, and teammate Janae Shaklee 13th in that meet. Another Bulldog from Albuquerque High that could be among the all-state finishers is Ava Stratton who was 5th in March. Rio Rancho's state title win may rely on landing 

State Qualifiers

Teams	Individual Qualifiers
Alamogordo	Tatiana Magallanes (Atriso Heritage)
Albuquerque	Makayla Jefferson (Carlsbad)
Centennial	Kennedy Johns (Carlsbad)
Sue Cleveland	Raeann Carrasco (Carlsbad)
Clovis	Kahleya Chapman (Cibola)
Eldorado	Rebecca Thomas (Cibola)
Farmington	Nayeli Jimenez (Deming)
Hobbs	Valeria Marmolejo (Las Cruces)
La Cueva	Layla Lazarin (Mayfield)
Los Lunas	Adreanna Eaton (Piedra Vista)
Organ Mountain	Mackenzie Yazzie (Piedra Vista)
Rio Rancho	Amaya Caraway (Rio Grande)
Roswell	Amelia Romero (Sandia)
Santa Fe
Volcano Vista