Photo by Jaren Brooks
No other race of the day would come down the wire quite like this A/2A championship race. The final minutes of this contest would include constant leapfrogging on the final standings of the stadium scoreboard. First, Academy for Tech and the Classics then Gateway Christian back and forth among the two until a final surge by Penasco to top the leaderboards and never relinquish the #1 spot. Penasco's 81 points to ATC's 83 and Gateway Christians 85 points in this nailbiter of a conclusion. Led by 8th grader Rochelle Lopez there was not really any indicator coming into the season that would have put Penasco on the radar. Charnelle Gonzales was also among the top ten finishers that gave them the edge over the other two schools on the podium. Capitan and Pecos who were among the podium in the spring felt the impact of graduations as Capitan finished 4th while Pecos found themselves in 6th place.
Josette Gurule defended her state A/2A title in convincing fashion pulling away from Rehoboth Christian's Emily Garcia as Rochelle Lopez would hold on for 3rd. Senior Maleah Goldie from Oak Grove Classical would land a 4th place finish as Pine Hill's Kairi Etsitty would nab 5th.