Photo by Adam Maxwell
State Championship Results I Photos I Video I 4A Girls Recap
Well, Los Alamos might not have been an underdog by any means but living up to expectations can sometimes cause teams to falter under pressure. The Hilltoppers are not one of those teams as they once again prove to be too much for the rest of the 4A boys classification. They would go 2-3-4 with Keith Bridge leading the charge as Ryan Aldaz and Morgan Schaller following behind. Rowan Flores and Beck Ellis would sneak in to ensure the scoring five of the Hilltoppers would be all-state performers to score 24 points. ABQ Academy has also returned to the runner-up position on the podium with 87 points led by Senior Joaquin Deprez 5th place finish. The defending champions Hope Christian would hold onto a podium spot as they would finish 3rd with 152 points led by the #1 runner in the state. Miyamura and Shiprock get the consolation of being tied at 4th with 166 points each. Takeaways from this championship would be that Los Alamos once again has been able to plug in new rosters to the varsity ranks and succeed whether they are fourth-year members of the program, transfers are otherwise. Also should note that we should not get used to Chargers of Academy to continue to be the best man instead of the groom for too long as they do return six of their starting seven next season.
Photo by Adam Maxwell
The season ends just as it has been all year for Hope Christian's Rendon Kuykendall, victorious. Kuykendall has proved to be the #1 runner in the state of New Mexico (not classification but entire state!) and his crowning of a second consecutive state 4A title has been icing on the cake. Even though he admits the time of 15:24 wasn't exactly how he wanted to perform he would be the fastest time of the day and only one of two boys to go under the 16-minute barrier. Keith Bridge 15:41 performance and the scoring five of the Hilltoppers all showed out as seniors. Joaquin Deprez ran to 5th place behind a 16:53 run as he led his team to state runner-up trophy. Lovington junior Derick Castellanos will be another class of 2023 runner to look forward to returning as he claimed 7th. The youngest of the all-state performances includes Daniel Sanchez of Espanola Valley who captured 8th in 16:56.