This fall might just see the best Centennial Hawks squad in their young program history. The Hawks come in at #10 on our New Mexico Boys Cross Country Countdown with plenty of potential to outshine their 9th place finish in last year's 5A state championship. Eaven Rogers returns as their leading runner with a 45th place finish and 16:29 personal best. Other returns from that squad include Samuel Rydecki (76th in 2021), and Aaron Lara (88th in 2021). For a team to land among the top ten on this year's ranking despite returning only three from last year's varsity seven is certainly a rare feat but it's the cast of newcomers that should be filling out the rest of the squad in 2022 that shows plenty of promise. Evan Ball is a senior with a personal best of 17:35 while Josiah Paz, Anthony Epperson, and Onii Medina could be the remaining pieces to add to this varsity squad. They are potentially a team that could challenge district rival Organ Mountain for the 3-5A title if they find a way to shave significant time off that front five pack. Look for Centennial to improve across the board for a possible top-five finish for the experienced group.

Check out 5A Rankings

5A Boys Rankings I 5A Girls Rankings

Watch the 2021 5A State Championships Races