Cleveland may not have needed it, but they summoned the meteorological forces to their side nevertheless in claiming the titles at their inviational on Saturday.
November 6, 2011 was a breakthrough day for the athletic department at Sue Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. That morning, in freezing temperatures and blowing snow, the Sue Cleveland girls’ cross country team captured the first team state title in school history – in any sport. Just hours later, their boys’ counterpart captured the school’s second championship. Both teams were led to their respective championships by phenomenal individual efforts from Malia Gonzales and Luis Martinez, who made that day a clean Sue Cleveland sweep by both claiming individual championships. Afterward, Gonzales remarked that the her school’s success in the tempestuous weather was appropriate, given that Sue Cleveland’s mascot is “The Storm.”
While the 2012 New Mexico Track and Field season is technically a couple of weeks old, Saturday, March 10 marked the “kick-off” of the spring sport for many teams around the state. In Rio Rancho, Sue Cleveland High School held a small but competitive season-opening meet in – you guessed it – freezing temperatures and blowing snow.
And, as you may also have guessed, the Storm defended their home track with a team performance worthy of their nickname.
In the day’s first event, the girls 3200m run, the Sue Cleveland girls got off to a quick start, sweeping the top three positions, led by Nicolette Pacheco in 12:19.45. That gave the Storm a lead in team points that they would never relinquish, and they went on to dominate to the tune of a 187-91 victory over second-place Eldorado, out of Albuquerque. Cibola High School, also of Albuquerque finished in third with 61.
Team results from the boys side have not yet been made available (and Milesplit New Mexcio will be updated to include them once they are), but it is a safe assumption that Sue Cleveland was victorious on that side as well. There wasn’t an event where their boys weren’t represented – and well, at that.
In one of the day’s most anticipated races, Sue Cleveland’s Luis Martinez led wire to wire in the 1600m run. Martinez, who had already qualified for the 5A state championships in the 800 and 3200, finished the trio after a 61 second opening lap led to a victorious 4:27 (unofficial time – but well below the 5A state qualifying 4:34.00). Martinez also anchored the Storm’s 1600m medley relay team to victory.
In spite of the weather, the day still featured numerous quality performances across the board, and perhaps more importantly, opened up the 2012 spring sport’s season with a bang. Track and Field is a surprisingly short season in New Mexico, and the state championships are just nine short weeks away. In a sometimes chaotic season (of a sometimes chaotic sport), sometimes we all just need a smoothly-run, positively-toned competition – so that we can take a big step back and watch the snow fall.