Last year, Pecos made a reasonable contest out of the state meet, but Laguna-Acoma ended up with the title. If Pecos is going to keep it as close again this year, they will have to find replacements for a couple of key runners, including state champion Antonio Varela.
Meanwhile, Laguna-Acoma brings back five of the top 12 returners from last year's state meet in the persons of Christopher Salvador, Augustus Cuch, Isaiah Kelsey, Patrick Keyope, and Jacob Riley. That could be just a little intimidating.
For a closer look, here's what last year's state top 50, with graduating seniors removed, looks like (a question mark means a runner of uncertain year of graduation):
Laguna-Acoma's Christopher Salvador doesn't show in the 3200 rankings from this spring, but only because he was busy running 1600s and 800s. It would seem Laguna-Acoma has all the pieces in place for a repeat, provided they do the work this summer and into the fall. For now, at least, complacency would seem to be public enemy number one at L-A.
Santa Fe Prep, Rehoboth, Pecos, and Zuni (newly arrived from 3A) are nicely positioned to have solid teams, but all four of these teams, and the rest of 2A for that matter, figure to be chasing Laguna-Acoma for classification honors.
At the 2A level, depth is a challenge that never seems to go away. Finding at least five who can run, minimally, 18-something is a task that makes coaches grow prematurely gray. And, when Laguna-Acoma enters the season with five guys who ran 17:42 or better last season, there aren't a lot of options for covering that kind of advantage.
Santa Fe Prep's position is strongest. The Blue Griffins return five who ran 18:44 or better last year, led by Jimmy Buchanan and Kyle Evaldson. And there is time to cover the spread, but it will be no small task if they get it done.
Last year, Pecos made a reasonable contest out of the state meet, but Laguna-Acoma ended up with the title. If Pecos is going to keep it as close again this year, they will have to find replacements for a couple of key runners, including state champion Antonio Varela.
Meanwhile, Laguna-Acoma brings back five of the top 12 returners from last year's state meet in the persons of Christopher Salvador, Augustus Cuch, Isaiah Kelsey, Patrick Keyope, and Jacob Riley. That could be just a little intimidating.
For a closer look, here's what last year's state top 50, with graduating seniors removed, looks like (a question mark means a runner of uncertain year of graduation):