New Mexico's Opening Weekend in Review

Del Valle/Hanks Cross Country Invitational

For fans of southern New Mexico cross country, the good news is that Regina Marquez and Britani Gonzalez are back tearing up the trails. Joanna Miranda gives Santa Teresa a very solid third as well. Right now, the gap between #3 and #4 is substantial, but if the Desert Warriors can close up the gap over the next two months, this could quickly become a very intriguing team.

El Paso Irvin Invitational

This one picked up a larger contingent from the southern New Mexcio group of schools than the Del Valle/Hanks meet, even though the DV/H meet was a larger gathering of schools overall. And, there is definitely at least one result worthy of some New Mexico kind of attention.

Onate's Meghan Aguilera jumps straight onto the list of likely 5A contenders with a 46-second margin of victory and a winning time of 19:20 at this one. Aguilera's run was effectively the difference between a team title for Onate and a middle-of-the-pack kind of finish. It should be interesting to follow Aguilera through the season, and it helps that Onate has a history of making a trip or two north during the season to compete against some of the Albuquerque area schools.

Onate's boys made it 2-for-2 on the team titles, led by a 16:46 by Zach Rhodes that was good enough for third overall. Manny Casillas and Eben Shay also helped the cause by adding single-digit scores to the team total.

Lobo Cross Country Invitational

You can't bring most of the states top cross country programs together at one meet without learning a few things.

For now, Los Alamos looks like the top program in the state, and that would include both boys and girls. Depth gets it done, and the Hilltoppers go deeper than anyone. It is, of course, a long season, and lots can happen, but Los Alamos has delivered the first big challenge. Having Sean Reardon and Nick Hill under 16:30 for the first meet is a very nice way to get things started.

For Cleveland, there has to be a little bit of soul-searching to be done in the week ahead before there is an opportunity at redemption. The team that made it look so easy at state last fall, and even gathered some national attention, came out a little flat. Mind you, this is still a very good team (both boys and girls), but I'm guessing they didn't come into the meet expecting Los Alamos to post half their score in the boys, or anticipating to finish fifth as a team in girls. Once again, however, the observation that it's a long season is one worth making. 

You can't miss the statement that the front three of Giannini, Nathe, and Reagan made for St. Pius X. The rest of the girls on the roster should be making a pact among themselves to push themselves to all that they can become. If St. Pius X can put things together at 4 and 5, they represent a very real threat to the dominance of Los Alamos. Figure that the scoring between these two teams tightens up a little in the 4A-only meet (as if it wasn't tight enough on Friday night). 

The Albuquerque Academy girls seem to be responding well to Kedge in Command. It's a young team, and one that could easily get better over the season. On the boys' side, AA has the look of a young team. A young team often makes substantial progress during the span of a season, so it's worth keeping a close eye on the Chargers. But you already knew to keep a close eye on the Chargers...

The 5A girls race looks like Eldorado and Cleveland with La Cueva having a shot at closing the gap. Creeping into serious contention is going to be a tall order for anyone else. East Mountain represented the small schools very nicely, and St. Michael's had the top finish among 3A girls programs.

For the boys, Eldorado came out impressively well at this one. Eldorado and La Cueva scored well through #5, but have some ground to make up on Cleveland in 5A nevertheless. Volcano Vista could become seriously competitive with a bit more development at the lower end up their scoring order. 

Small school honors among boys go to Pojoaque, but keep an eye out for Hope Christian and St. Michael's.