New Mexico Week in Review: September 30 - October 6

Chaparral Invitational

It was a little tough to find the New Mexico needles in the Texas haystack at this meet, but they were there. Most notably, Onate's boys rolled to 59 - 75 win over El Paso Austin, and bigger margins over all the other assembled Texas schools. It will be very interesting to see how Onate does when they roll into Rio Rancho in less than two weeks. They've left their footprints all over southern New Mexico, and now it's time to look for a little northward expansion of their reputation.

And, speaking of reputations, Meghan Aguilera's continues to grow. Even Britani Gonzalez has yet to solve the Aguilera riddle. Despite Aguilera's efforts, El Paso Franklin kept Onate from sweeping the meet titles.

Eldorado XC Invitational

Eldorado passed this test. Well, maybe this one was more like a quiz. Bigger challenges lie ahead, but it's still important not to stumble along the way. And St. Pius X is plenty big enough of a rock to stumble over.

If you were wondering about Jenna Thurman, the new chapter picks up where the old chapter left off. She won't get to run uncontested in 4A (I can think of a couple of worthy challengers), but she definitely figures among the top contenders.

A tough course slowed the times a little, but Eldorado's boys enhance their reputation against Cibola and La Cueva at this one. Sooner or later, the other Albuquerque schools are going to have to find some answers when facing the Eagles. This coming weekend provides one such opportunity.

Gallup Curtis Williams Invitational

Somebody let Window Rock out of the state with the boys team title. Piedra Vista got a 2-4 out of Brandon Levi and Harrison Fleming, but it wasn't enough to nail down the team title. Zuni's Mckenz Leekya, however, kept the individual title within the borders of New Mexico with a 16:44. Not at all a bad time on this course.

For the girls, Winona Morgan of Grants took a 14-second win. The Navajo Prep Express continued its tour of devastation across the state, however. Rehoboth Christian was a distant second at 86 - 118. Small schools, large schools, it doesn't matter much. Navajo Prep takes them all down. The Eagles should be on your short list of 2A girls favorites.

Montezuma-Cortez Ancient Trails 5K Invitational

If Gallup wasn't close enough, there was a nice option across the border. Bloomfield took that option. But the folks in Colorado, nor the visitors from Arizona and Utah, weren't especially kind to the Bobcats.

Santa Fe Indian School XC Invitational

I'll remember to keep this one in mind as one of the biggest small school invitationals in the state. 

Rachel Fleddermann and Alonzo Chavez apparently have no issues with a big stage. They didn't just win, they were dominant. And, Fleddermann very nearly paced her Sandia Prep team to the meet title. That honor, however, stayed at home with SFIS. How'd they do it? In the best possible cross country tradition, by winning big at #5. Victoria Lovato did the deed for Braves.

The boys? Need you ask? Or perhaps you didn't know Laguna Acoma was coming to the meet? Pojoaque took their turn finding out just how good Laguna Acoma is. Pojoaque fell by 35 points.

Valencia XC Invitational

This one takes honors as the smallest meet in the state of the weekend. Estancia's Jakob Bernal managed to keep Valencia from sweeing all of the meet titles. For more information on this meet, please click on the article link below.

Volcano Vista XC Invitational

Elisa Woody (pictured left from a meet earlier in the season, photo courtesy of Gary Herron, Rio Rancho Observer), take a bow. This meet belonged to you.

Reiley Kelly and Brianna Pribble put up the good fight, but Woody wasn't in a mood to let her home meet get away. Niether were her teammates. 1-5-6-10-11 was good enough for 33 points and a margin of 14 over second. Second would belong to Rio Rancho. Nobody else was close.

The Volcano Viewers, however, didn't fare quite as well on the boys side of the ledger. A team in green from Rio Rancho took the boys title by 32 - 63 over VV. Rio Rancho got a win from Mike Goke in 17:07 and crammed three more finishers into the top ten. That usually gets the job done, and this meet was no exception.