4A Individuals 2013

Alan Versaw

Meet Erin Archibeck. More than a few heads turned to watch her go by later this fall. Photo by Alan Versaw.

When Nick Hill, Sean Reardon, Orion Staples, Zak Kennison, Brandon Levi, Blaise Mariner, Jenna Thurman, and Jennifer Mooday all graduate, that leaves a lot of possibilities open for next year's top individual runners in 4A. 

And, though Los Alamos leads the list of graduates, they're also pretty high on the list of returners.

Girls

I'm going to make an assumption here than since I have no results for Arena Lewis going back before the fall, 2011, season that she is at least a freshman but not graduating this spring. As such, she should be back next year.

She didn't run at state this year. I have an unverified report that she missed a turn on the regional race and, owing to that, missed what would otherwise have been an easy qualification for state. We'll assume that next year will be a better regional experience for her. Thus, she figures as one of the top--and perhaps the top--candidate to replace Jenna Thurman as the 2013 4A state champion. 

That's not to say, however, that she's a shoo-in. There are several more candidates.

A pair of sisters from Albuquerque Academy, Claire and Erin Archibeck, figure into candidate status as well. Interestingly, Erin ran behind Claire while both were healthy, but appears to have eclipsed Claire's times when Claire was sidelined by an injury. If so, it wouldn't be the first time that a young runner discovered some new territory in her potential when a perceived obstacle was removed from the scene. In any case, it's probably a good idea the give both Archibeck's their due, then sit back and see what happens next fall (or maybe even this spring!).

If you take NXR-SW times into consideration, we all better start thinking of Madison Foley of Los Alamos as a bona fide contender as well. 18:30 kind of gives you something to think about. Jordan Parker and Mikayla Pulliam both ran sub 19:30 for Los Alamos this fall as well.

The St. Pius duo of Julie Gianinni and Kelli Reagan haunts that kind of territory as well. Britani Gonzalez? Yup, better think about her, too.

That's a lot of potential contenders for the top 4A female in the state. It's kind of early to start handicapping this one--especially in light of the fact that there was a fair amount of shuffling of the deck that happened very late in the season. Better to enjoy a good mystery for a while and wait to see where it ends up.
 

Boys

 
If you think the girls picture lacks clarity, you might come to the boys picture and think--at least initially--that things don't look so cloudy here.
 
After all, Colin Hemez and Kevin Wyss had very nice runs at NXR-SW. They weren't the only ones, of course, but their marks did stand out among the New Mexico entries. And, state meet results would also tend to reinforce the notion that these two are the top two guys.
 
There'd be just one problem here. Boys about 16 - 18 years of age who finished back in the pack a little one year often get it in their head over the summer that they really could have done better last year if they'd only tried harder. A few of those turn that awareness into action and pay their dues faithfully over the next summer. A couple months later, we all get to witness what looks like a miracle in the first few races of the fall. 
 
Some possibilities for that list in 2013 include guys like Mike Walker, Harrison Fleming, Kyle Carrozza (who seemed to struggle later in the season this year, but had some nice performances earlier), and Aaron Romero. Dontae Vigil had that exceptional race at the Cleveland Invitational...
 
Aric Kedge was an eighth grader this fall. Who knows where the ceiling is for him next fall?
 
All this to say that Colin Hemez and Kevin Wyss would do well to stay focused and singularly motivated over the next year.