Vixens take healthy lead after first day

ALBUQUERQUE — Clovis Christian’s boys got off to a good start in Friday’s Class 1A portion of the state track meet. Meantime, Fort Sumner’s girls are looking for a repeat title in 1A.

CCS senior Keeson Bell won high jump at 6-2 and finishing second in triple jump with a school record effort of 41-2 1/2, helping the Eagles score 16 points and move into second place behind Hagerman (18).

Melrose junior Dustin Glover won triple jump competition, going 42-6 3/4, while teammate Clint Barnard placed third (39-8 3/4) and Elida’s Trenton Chenault was fourth at 39-8 1/4.

Clovis Christian also set records in the boys 800 relay (1:37.59) and the girls 800 and 1,600 relays (times of 1:52.89 and 4:25.18, respectively), all qualifying for today’s finals at the University of New Mexico’s track stadium.

“It was fun; it was a great day overall,” CCS coach Jason Swann said. “Everybody just ran fantastic today.”

The boys still need a good day today to finish near the top, Swann said.

“We’re going to have to come through in the relays,” he said. “If we do that, I think we can finish in the top three or four (in team standings).”

Clovis Christian’s girls did not score on Friday, but others qualifying for today’s finals in addition to the two relays were eighth-grader Ashley Pipkin in the 100 and senior Cristen Wofford in the 200.

Fort Sumner got wins in both 1A 800 events from the brother-sister combination of Skyler and Justyne McMath. Skyler, an eighth-grader, won the boys race in 2:01.96 while Justyne, a sophomore, was first in girls competition with a time of 2:31.18, both easily personal-best times.

Fort Sumner scored 34 points and, with two relays and several individual track events qualifying for the finals, appears to be in strong position. Roy is a distant second with 16 points.

Other first-day event winners for Fort Sumner were eighth-grader Christa Boyle, 12:37.94 in the 3,200; junior Rita Herrera, a personal-best 98-3 in discus, and junior Bree Lucero, a personal-best 5-3 in high jump. Lucero also qualified first in the 300 hurdles (49.39) and second in the 100 hurdles (16.92), and the Vixens advanced all four relays to the finals as well.

Floyd picked up 10 points on Friday with junior Kelsi Gray placing third at 33-6 and senior Alexis Benoit fifth at 32-5 in triple jump, and sophomore Elena Mendoza coming in third in the 800 in 2:32.82. Dora collected eight points with junior Audra Pinkston (93-1) and freshman Kayla Cox (90-3) finishing 3-4 in discus and senior Tearney O’Connor placing sixth in triple jump (32-2).

Melrose, which also got a fourth from Barnard in the 800 (2:04.96), is currently third in 1A boys team standings with 14 points. Skyler McMath’s seven points left Fort Sumner in fifth place.

In Class 2A, Texico’s girls scored eight points and are tied for fourth with Navajo Prep after the first day. Santa Fe Prep leads team standings with 18 points, followed by Cloudcroft with 15 and Capitan with 13.

Senior Brooke Bailey and sophomore Katlin Luscombe each picked up four points with respective third-place finishes in discus (97-7) and high jump (5-0). The Lady Wolverines also qualified each of their four relays for today’s finals, all posting the No. 2 or No. 3 times in Friday’s prelims.

Texico’s boys didn’t score on Friday, but advanced nine entries into today’s track finals, including the 400 relay with the third-best time of the day (1:35.08) and the 1,600 relay with easily the top time (3:33.63).

Coach Mike Prokop was happy with his teams’ performances. Prokop left late Friday for Canyon and son Ross’ graduation this morning from West Texas A&M, leaving assistant Chris Hanks in charge of the Texico squads today.

“The kids did a great job of getting everything in (to today’s finals) that we needed,” Prokop said.

TEAM SCORES

Class 2A
Boys: 1. (tie) Estancia, Cloudcroft 13; 3. (tie) Tucumcari, Navajo Pine 12; 5. (three-way tie) Eunice, Captian, Pecos 6; 8. Clayton 5; 9. (tie) Mora, Santa Rosa 4; 11. Jemez Valley 3; 12. (tie) Penasco, Jal 2; 14. Ramah 1.
Girls: 1. Santa Fe Prep 18; 2. Cloudcroft 15; 3. Capitan 13; 4. (tie) Texico, Navajo Prep 8; 6. Pecos 7 1/2; 7. (three-way tie) Tularosa, Navajo Pine, Jal 7; 10. Santa Rosa 5; 11. Jemez Valley 4; 12. Estancia 3; 13. Bosque Prep 2 1/2; 14. (tie) Tucumcari, Eunice 2; 16. Dulce 1.
Class 1A
Boys: 1. Hagerman 18; 2. Clovis Christian 16; 3. Melrose 14; 4. Gallup Catholic 12; 5. Fort Sumner 7; 6. Reserve 6; 7. (four-way tie) Logan, Mountainair, Carrizozo, Gateway Christian 5; 11. Maxwell 4; 12. (tie) Elida, Animas 3; 14. (tie) Springer, Tse Yi Gai 2; 16. (three-way tie) Cliff, Quemado, Tatum 1.
Girls: 1. Fort Sumner 34; 2. Roy 16; 3. Animas 12; 4. Floyd 10; 5. Dora 8; 6. (tie) Gallup Catholic, Magdalena 7; 8. (tie) Melrose 6, Cimarron 6; 10. San Jon 5; 11. Santa Fe Waldorf 4; 12. (three-way tie) Quemado 3, Corona 3, Gateway Christian 3; 15. (tie) Alamo Navajo 2, Hagerman 2; 17. (three-way tie) Mosquero, Carrizozo, Hondo Valley 1.