Clovis boys take fourth at state cross country

RIO RANCHO — Caitlin Waters, there’s little doubt, is quite a natural when it comes to running the half-mile — which she’s won twice at the state level.

Cross country, however, is something Waters has had to work at.

On Saturday, the Clovis senior placed fifth in her final Class 5A state cross country race and she and her coach, Mike Hankins, couldn’t have been more pleased.

“I think it went pretty good,” Waters said. “My goal was to reach the top 10, so I was pretty proud of myself.”

Waters tracked down Rio Rancho sophomore Tamara Lemention in the final 30 yards to reach the top five.

“You come in here, hoping for her sake, that she’s in the top 10,” Hankins said. “The top five would be awesome.

“That’s a heck of a field she ran in. It’s an unbelievable field, and there’s a lot of colleges that would like to take all five.”

Waters’ finish helped the Clovis girls to a 12th-place result in the team standings.

The Clovis boys, meanwhile, finished fourth behind Cibola, Sandia and Eldorado. The Wildcats’ best individual placing was by junior Jarin Morgan, who was 15th.

Senior Izzy Miranda was expected to lead the Cats’ charge, but other Clovis teammates also finished ahead of Miranda in the end. Seth Zarate was 25th overall, while Justin Netcher took 28th.

Miranda, exhausted and helped out of the Rio Rancho football stadium by Netcher and Carlsbad’s Coty Gooch, finished the course in 32nd place.

Only a few minutes earlier, Miranda was in fourth place halfway through the race.

“Halfway through the race, I just got dehydrated and I just couldn’t go,” Miranda said. “I tried everything, but I just couldn’t. I wasn’t hurting, but I did start getting woozy and dizzy.”

While Miranda, in his first year of running cross country, might have been by surprised by his body’s reaction, so were his teammates.

“I was like, ‘I’m beating Izzy,’” said Morgan, who passed Miranda in the last mile. “He looked all right, except for at the end.”

The individual winner in the boys 5A race was Eldorado’s Bryce Palmer, while his twin brother Kevin finished second.

“I think Izzy worked so hard, he might have gone out too hard,” Hankins said. “He just got dehydrated.

“For us to be able to compete, Izzy had to go out to the front and that’s what he did. That’s the kind of heart that Izzy has.”

Twins also played a major role in the girls 5A race as Carlsbad’s Brandy Castillo crossed first — ahead of Eldorado’s Kristy Hannah, La Cueva’s Erika Firebaugh and Brandy’s twin sister, Brittany.

For Clovis, behind Waters were teammates Anica Chairez (62nd), Callie Bunce (75th) and Kyra Bussen (80th).

“Fourth place is a great finish for us,”Hankins said of the boys. “If you look at the top five, all five were district champions.”

In his first year as head coach, Hankins praised both his boys and girls contingents.

“All we talked about last night was coming out and giving us a chance and race,” he said. “That’s what we did, and what else can you ask for?”