Clovis finishes in fourth for second-straight year

ALBUQUERQUE — Clovis High’s boys were close enough to getting a state trophy in this weekend’s Class 6A state track meet, and coach Darren Kelley was left wondering what might have been.

In fact, nasty weather with several rain/lightning delays, including two on Saturday, probably had an impact on the meet overall. The Wildcats came up just short of a trophy, finishing fourth for the third year in a row with 31 points — three behind Manzano — after claiming second in the 1,600 relay finale with sophomores Micah Gray, Sebastian Roanhaus and Leroy Wilson and junior Tucker Dobbs.

link Staff photo: Joshua Lucero

Clovis High senior Shelby Jones releases the shot during the Class 6A girls final Saturday at the University of New Mexico track facility in Albuquerque. Jones finished second in the event with a toss of 40-2.75. She was also second in discus and javelin.

Meantime, senior Shelby Jones notched her second and third runnerup finishes of the weekend on Saturday, helping the Lady Wildcats finish seventh with 23 points. Rio Rancho Cleveland took team honors at 101 to 87 1/2 for runnerup La Cueva.

“We dang sure almost got it,” Kelley said. “We were sure trying.”

The Cats ran a season-best time of 3 minutes, 24.25 seconds in the 1,600 relay. They trailed Volcano Vista, which rolled to the team title with 80 points to 53 for second-place Rio Rancho, by just under a second.

For a moment, Kelley thought his young foursome might pull it off.

“We about did,” he said. “That would’ve been cool.”

Clovis finished fourth in both the 400 and 800 relays, running a season-best time of 43.29 seconds in the former with Gray, Dobbs and freshmen Austin Fuentes and Seth Lopez despite adverse conditions.

“When we ran the 4-by-1, it was hailing, but it was our fastest time of the year,” Kelley said.

Senior Taylor Stratton added a second in the 300 hurdles with a season-best time of 39.31 seconds, trailing La Cueva’s Gus Swanson (38.13), while Roanhaus posted a fourth-place finish in the 400 in a season-best time of 50.33.

“We had two freshmen who did a phenomenal job in Seth Lopez and Austin (Fuentes),” Kelley said. “We had some good breaks and some bad breaks, but every kid competed all weekend.”

Jones, second in discus on Friday to Onate’s Yesimi Oroyinyin, finished second to her again in shot put at 40 feet, 2 3/4 inches, while Oroyinyin went 41-6.

In javelin, Jones threw 129-7 to finish second to upset winner Kristyn Archuleta, who went 131-1.

“She did well,” Lady Cats coach Dawn Coleman said. “You always wish you could get first (place), but as long as you did your best that’s all you can do.”

Other points for the Lady Cats on Saturday came from senior Heather Pastirchak, fourth in pole vault at 10-0, and sophomore Jaci Sievers, sixth in the 800 in 2:22.5.

link Staff photo: Joshua Lucero

Clovis sophomore Sebastian Roanhaus turns the corner during the mile relay Friday at the UNM track facility. The Wildcats finished second behind Volcano Vista in the event.

Pastirchak had finished third behind Eldorado’s Lauren Martinez and Rio Rancho’s Merica Valdez in each of the past two years. Those two went 1-2 again, with Martinez breaking her year-old meet record by going 12-4, while Pastirchak came in second on a three-way tiebreaker for third based on misses.

Coleman said all in all, it was a successful meet.

“It was a great day,” she said. “I’m pretty pleased with what we did because we only had 13 girls this weekend.”

In Class 5A, Albuquerque Academy took boys team honors with 64 points, while thegirls title went to Aztec with 78 points.

The Class 4A divisions were both three-team races. Taos took boys honors with 67 points to 65 1/2 for Hope Christian and 64 for Bloomofield, while Ruidoso had 67 points on the girls side, one better than Sandia Prep. Hope was third at 61.