Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
ALBUQUERQUE — It was a big day for small-school area track teams on Saturday — especially Melrose.
The Buffaloes and Lady Buffs stormed to Class 1A team championships in competition at the University of New Mexico track facility, finishing with 68 points for the boys and a whopping 101 — all on Saturday — for the girls.
The Lady Buffs won six events on Saturday, including three for sisters Nataley and Lakasey Mondragon. Nataley was first in high jump (5 feet, 2 inches) and the 200 (28.17 seconds), while Lakasey won pole vault at 8-6, ran on winning 400 and 800 relay teams and was on the second-place 1,600 medley and 1,600 relay squads.
Cimarron was a distant second, finishing with 56 points. Meantime, Elida came in fourth at 50 while Clovis Christian posted a fifth-place showing with 33 points.
Clovis Christian (4:55.18) edged out Melrose (4:55.20) in the medley relay
On the boys side, Melrose outlasted Reserve by five points for team honors, led by junior Jared Lee with wins in Friday’s 3,200 (10:36.76 and Saturday’s 800 (2:03.13). The Buffs also posted wins in the 400 and 800 relays in times of 45.79 and 1:34.46, respectively, and were second in the 1,600 medley relay (3:56.17) to district rival Elida (3:56.05).
Elida was also fourth in boys competition with 48 points, led by junior Kaull Burton. He was first in javelin (155-4), second in pole vault (11-6), third in the 400 (53.60) and fourth in long jump (19-11), and he ran a leg on the medley relay.
Clovis Christian, keyed by junior Josh Fly’s second-place finish in the 110 hurdles (17.37), was 10th in team standings. Grady got a second-place finish from senior Jayden Garrett in javelin (145-4) for five points and a 16th-place finish.
Meantime, Floyd’s girls were eighth with 17 points as Ch’ree Essary won Saturday’s triple jump competition at 31-4 1/2 and finished second on Friday in long jump at 15-0 3/4. Grady was 20th with one point.
In Class 2A girls meet, Fort Sumner’s run of 10 consecutive state titles came to an end as the Vixens finished third with 51 points behind co-champions Corona and Logan (68). Freshman Teghan Copeland had a big weekend with second-place finishes in the 1,600 (5:40.42) and the 3,200 (13.02.61) and a third in the 800 (2:32.17), while freshman Rae-anne Williamson was first in shot put at 34-5.
The Vixens also got seconds from senior Kylie Joiner in discus (97-3) and their 1,600 medley relay team (4:40.60).
Fort Sumner was eighth with 28 points and Dora 10th with 12 in the 2A boys meet. Sophomore Jude Segura won the 800 in 2:01.43 and helped the Foxes win the medley relay in 3:50.52.
In Class 3A, Texico’s girls were third with 51 points, trailing Eunice (63 1/2) and Santa Fe Prep (54), while the boys came in fifth with 33 points. Tucumcari took team honors in that division with 56 points.
Senior Andrea Loera took second in discus (104-8) and shot put (33-11) while senior Jaden Stephens was second in javelin (105-11) and third in shot (33-4) for the Lady Wolverines. Sophomore Shabry Boone and Baylee Sours were second (1:00.69) and third (1:01.62), respectively in the 400, and both ran on the first-place 1,600 relay team (4:15.08).
The boys picked up field-event seconds from seniors Vidal Torres in shot put (47-11) and Mason Golden in discus (121-10). The Wolverines ended the meet with a win in the 1,600 relay in a time of 3:30.97.
