Clovis boys win XC meet in Plainview

PLAINVIEW, Texas — Clovis High’s boys may not have been in midseason form on Saturday, but they weren’t that far off.

The Wildcats’ top three runners broke 17 minutes over a three-mile course as CHS coasted to the team title with 27 points in the Plainview Invitational, well ahead of the host Bulldogs at 70.

Clovis was the only non-Texas school in the meet.

Junior Jon Fuentes finished second for the Cats in 16 minutes, 39 seconds, one second ahead of junior Jose Salas. Meantime, freshman Bryce Lentz came in fifth overall at 16:59.

“(Our top) five guys ran together pretty well for the first two miles,” CHS cross country coach Mark Bussen said. “To have three guys under 17 minutes this early is a pretty big deal.”

Plainview’s Sergio Lara won the race in 16:59.

The CHS girls were last among just four full teams with 78 points. Hereford won that division at 27.

Senior Kelsey McNaughton led the Lady Wildcats with a time of 19:56, good for third place. Hereford’s Tabitha Taylor won in 19:15.

Six Clovis runners finished between 20th and 29th. Bussen likes the idea of bunching his runners, but added it wasn’t quite enough to get them a good team finish.

“The girls are bunched, but we need to be more aggressive early in the race,” he said. “Our goal next week will be to get them out a little quicker.”

Clovis teams return to action on Saturday in the New Mexico Military Invitational at Roswell, scheduled for a 10 a.m. start.