Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
ALBUQUERQUE — It was a tough day for the Clovis High School boys and girls cross country teams on Friday afternoon according to head coach Mark Bussen, though his boys team did manage to pull out a third-place win to qualify for the next meet.
The girls, however, needing to place at least third, wound up fifth.
Jasmine Morales of Eldorado finished first of 52 competitors with a final time of 19:18 in Eldorado’s first-place win. Clovis High’s Kelsey McNaughton finished in the top ten (8th, 20:37) to qualify individually for the Wildcats. She will run at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 4 in Rio Rancho.
Clovis ran with six competitors: Avery Arnett (28th, 22:36), Samantha Castro (31st, 22:48), Faith Hays (33rd, 23:05), Layla Walley (40th, 23:54), Sidney Stratton (47th, 25:37), and Gjia Tyson (49th, 26:12).
The Lady Wildcats’ fifth-place finish resulted from their total score of 124 on the day. “We didn’t run bad,” Bussen said. “We could have run better, and it was a beautiful sunny day, we just didn’t run well enough to advance.”
In their 53-competitor meet, the Clovis boys were able to squeeze past Sandia to hold a third-place spot.
Harrison Smith III of Eldorado led the boys with a time of 16:40 in Eldorado’s first-place win. Clovis’ Juan Fuentes came in right behind him with a time of 16:57, taking second. Alongside Fuentes, Clovis had two others finish within the top ten — Jose Salas (seventh, 17:20), and T.J. Greg (10th, 17:24).
Clovis had six other competitors: Jerrick Maldonado (18th, 17:48), Bryce Lentz (21st, 18:05), Dominic Moreno (28th, 18:30), Kannon Brooks (38th, 19:16), Trent Allen (46th, 20:38) and Kevin Deeley (52nd, 22:39).
Clovis had 58 points, and Sandia crept up behind with 60. “It was an incredibly tough race,” Bussen said. “We didn’t bunch like we have been, but I feel extremely blessed to make it to the next race. A lot of these teams we will see again, and they’ll definitely be in the top at state.”
Clovis boys will compete in Rio Rancho on Nov. 4 at noon.
