Wildcat boys win home relays

CLOVIS — Talk about a measuring stick.

Clovis' boys track and field team considered Friday's Wildcat Relays a means of determining how far it had progressed this season, how far it still needed to go.

And if Friday's meet at Leon Williams Stadium was any indication, the Wildcats are in solid shape as state-tournament competition looms. In fact, they blew the doors off the event, winning it with 141 points, 72 more than second-place LaCueva.

It was a nice way for Clovis to host its first meet of the season, and a nice test for the Wildcats to boot.

"We competed really well," Clovis coach Mark Sena said. "A few of the teams that we like to see left a little early. But overall, LaCueva stayed, a couple of the teams that we really needed to see stayed, and we held up really well, we did really well. Alamogordo's a quality team; they're going to be in the thick of it for the 5A championship. And LaCueva is going to be giving us all we can handle in the district (2-6A) track meet. So I'm very pleased with the way the boys competed (Friday)."

Adding to the Wildcats' excitement were two stellar individual performances by junior Montez Wright and freshman Mikyla Harkley. Wright was the meet's overall and boys highest scorer with 26 points, Harkley the meet's top girls scorer with 22.

"Those are two of the hardest working kids we have," Sena said. "They're very physically talented, and in addition, they just work really hard every day to try to be the best that they can be. So those are two of our quality athletes, and they really deserve the awards that they got (Friday). They got first in just about everything they did, so I'm very, very proud."

Wright is certainly no stranger to Leon Williams Stadium, having run and punted footballs there many times. And Harkley, though only a ninth-grader, has already made quite a name for herself in Clovis High School athletics, putting an early imprint on the volleyball and girls basketball programs at nearby Rock Staubus Gymnasium. So when they excel for the Clovis track and field teams, it shouldn't be much of a surprise.

Still, their dominance Friday night was impressive.

Wright contributed to the Wildcats' first-place 400-meter relay team that also included Jacob Moon, Austin Fuentes and Seth Lopez. Though they didn't break their own mark of :42.74, nor the school record of :42.00, they did post a :43.71 time that was :01.15 better than second-place LaCueva.

Wright was also part of the winning 800 relay team (1:32.57), along with the same three teammates.

Individually, Wright won the 100-meter (11.21 seconds), narrowly edging out his teammate Moon (11.46). Wright also captured first in the 300-meter hurdles (41.35 seconds) — beating Alamogordo's Alan Garcia by over two seconds — and took first in the long jump (21-3 1/2), too.

Wright says he was just focused on competing, not aware of how well he was doing until near the meet's end.

"I didn't know where I was until Coach came up to me and said, 'Right now, you're one of our high scorers,'" recalled Wright, who viewed the meet as another day at the office.

"Normal night," he said. "I just felt good after my 300 hurdles. My form was bad, but the rest of me felt good. And I felt good in every other event. To me, it's just a normal night."

Harkley captured first in three events: the long jump (16-5 1/2), the triple jump (35-11 3/4) and the 200-meter dash (27.04 seconds). Her feelings were a little mixed about competing on Friday.

"Kinda nervous," she said, "because it's a big meet. But excited for people to see me."

More people she knew could see her because it was Clovis' first home meet of the season. That was a bonus for all the Wildcats.

"It feels good having the home crowd," Wright said, "having your friends, and they're all yelling your name and all that."

Feeling not so good were the meet's conditions in the early going. Aside from temperatures in the 40s to start, there were strong winds and even a little rain mixed in. Much of the competitors were wearing hats, and gloves, wrapped in blankets, as they waited for their next event.

How was it to compete in those conditions?

"Hard," Harkley said, "because it's so cold. You have to warm up extra."

Harkley wrapped herself in a blanket after finishing her events and heading to the visitor's bleachers to watch the rest of the meet. Mercifully, though, the rain moved out and the wind diminished noticeably after sundown. And though the temperature dropped, it actually felt a lot more bearable later in the meet.

"In the beginning it was a struggle," Wright said, "because of rain and all that. ... But then once it got dark, it just felt like a normal track meet at night time, because it does get cold normally."

Overall, Clovis' boys took first place in 12 events. Austin Fuentes joined Wright and Harkley in the multiple-win category by grabbing first in the 200-meter (22.72 seconds) and 400-meter (52.02 seconds) dashes.

Also among the Wildcats' first-place finishers were: Jon Fuentes in the 800-meter run (2:04.46); Jerrick Maldonado in the 3,200-meter run (10:05.90); Josiah Thomas in the discus throw (143-5 1/2); Burgin Foster in the pole vault (14-00); and the 1600-meter sprint medley relay team of Malik Phillips, Brandon Mason, Josiah Lombrana and Skyler Segura (3:52.79).

Clovis' girls team — which finished fifth with 37 points — added those three Harkley first-place finishes to the purple and white's tally. The Cleveland girls, as many expected, took first place with 91.50 points.

Portales' top finishers notched second place individually. Gabe Gaona flung the discus 139 feet, 2 inches, to put him second behind Thomas. And Gaona's Rams teammate Trevor Rawdon was second in the javelin throw, sending it 144 feet, six inches. LaCueva's Parker Brosious was first in that event (153-10).

Clovis' second-placers included: Moon's 100-meter dash finish (see above) and his 200-meter dash time (22.87) that placed him behind only teammate Austin Fuentes in that event; Jon Fuentes in the 1600-meter run (4:41.27), behind only Hobbs' Patrick Colborn (4:35.05); and Bryce Lentz in the 3,200-meter run (10:06.41), behind only his teammate Maldonado.

Local third-place finishes were posted by: Clovis' Brandon Mason in the boys triple jump (38-06), behind only Midland's Sam Palmer (39-07) and Idalou's Mark Caballero (39-2 1/2); Jessie Campbell of Portales in the girls javelin throw (107-00), behind only Carlsbad's Nohely Fierro (113-02) and Rio Rancho's Samantha Carr (107-01); and Maldonado in the boys 1,600-meter run (4:52.72), behind only Colborn and teammate Jon Fuentes.

Plenty of good times, but the chilly night belonged to Clovis' boys team.

"If we just get our injuries healed up a little bit," Sena said, "we'll be good to go."