Clovis boys edge Hobbs in home meet

CLOVIS — Only one day into the 2018 season and the Clovis boys cross country team is already making an impact.

The Wildcats, set on eventually doing some damage at the district and state meets, began their regular season Friday by hosting the Clovis Invitational at Ned Houk Park. Teams came from far north, far south. They came from across the border in Texas. But Clovis’ boys bested them all, winning the meet with 30 points.

Defending champion Hobbs was second this time with 40 points. Lovington placed a distant third with 77.

Helping the Wildcats to such a dominant performance were three top-five finishers — Jon Fuentes, Jerrick Maldonado and T.J. Gregg, who finished third (16:37), fourth (16:39) and fifth (16:43), respectively.

Despite his third-place finish, Fuentes wasn’t satisfied.

“I felt like I could’ve been faster,” he said, humbly. “But you can’t always run faster.”

Jose Salas finished seventh for the Wildcats.

Hobbs took the top two spots, with Patrick Colborn (16:24) winning the race, followed by teammate Brendan Curtis (16:29). But Clovis won the day overall.

“I’m excited,” Wildcats head coach Mark Bussen said. “Hobbs has won this meet at least the last four years. They were state champions two of those years and they were second one of those years and then last year they got sixth; we beat them last year in the state meet. But they’re always, always tough.”

“I thought the (Clovis) team ran great,” Fuentes said.

Clovis had the advantage of beginning its season on friendly turf.

“It’s always fun to start at home,” Fuentes said. “A lot of people come to watch. There were a lot of teams this year; that’s always fun, exciting.”

Clovis’ girls, a bit inexperienced coming in, placed fifth with 115 points. Champion Hereford won handily with 25 points, followed way off in second by Hobbs (66). Odessa (68) was third and Lovington (82) fourth.

Hereford’s Sabbatha Taylor (19:57) won the race, followed by Hobbs’ Mitzy Madrid (20:34), Odessa’s Kayla Mendoza (20:44), and the Hereford pair of Katelin McCathern (20:50) and Malarie Dominguez (20:54).

Hereford’s Melanie Jaquez was sixth (21:21) and teammate Amber Maldonado ninth (21:37), contributing to the team’s dominance.

Not surprisingly, Clovis’ senior captain Faith Hays posted the Lady Wildcats’ best finish — 22:46, good enough for 15th place. But junior Analysse Hamlett, the team’s top jayvee runner last season, did not participate. “She had a little knee issue,” Bussen said, “so I didn’t want to take a chance with her.”

Clovis did get top 25 finishes from freshman Shylee Tree (20th, 23:29) and junior Sofia Rico (22nd, 23:42). But the Lady Wildcats still need to gain some experience.

“Three of our varsity kids have never run cross country,” Bussen said. “They’re going to get a lot better. They’re going to be fun to coach.”

Portales made its official return to cross country after roughly four decades of not having a program, and it might take a while for the current Rams to evolve. Only two Portales girls — Karleah Hulett and Codi Flores — competed, while the Portales boys placed seventh (219 points), ahead of only Tucumcari (225).

“I think we had a real eye-opener — how tough it is to race for three miles,” Rams coach Michael Aunan said. “I think that our kids are going to come back a lot stronger from this. I’m really happy with the way that we competed. ... The mental toughness aspect of it I think needs to improve. Unfortunately, that’s the most difficult to coach. I can coach endurance all day long; I’ve got workouts for that. But mental toughness, that has to come from the kids.”