Clovis track eyes state championship

CLOVIS — You could see it on their faces.

Though the Clovis boys track and field athletes had won a green trophy last year, signifying third place in the state, they weren’t happy. They wanted more from their trip to Albuquerque. They wanted it all.

Head coach Mark Sena tried to cheer them up, telling them there was no shame in a green, reminding them that most of the teams competing in the 2018 state 6A championship meet came away without hardware. Only three out of 15 earned trophies. A green was something to feel good about.

But the Wildcats wanted a blue. And now as 5A competitors, they expect nothing less from this year’s state meet, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the University of New Mexico’s Track & Field and Soccer Complex in Albuquerque. The ’Cats are deep enough, they’re talented enough.

They’re ready to be state champions.

“We expect to compete for the title,” Clovis head coach Mark Sena said during Monday’s practice at Leon Williams Stadium. “We’re one of the top four teams in the state and we think we can compete with anybody. We expect nothing less than being on top of the podium come Saturday.”

As athletes tossed a football around near one of the Leon Williams Stadium end zones Monday, it was a reminder that spring season is nearly over, that fall season will be here before you know it. But along the oval, Clovis’ boys practicing their sprints and distance runs, the Lady Wildcats working on their hurdles and pole-vaulting, were a reminder that there is still a little spring season left. And in that last patch of season is the last and most coveted title the Wildcats will pursue this year. They have racked up win after win. They won their own Wildcat Relays in April. They won a district championship last weekend at Roswell’s Wool Bowl.

But last year’s Clovis boys won those titles and finished with two teams ahead of them at states. The 2018 team was a good one and still placed third. Montez Wright took a couple of seconds against Manzano’s Jordan Byrd. A couple of Clovis relay teams got second to Manzano. The Wildcats were that close to getting the points they needed to bring about the outcome they wanted.

“They’re a year older this time,” Sena said. “They know what to expect. They are confident that they can win.”

Clovis’ boys had a few dings recently, with Richard Masterson banged up at the final regular-season meet in Lovington, Kris Byrd hurt at district, Jacob Moon pulling a hamstring early in the season. But Sena expects to have a full contingent this weekend. “No new injuries to report,” he said.

If that remains the case through practices this week, Clovis should certainly be in the hunt for a blue, because they’re strong everywhere. Last weekend they captured firsts in sprints, middle- and long-distances, relays and field events. Wright won a district crown in the 100-meter dash and triple jump. Fuentes took first in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. Jerrick Maldonado was an 800-meter run champion. Bryce Cabeldue won the discus, Pacer Hill the pole vault. And Clovis bagged three relay titles — in the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400.

That’s state-championship depth.

“They’re ready to ascend the ladder,” Sena said.

Hardware for the Lady ’Cats?

Clovis’ girls have come a long way from their 2018 last-place finish in Albuquerque.

They were better, deeper, from the start of this season and have showed improvement as the weeks have passed. The Lady Wildcats too have been piling up meet wins. They too won the Wildcat Relays in April. They too brought home a district championship from Roswell last weekend.

Head coach Darrel Ray thinks they should be at least a solid fourth at this weekend’s state meet, but also in the mix for third, meaning a green trophy.

Last place to a spot on the podium in one year? That would be an impressive climb.

“When we look at scoring this meet, it’s more than likely LaCueva’s probably the team to beat with the number of kids and entries they have,” Ray said at Monday’s practice. “Sandia looks pretty strong, because they’ve got the best speed in the track meet. And then after that it looks like Alamogordo and us will be looking at three and four. So that’s what we want to do; we want to make sure we hang on to four, but we think if we run up a little bit and do a few things just a little better, we have a chance to get to third position. That’s a trophy position.

“And that would be nice,” Ray continued. “It’s just a little bit more success for the kids. We’ve had a pretty good year. We may not have quite the team that can compete with LaCueva this year or Sandia even; those two teams have pretty good speed. Good depth, good speed.”

Sophomore Mikyla Harkley should give Clovis a chance for points in both track and field events. At last weekend’s district meet, Harkley won the 200- and 400-meter dashes, plus the long and triple jumps, giving her the most individual championships of any Clovis athlete, male or female.

Senior Antanishwa Molett also earned multiple titles for Clovis, taking first in the 300-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash.

Clovis had champions sprinkled throughout the various events, with Kameron Kelley winning the 100-meter hurdles, Zamaurie Spillman taking first in the discus, and the 4x100- and 4x-400-meter relay teams placing first.

“We have some field events where we can score fairly well,” Ray said. “Mikyla, of course, in the jumps. One or both of our pole vaulters can and will score. We’ve got a good shot-putter, got good discus girls in Spillman and (Kiana) Chappell. So we’re just hoping to get as many nickels and dimes as we can and stay really close.”

Ray says he will jostle his relay teams a bit as a strategic move. “So that’s going to be our point of focus as far as getting ready for this weekend,” he said. “Because what we’ve been doing all season long is running what we call a small meet set-up that spreads out our best kids a little bit more and allows us to score more points in a small meet. So we’re going to have to go to a big track meet set-up, where you raise up your quality.”

It could all lead to winning a green trophy.

“Anyway,” Ray said, “that’s what we’re trying to do.”