Foxes NMAA track champs

ALBUQUERQUE - The Fort Sumner boys track team so dominated the Class 1A field during the NMAA Track and Field Championship, it nearly doubled the number of points scored by the runner-up.

The Foxes ended the two-day meet Saturday at the UNM Soccer-Track Complex with 102 points, well ahead of No. 2 finisher Logan's 54 1/2. Melrose finished third with 43 points, and Clovis Christian ended up with seven.

What's startling is not everything went well for the Foxes.

"We had things go wrong; we had our 4x200 disqualified," Fort Sumner coach Lyndel Bonds said, referring to his relay team being ruled out of the zone during the baton exchange in Saturday's final.

"But the kids came out and performed better than their marks, and that helped a lot. It's a long meet, and you have to perform over those two days. The main thing we talked about was staying humble and staying focused. That's what pulled us through."

Fort Sumner senior Jude Segura proved to be a big cog for his team. He won the 800-meter run in state-record fashion (2:00.46), broke another record in the javelin throw (165 feet, 7 inches) and finished fourth in the 200-meter dash (0:23.43).

During the javelin throw, Segura said he wasn't thinking about state record.

"I had to push myself to win," he said. "I just tried to calm myself and try to throw as hard as I can. It was just a mind-set."

Midway through the 800-meter run, he said he thought the record was attainable.

"I felt pretty good, especially on that second lap," he said. "I kicked it in about the first 200 (meters) of the second lap; that's when I thought I would get it."

A lot of athletes must have been feeling good Saturday, as 20 state records were broken that day despite two delays in the action because of lightning in the area.

Segura wasn't the only athlete in Class 1A to break two records in a day.

Clovis Christian's Lola DeGroot broke a state mark in the girls high jump by clearing 5-3. Later that day, she broke the state record in the triple jump with an effort of 33-4 1/2.

Melrose's Devon Bailey broke a state record in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 0:15.73 and shattered another in the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 0:41.39. He also broke a state record in the 200-meter dash but lost by 0.01 second to Logan's Jantzen Paris. Bailey also finished seventh in the long jump at 18-9.

Melrose eighth-grader Paityn Nicholson also broke a state record in the girls shot put with an effort of 33-11 1/2.

In Class 2A, Texico's Baylee Sours took home a title by winning the girls 400-meter dash (1:01.36). She also finished fourth in the 200-meter dash (27.39).

Eunice's Avante Stevens won the boys high jump at 5-8, and teammate Cameron Santa Cruz won the triple jump at 42-6 1/4. Kaitlyn Gallant won the girls discus at 95-5.