Clovis boys third at NMMI invite

ROSWELL — A decent outing for Clovis cross country, all things considered.

The boys finished third, the girls fourth, in Saturday’s meet at New Mexico Military Institute.

Clovis’ boys result could be considered especially impressive, considering the team’s list of injuries.

No Colton Wolf (calf). No Kannon Brooks (hip). No T.J. Gregg (stress fracture).

No problem.

Jerrick Maldonado won the darn thing with a time of 15:17 in the 5K race. Clovis head coach Mark Bussen says that time converted to 3 miles was a new school record.

Kyle Richardson was another Wildcat landing in the top 20, placing 12th with a time of 17:30.

Hobbs won the boys race with 52 points, seven ahead of second-place Carlsbad. Clovis had 99 points.

“It was really a pretty good day,” Bussen said. “Obviously Jerrick had a heck of a race. ... It was pretty cool. He led from start to finish. He knew that was a fast course and he was going to go after that record, so that was pretty nice.”

Leading the girls side was Annalysse Hamlett, whose personal best time of 19:57 put her in second place.

Shylee Tree also notched a personal best while giving the Lady Wildcats a top-20 finish, placing 13th with a time of 20:56.

“I was really pleased with Annie and Shylee,” Bussen said.

Hobbs’ girls won with 33 points, way ahead of second-place Lovington’s 66.

Clovis’ junior varsity boys and girls were each fourth in their respective races.