Maldonado going for rare triple in 5A state track

HOBBS — With the track season finally nearing an end, Clovis High senior Jerrick Maldonado is trying to ratchet up his performance.

Maldonado has been building for a run at a rare triple — the 800, the 1,600 and the 3,200 — in Saturday’s Class 5A state track meet at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

In Friday’s District 4-5A meet, he swept those events to help the Wildcats finish second in team standings behind Hobbs.

Because of COVID-19 issues, the New Mexico Activities Association has turned each of the five state track meets into one-day events, instead of two. That means Maldonado will have to do his best to pace himself.

“He’s going to have to really manage his load that day,” CHS boys coach Mark Sena said. “He’s just going to have to be a real tough guy.”

Maldonado will run the 3,200 in late morning, then gets a fairly long break before the 800, followed by a shorter break for the 1,600.

His main personal goal is to try to break the 5A state mark in the 800, which is around 1 minute, 53 seconds. His best time in the event is just under two minutes, so he’ll have to shave some seconds.

“If he can pull off this triple, I think it’ll be some kind of legendary thing,” Sena said.

Senior Pacer Hill won pole vault on Friday at an even 14 feet and should have a good chance to win next weekend.

“Right now, he’s a full foot and an inch better than the next competitor,” Sena said. “If we do what we can do, (Maldonado and Hill will) be able to put us (in position for) a solid meet.”

Clovis won three other events on Friday, with sophomore Robert Nora taking triple jump at 42 feet, 1 inch and long jump at 21-6, while the 3,200 relay team ran away with its event in 9:24.36.

On the girls’ side, the Lady Wildcats also finished second to Hobbs. Coach Darrel Ray said the Lady Eagles were able to utilize their superior depth.

“We got outmanned,” Ray said. “Hobbs has some depth, and they exploited it.

“We got beat by about four-100ths of a second in the 4x1, but we qualified it for state and that was the important thing.”

The Lady Cats won five events, including two relays. Senior Camryn Barros took pole vault at 11-3 — she should be the top seed next week — while seniors Skyler Jordan and Kiara Cox added wins in shot put and the 200, respectively.

Jordan was top three in all three throwing events on Friday, and had already qualified for state in all of them.

PHS boys second, girls third in district — Senior Traise Cain won all four of his events to lead the Portales High boys to a second-place finish in Friday’s District 4-4A meet at Artesia, trailing Lovington (111).

Cain went 6-2 in high jump, 14 feet in pole vault, 14.56 seconds in the 110 hurdles and 40.15 in the 300 hurdles. Portales coach Quintin Wilson said he’ll have “a shot in all four” in next Friday’s Class 4A state competition.

“Traise had a really good day,” Wilson said. “He just goes out there and gets it done, like he has all year.”

Sophomore Michael Riess claimed victories for the Rams in the 800 (2:04.28) and 1,600 (4:53.81). Also, Dason Davis won long jump (20-9), L.J. Jackson was first in the 400 (54.92) and the 1,600 relay team prevailed in 3:39.57.

For the girls, who were third with 47 points behind Artesia (155 1/2) and Lovington (74), junior Kylyie Paden won in high jump (5-0) and pole vault (10-6), and appears to have a good chance to do well in both this week.

“I’m proud of the kids,” Wilson said. “They always go out and compete. Every time we’ve asked them to do something, they’ve gone out and done their best, and that’s all a coach can ask.”