Melrose sweeps titles at Texico

TEXICO — Paityn Nicholson won her two specialties in Saturday’s Wolverine Relays track meet.

She has her sights set on bigger things in the near future.

Nicholson was an easy winner in shot put (33 feet, 11 1/2 inches) and discus (93-10) on Saturday, helping Melrose claim the girls team title with 114 points to 86 for runnerup Logan. Host Texico was third with 67.

Those teams finished in the same order on the boys’ side, with Melrose tallying 108 points to 89 for Logan and 77 1/2 for Texico.

Nicholson is the defending Class 1A girls state champion in discus, and the two-time champion in shot put.

“I want to beat my personal records in both events (104 in discus, 35-5 in shot put),” said Nicholson, a junior. “I was stressing out a little in discus. I failed to mark on my first two throws, but then I got one in and just went for it on the fourth throw.”

Sophomore Graci Odom was also a double winner for Lady Buffs, winning both hurdles races. Melrose finished first or second in 11 of the 19 events.

“We had a pretty good day,” Melrose coach Casey Jackson said. “It was our first meet, and we just wanted to see where we stood.”

Texico managed a pair of wins, with sophomores Madison Hodges and Kadence Smith taking the 400 in 1:02.96 and the 200 in 30.49 seconds, respectively, for the Lady Wolverines.

“Everybody did really well,” Texico coach Jason Henderson said. “We’re making progress. The kids are getting stronger and faster.”

For the boys, Melrose notched four wins, including sophomore Michael Cardonita in high jump and Jaxon Odom in the 300 hurdles, as well as two relays.

“We had a few kids missing so we had to tweak some things,” Jackson said. “I’m glad we got our feet wet and we competed well.”

Texico junior Jahvon Askew, who had the best jump in any class so far this season coming in at just over 23 feet, went 22-0 1/2 in this one to claim first place. The Wolverines added a pair of victories in relays.

The next outing for all area schools is set for Friday in the Mario Martinez qualifier meet at Fort Sumner.