Lady Cats 10th in state meet; Rams' Riess medals

ALBUQUERQUE — Nobody really stood out, but Clovis High’s young girls cross country squad put together a 10th-place team effort in Saturday’s Class 5A state cross county meet, hosted by Albuquerque Academy.

Running with three eighth-graders, a freshman, a sophomore and two juniors, the Lady Wildcats finished with 308 team points in the competition, which included 15 full squads. Eighth-graders Brooke Newcomer (59th in 22 minutes, 37.47 seconds) and Mai Nguy (61st, 22:38.38) led the way for Clovis.

“The team ran good,” CHS cross country coach Liz Ledezma said. “I think everybody PRed (set a personal-best time).”

Rio Rancho Cleveland dominated the meet, led by individual winner Leah Futey (18:17.41). The Storm finished with 60 points for a 25-point margin over city rival Rio Rancho High.

The top Clovis individual performance of the day came from sophomore Sammy Fuentes, who was 23rd in a field of 119 runners in the 5A boys race. He posted a time of 16:59.69.

Fuentes had hoped to medal (top 20), but came up just a bit short.

“I was proud of him,” Ledezma said. “We worked hard this year, and we’re looking toward next season.”

Meantime, Portales High sent five runners (three boys, two girls) to the Class 4A meet. Senior Michael Riess did earn a medal for the Rams in boys competition, posting a time of 16:33.09 for fifth place.

Los Alamos ran away with team honors, finishing with 44 points to 73 for Academy. Hope Christian’s Rendon Kuykendall was the individual winner in 15:29.20.

It was a team sweep for Los Alamos, with the Lady Hilltoppers outlasting Academy for team honors (31-37). Emma Montoya of Los Alamos was the individual winner in 18:19.60.

Sophomore Kadynce Reeves placed 67th for the Lady Rams in 23:18.83, just ahead of junior teammate Emma Hurren (69th in 23:28.16).

Hounds’ Pascoa earns All-LSC honors — Eastern New Mexico University sophomore Marta Pascoa earned All-Lone Star Conference honors in Saturday’s LSC cross country championships at Wichita Falls, Texas.

Pascoa, from Setubal, Portugal, set a personal best with a time of 22 minutes, 47.0 seconds over the 6-kilometer course.

The Greyhounds finished 13th in the 15-team competition with 310 points. Dallas Baptist notched it third consecutive LSC title with 33 points to 44 for runnerup West Texas A&M.

WT’s Florence Uwajeneza took individual honors at 20:59.9.

On the men’s side, WT claimed its 10th consecutive LSC crown with 28 points while Dallas Baptist (90) won a three-way battle for second place with St. Edward’s (91) and Western New Mexico (94).

WT’s Harry Louradour was the individual champion, posting a time of 24:11.5 over eight kilometers.

ENMU had three entries, led by senior Devin Cheruiyot in 63rd place at 27:52.9.

The meet brought the Hounds’ season to an end.