Saturday, May 10, 2008

Tiger teams brave winds at district

Jason W. Brooks News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jbrooks@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas High winds caused organizers of the District 5-5A track meet to postpone several events from Thursday to the meet's final day, Saturday.

Finals in only three events were completed Thursday, with the rest of the action to be completed Saturday.

Los Lunas did get a few noteworthy performances in, however, and the postponement of the events only seemed to fuel optimism for a big second day of the meet.

"The weather, hopefully, will be more cooperative on Saturday," said LLHS boys coach Denvis Manns. Events are set to begin approximately 8:45 a.m., on Saturday.

One LLHS athlete picked up a new state qualification Thursday. Ian Ruybalid made a late push to finish second in the boys 1600 meters; the top two finishers in each final at district qualify for state automatically.

Ruybalid was second to Eldorado's Kevin Palmer in the 1600 in a battle involving pairs of brothers. Bryce Palmer was third, while Ian's brother, Jonah, was fifth.

The other LLHS boys to place in a final were Jerell Warner and Marc Rodriguez, who were fourth and fifth in the long jump, respectively. All other events were preliminaries only, with the top finishers advancing to finals set for Saturday.

Mike Contratto was second in the 300 hurdles and fourth in the 110 hurdles to advance to the finals in both events. Matt Billups was second in the 200 meters. Michael Loveless placed sixth in the 100 meters to move on to the finals, and Logan Eubank can compete in the 400 meters on Saturday after a fourth-place effort on Thursday.

Eldorado scored 26 team points in the limited action, while Highland had 17 points and Los Lunas 12. Manzano scored 10 points.

For the Lady Tigers, Lesly Torres continues to shine, advancing by taking first place in both hurdles events. The junior pulled away in the 300 hurdles even with no one really challenging her.

In girls events that had finals on Thursday, eighth-grader Nicole Jenrette placed third in the long jump, while Deanza Davis was second and Bailey Emond third in the shot put. Chelsea Wain was fourth in the 1600 meters; Mateja Rye was sixth in that event.

In prelims, Adrianna Delgado, Olivia Carrasco and Casey Hendrix all advanced in the 200 meters. Juanita Sanchez and Gabby Moody moved on in the 400 meters, and Mariah Sanchez joined Torres in making the finals of the 300 hurdles. Mariah Sanchez and Hendrix both made the finals in the 100 meters.

Eldorado also held the early lead on the girls side with 25 points to the Lady Tigers' 19. Highland racked up 13 points. Los Lunas won the second-place trophy at last year's 5-5A meet.

The Class 5A championships will be held Friday and Saturday, May 16-17, at the UNM Track and Field Complex in Albuquerque.

E-mail this story Printer-friendly version