BHS girls, LLHS boys win Burke Track & Field Invitational

Belen 

A standout individual performance by Sophia Cox led Belen to the girls’ title, and a balanced effort carried the Los Lunas boys to first place in the Jim Burke Invitational track meet Saturday at Belen High School.  

Cox hit the tape first in the 100 meters in a state qualifying time of 12.97, was first in the 200 meters (27.03), second in the 400 meters and was a member of the winning 4×400 meter relay team (4:22.11).   

The Eagles also earned top points in the 4×800 meter relay with a state qualifying mark of 10:29:83.    

Sara Martinez, of BHS, crossed the finish line first in the 800 meters (2:31:47), edging Mckaylee Burt, of Los Lunas, by just over a second.   

The Tigers were first in the 1600 sprint medley relay (4:57:48) while Emmalee Jones tied for first in the high jump (4-8) but lost a tiebreaker to earn second-place points.   

In the triple jump, Valencia’s Zipporah Henegan went just over 31 feet for first.   

Belen captured the girls team title with 114 points, followed by Menaul (78) and LLHS (69.5). Valencia was seventh (20.5).  

In the boys’ battle, LLHS had five individual winners and three first-place relay finishes to win easily with 144 points. Grants (75) and Belen (66) were next with Valencia seventh (28).  

The relay victories came in the 4×100 meters (45:34), 4×400 (3:53:68), and 1600 sprint medley (3:54:18).   

Jesus Garza continued his excellent season for Los Lunas in the weights, winning the javelin (153-7) with a state qualifying throw and taking second in the shot put.    

Other Los Lunas winners include James Kilcullen in 1600 meters (4:59:87), Jacob Garcia 300-meter hurdles (47.65), Demetrio Pino long jump () and Jeronimo Herrera triple jump (40-07.50).  

For Belen, Brady Aragon captured the 110-meter hurdles (17.98), Wilson Ivander shot put (38-11) and 4×800 relay team (9:09.75).   

Victor Ramirez was Valencia’s top performer with a dominating first place showing in the 800 meters (2:07.32).