Saturday at Milne Stadium. Both the boys and girls teams placed fourth in a field of seven schools.
“After the week before, when we only scored six points, I was a lot more pleased,” said Lady Tiger head coach Tara Trujillo, whose team tallied 52 points behind Cibola (121), Valley (71) and Durango, Colo. (64).
The Tigers were on spring break, and without many of their top athletes, the boys and girls teams managed just eight points between them at another Albuquerque meet the week before. They were still shorthanded Saturday, as a handful of athletes were off on a band trip to California. “I felt we could have placed higher if we would have had everybody,” Trujillo said. “But with the people we had, I thought we did a good job.”
The Lady Tigers took first place in two events. Marie Cadieux won the 400-meter run in 1:05.24. Maria Liot crossed the finish line in 2:37.52 to win the 800.
Liot and Monica Padilla would have given Los Lunas enough points to challenge for third place had they not been disqualified for stepping off the track. “Better to have that happen now than at district or state,” Trujillo said.
Colleen Page had a stellar day, setting personal records while placing second in both the 200 and triple jump. And she broke her own school record in the triple jump with a mark of 31-7 1/2.
Other second place finishers were Katie Sanchez in the 1600 — breaking 6:00 for the first time — and the 800-meter relay team of Page, Cassie Sanchez, Cadieux and Chelsey Hastings.
“I was pleased to see our relays are starting to come around. We’re starting to gel,” Trujillo said.
Tiger boys — The Tiger boys scored 47 1/2 points, behind Valley (103), Cibola (73) and Durango (59).
The only first place posted by the Tiger boys was in the medley relay where Chris Potter, Bryan Stearley, Simon Otero and Orlando Sanchez covered 1600 meters in 3:51.16.
The 800-meter relay team of Billy Chavez, Johnny Sanchez, Matt Walker and Stearley placed second in 1:36.01.
Also placing second was senior Jesus Sedillo in the triple jump. “He did really well,” coach Avilio Chavez said of Sedillo. “(The triple jump) may be another event he can qualify in — he’s not that far off.”
Sedillo is Los Lunas’ lone state qualifier to date, having bettered the criterion time in the 110 hurdles. He marked at 37-8 1/2 on Saturday, but he said he’s gone as far as 39-feet. That’s still four feet short of the state qualifying mark, but Sedillo has made up ground in the past.
Sedillo is running the hurdles a full two seconds quicker than he did a year ago. He’s taking his athletic exploits a lot more seriously this year. “I’ve been more dedicated,” he said. “I’m staying more focused during track meets and not fooling around — just being sure I’m ready to run.”
The Tigers are spending the week getting ready to run at the Albuquerque Academy Invitational. The two-day meet begins at 3 p.m. on Friday and resumes at 9 a.m. Saturday.
TIGER
Track & Field
1103
April 18, 2024
