The Los Lunas boys cross country team placed fourth in their home invite on Saturday. Those who placed include Micah Sparks, Eneas Armijo, Treyton Padilla, Andrew McKinney, Brandon Shiplet, Logan Martin and Austin Watts.
LOS LUNAS — Sweating kids, orange cones and Dixie cups decorated the track at Los Lunas High School on Saturday, Oct. 9, as the 2021 Los Lunas Invite cross-country meet got underway. After the long break due to the pandemic, the athletes were excited to be back out on the track.
“It’s a good day to race,” said Belen cross-country team member Nicolas Fresquez.
The Belen boys cross country team placed ninth in the Los Lunas Invite this Saturday. Those who placed include Santos Sisneros, Matias Padilla, Nicholas Fresquez, Blaze Sheets, Diego Martinez, Jacob Cardoza and Nico Arriaga.
The invitations went out to schools all over the state and the turnout was high. Ten schools competed in each race, hailing from as far away as Organ Mountain High School (Las Cruces), and Santa Fe Indian School, to as close as Valencia High School and, of course, the host school Los Lunas High School.
The air was cool and the sun was shining as the girls kicked off first for the 5,000-meter race, which took the competitors from the LLHS track, up to the west parking lots and around the school before depositing them back in the stadium.
“That was fun,” was all Aubrey Lozoya, of Cottonwood Classical, said through gasps after finishing in first place.
Three Valencia High School girls placed in the Los Lunas Invite on Saturday, including Sonya Lopez, Morgan Sanchez and Helen Roehr.
She followed the brief statement with a big smile and thumbs up. Lozoya stunned the crowd when she finished the race with a time of 20:55:16, more than a full minute ahead of the second-place finisher, Lisette Sanchez, a Belen freshman and rising star for the Eagles (her time was 21:52:65).
By comparison, the third-place finisher, Destiny Marquez, from Santa Fe Indian School, came in only seven seconds behind Marquez.
Though Cottonwood Classical, out of Albuquerque, won the race with both the top finisher and the top team score (43), Belen made a strong showing, coming in third as a team (72 points).
The boys came next. The victory on the boys side went to Bret Bybee, a senior from Organ Mountain High School in Las Cruces, who posted a time of 17:48:57. Maximo Brito (Cottonwood Classical) and Micah Sparks were right on his tail, posting times of 18:08.07 and 18:15.74, respectively.
“It was a tough course,” said Bybee after the race. “The other guys were on me the whole time.”
He followed it up with the standard runner’s signal of enthusiasm: the thumbs-up.
At the end of the day, Organ Mountain took the win for the boys. Los Lunas boys had a strong showing, with 104 points, good for fourth place out of nine.
The Los Lunas Invite was a major success by all measures. The crowd was small but enthusiastic (and mostly masked), the course was clearly marked. The scorers were organized, and the runners gave it their all.
Los Lunas Cross-Country Invite
At Los Lunas High School
October 9, 2021
Girls 5,000-meter
Individual results
Place Name Grade School Time Pts
1 Aubrey Lozoya 12 Cottonwood 20:55.16 1
2 Lisette Sanchez 9 Belen 21:52.65 2
3 Destiny Marquez 11 SFIS 21:59.00 3
4 Sophia Lopez 11 Cottonwood 22:12.58 4
5 Sara Martinez 9 Belen 22:33.92 5
6 Kiyah Padilla 12 Los Lunas 22:40.41
7 Josslynn Ochoa 12 Organ Mt. 22:45.86 6
8 Cecilia Campos 10 Chesterton 22:47.37
9 Taylor Quintana 9 Robertson 22:48.34 7
10 Ellie Merhege 10 Cottonwood 22:51.78 8
Also:
14 Sofia Castillo 12 Belen 23:42.15 11
17 Sonja Lopez 12 Valencia 24:07.11
19 Audrey Abeita 12 Los Lunas 24:12.72
27 Alice Lamy 12 Belen 24:56.12 21
29 Morgan Sanchez 11 Valencia 25:12.80
45 Susan Montoya 12 Belen 27:05.12 33
54 Gabriela Jaramillo 9 Belen 27:48.91 42
60 Breann Olivares 12 Los Lunas 29:15.28
63 Ava Eikerkey Los Lunas 29:29.69
65 Shauncey Cordova 10 Belen 29:55.10 48
69 Helene Roehr 11 Valencia 35:49.77
Team results
Place School Pts Total Time
1 Cottonwood 43 1:54:33
2 SFIS 58 1:58:22
3 Belen 72 2:00:10
4 Organ Mt. 98 2:04:07
5 Los Alamos 122 2:08:07
6 Robertson 132 2:09:05
7 Moriarty 170 2:14:53
8 Las Cruces 195 2:19:42
Boys 5,000-Meter
Individual results
Place Name Grade School Time Points
1 Brett Bybee 12 Organ Mt. 17:48.57 1
2 Maximo Brito 11 Cottonwood 18:08.07 2
3 Micah Sparks 11 Los Lunas 18:15.74 3
4 Dax Rios 12 Centennial 18:16.96 4
5 Jeron Wisner 9 Organ Mt. 18:39.79 5
6 Corbin Coombs 9 Organ Mt. 18:41.24 6
7 Ben Widner 12 Las Cruces 18:50.60 7
8 Zachary Jeantete 12 Cottonwood 18:51.06 8
9 Andrew Parks 12 Organ Mt. 18:52.51 9
10 Alexander Pineda 12 Centennial 18:58.50 10
Also:
13 Eneas Armijo 10 Los Lunas 19:03.38 13
19 Treyton Padilla 12 Los Lunas 19:40.00 19
21 Santos Sisneros 12 Belen 19:52.94 21
22 Andrew Mckinney 12 Los Lunas 19:57.18 22
29 Matias Padilla 10 Belen 20:34.29 28
39 Mac Piper 11 Valencia 21:04.11
42 Colton Plant 11 Valencia 21:13.81
47 Nicholas Fresquez 10 Belen 21:21.68 43
50 Brandon Shiplet 12 Los Lunas 21:32.29 46
51 Logan Martin 11 Los Lunas 21:41.90 47
52 Blaze Sheets 11 Belen 21:49.09 48
54 Austin Watts 12 Los Lunas 22:07.81 49
63 Diego Martinez 10 Belen 22:49.84 56
65 Jacob Cardoza 10 Belen 23:18.00 58
68 Nico Arriaga 9 Belen 23:53.89 61
70 Maximus Passeno 12 Valencia 25:53.53
Team results
Place School Pts Total Time
1 Organ Mt. 36 1:33:21
2 Centennial 72 1:36:29
3 Cottonwood 96 1:38:37
4 Los Lunas 103 1:38:29
5 Moriarty 126 1:40:47
6 Santa Fe 149 1:42:00
7 SFIS 182 1:45:16
8 Las Cruces 186 1:46:34
9 Belen 196 1:46:28
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April 19, 2024
