Tiffany Grigg and Robert Caldwell secured a trip to the Class AAA state track meet in May at the Las Cruces Invitational on Saturday.
The Socorro High School Track and Field team held its own against 5A schools such as Mayfield and Las Cruces High School, despite strong winds and many absent athletes.
Coach Dave Mathieu said, “Everyone performed well despite the long, windy day. Almost everybody set personal records. Tiffany Grigg and Robert Caldwell both qualified for state.”
One of the clear highlights of the meet was Caldwell springing his way to a personal best in the pole vault, vaulting 13 feet.
“I came out here with a goal of 13 feet. I met that and went for 13’6″, using a 15-foot pole. My pole ended up breaking, so I didn’t get it. But it ended up being a good day overall,” Caldwell said of his performance, which qualified for state easily, but came in second.
Tiffany Grigg gave a stellar performance in the 100-meter hurdles, placing first in the preliminary race with a 17.02 seconds and placing second in the finals at 16.28, qualifying her for state.
Grigg also competed in the 300-meter hurdles, placing fourth in the finals with a time of 52.19. In the 4×400 relay, she joined Veronica Padilla, Roberta Pino and Candice McLane to come in fourth at 4:45.91.
Kedar Bhasker was also in great shape for this meet, competing in the boys 4×400 relay, the 800-meter open, and his strongest event, the high jump. Bhasker cleared six feet in the high jump and placed third overall.
“I wanted to clear six-two but the strong winds held my performance down physically and mentally,” Bhasker said. “I did well in the 800-meter open. I was disappointed because the high jump and mile overlapped, so I wasn’t able to run the mile. If I can catch a meet where it isn’t so windy, I should be able to qualify for state.”
Bhasker placed fifth overall in the 800 meter with a personal best 2:08 and fifth in the 4×400 meter relay, along with James Torres, Sadou Maiga and Alex Alvarado.
Roberta Pino showed off her javelin skills, throwing 93-11 and placing fourth overall. She also competed in the 1600 meter medley – setting a personal record – along with Helga Bhasker, Kendra Peralta and Brandi Lopez to take fourth.
Pino, teamed with Aditi Majumdar, Veronica Padilla and Kendra Peralta also competed in the 4×200 meter relay, placing fourth.
The 800 meter had three Warriors competing. Bhasker placed fifth overall. Neil Werbelow turned in a time of 2:28. Werbelow also ran the 3200-meter open, coming in at 11:30, the best time for a freshman. Robert Campbell turned in a time of 2:30. Padilla ran the 800 meter for the girls with a time of 2:49.
James Torres had a good day in the triple jump, jumping 37’6″ finishing seventh overall. He also ran the 400 meter, coming in at 55 seconds.
Jeremy Reynolds competed in the 400 meter, finishing at 63 seconds, a large jump from his 68 second run in the previous meet.
James Frieburg sprinted to the finish in the 100 meter dash, reaching the tape in 14.4 seconds, a drastic improvement from his last meet.
There were only two throwers competing at this meet. Alan Padilla threw discus, with a throw of 93 feet, and Jorge Lujan threw the javelin.
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April 18, 2024
