Wildcat track teams take first in Artesia

ARTESIA — The Clovis boys track and field team continues to top its competition — and itself.

Not only did the Wildcats win Friday's Bulldogs Relays in Artesia — their second meet title in the span of a week — they also posted some new state-qualifying times and bettered some old ones.

Plus, there was a new meet record set by Clovis' Burgin Foster, whose mark of 15-1 inch in the pole vault beat the old meet record by an inch.

The Wildcats won Friday's meet with 117 points, far ahead of second-place Hobbs' 78. They also had new qualifying numbers from: Austin Fuentes in the 400-meter dash (:50.60, first place); the 4 x 400-meter relay team of Fuentes, Ethan Culliver, Skyler Segura and Montez Wright (3:27.25, first place); and freshman Pacer Hill in the pole vault (12-6, third place).

Fuentes' time in the 400 met the state-qualifying requirement exactly. He had already qualified in the 100-meter dash, and improved on that time Saturday with an 11.02, good for second place in the event.

Also improving on state-qualifying numbers were: Malik Phillips with his mark of 43-10 1/2 in the triple jump (first place); and Josiah Thomas, with his throw of 157-4 in the discus, and 51-5.5 in the shot (both second place).

Clovis' Rheal Kuchta posted a first-place mark in the javelin (156-1).

"Overall it was a solid meet," Clovis coach Mark Sena said. "I think we scored in just about every event. We just want the kids to continue to improve in every track meet and hopefully we'll peak at the right time - in district and state."

Clovis competed well despite some adversity. "We were a little short-handed due to injury," Sena said, "and still they did quite well."

Overcoming the injuries showed the depth of Clovis' program.

"I had some kids run from the JV squad," Sena said. "They had an opportunity to run with the varsity and they did well. We moved some things around and the kids were still able to run well and do the things they needed to do for us to be successful."

Tuesday, Sena and his coaches will bring a "majority of the squad" to Hobbs for the Pat Henry Qualifier, which begins at 3 p.m. Friday, it's off to the Ross Black Relays in Lovington.

"Later in the year I wanted to have the kids compete more," Sena said, "and so the next two weeks we'll be running at least two days a week to kind of get prepared. Because that is what we'll do for districts and states; kind of a simulation in a way to try to get us physically ready to handle the district and state meets. Hopefully that pays off."

Ladies first

The girls also took first place, scoring 80 points to top Albuquerque High (70) and the host Bulldogs (60).

Coach Keith Durham was happy with the meet overall, particularly with getting the 800 relay team qualified and having Mikyla Harkley (17-5) and Kianna Chappell (37-7) extend season highs in the long jump and shot put, respectively.

The aforementioned were three of Clovis' four event wins on the night. The other came from Zamaurie Spillman throwing 111-10 in the discus.

"I thought everybody ran really well, and put their best effort out there," Durham said. "We have some people who are close to qualifying."

Durham is confident more athletes will qualify for state in their final three meets — Tuesday at Hobbs and Friday at Lovington before district the following week.

"They are so close," Durham said. "We have one kid who's six 100ths of a second away in the 300 hurdles, and our mile relay is right there."

Local results

Friday

Boys

Team scores — 1. Clovis, 117; 2. Hobbs, 78; 3. Carlsbad, 52.5; 4 (tie). Artesia 46, Roswell 46; 6. Albuquerque, 25; 7. Lovington, 24; 8. Moriarty, 20; 9. Portales, 16.5; 10. Goddard, 16; 11. Ruidoso, 10; 12. St. Pius X, 3.

Clovis results

100: 2. Austin Fuentes, :11.02; 3. Montez Wright, :11.16.

200: 3. Jacob Moon, :23.20.

400: 1. Austin Fuentes, :50.60.

1,600: 3. Bryce Lentz, 4:43.72.

3,200: 5. Jerrick Maldonado, 10:24.51.

110m hurdles: 4. Burgin Foster, :16.27.

300m hurdles: 2. Montez Wright, :41.19.

400 relay: 2. Jacob Moon, Austin Fuentes, Burgin Foster, Montez Wright, :42.87.

800 relay: 2. Malik Phillips, Burgin Foster, Skyler Segura, Jacob Moon, 1:32.38.

1,600 relay: 1. Austin Fuentes, Ethan Culliver, Skyler Segura, Montez Wright, 3:27.25.

1,600 medley relay: 3. Jacob Moon, Burgin Foster, Ethan Culliver, Jerrick Maldonado, 3:46.76.

Pole vault: 1. Burgin Foster, 15-1. 3. Pacer Hill, 12-6. 5. Justin Manilla, 12-6.

Long jump: 3. Malik Phillips, 20-10.75.

Triple jump: 1. Malik Phillips, 43-10.5. 4. Montez Wright, 41-10.25.

Shot put: 2. Josiah Thomas, 51-5.5.

Discus: 2. Josiah Thomas, 157-4. 5. Daniel Mendoza, 130-5.

Javelin: 1. Rheal Kuchta, 156-1. 3. Jaylen Mason, 153-3. 5. Jonathan Avila, 149-1.

Portales results

800 relay: 3. Romeo Gbassagee, Jalen Allen, Julian Urioste Andrew Villegas, 1:33.65.

1,600 medlay relay: 4. Romeo Gbassagee, Jalen Allen, Andrew Villegas, Maximus Cordova, 3:52.65.

High jump: 5. Julian Urioste, 5-10.

Pole vault: 6. Aiden Cabeldue, 12-0.

Girls

Team standings — 1. Clovis, 80; 2. Albuquerque, 70; 3. Artesia, 60; 4. St. Pius X, 51; 5. Carlsbad, 47.5; 6. Lovington, 34; 7. Goddard, 33.5; 8. Moriarty, 26; 9. Roswell, 21; 10. Ruidoso, 15; 11. Hobbs, 14; 12 (tie). NMMI, 1, Portales, 1.

Clovis results

100: 3. Antanishwa Molett, :12.95.

200: 3. Mikyla Harkley, :27.19.

400: 3. Sidney Stratton, 1:02.65.

800: 4. Sofia Rico, 2:37.68.

1,600: 4. Analyse Hamlett, 5:57.21.

3,200: 4. Analyse Hamlett, 12:53. 51.

100 hurdles: 3. Kameron Kelley, :17.27.

300 hurdles: 2. Morgan Edwards, :48.96.

400 relay: 3. Kiyrha Lilly, Kiara Cox, Ahna Haskins, Camryn Baros, :52.14.

800 relay: 1. Antanishwa Molett, Morgan Edwards, Tajvionna Johnson, Mikyla Harkley, 1:47.31.

1,600 relay: 3. Gracie Rollins, Antanishwa Molett, Sidney Stratton, Mikyla Harkley, 4:18.07.

Long jump: 1. Mikyla Harkley, 17-5.5. 2. Tajvionna Johnson, 16-6.75. 4. Antanishwa Molett, 16-4.

Shot put: 1. Kianna Chappell, 37-7.

Discus: 1. Zamaurie Spillman, 111-10.

Javelin: 6. Meghan Emerich, 104-4.5.

Portales results

Pole vault: 5. Emily Christensen, 7-6.