Cats finish second at muddy invitational

CLOVIS — Clovis High's boys might not be quite in Hobbs' category yet, but the Wildcats found out on Friday that they're at least competitive.

Running without two of their top in sophomore T.J. Gregg and junior Dominic Moreno runners due to injury, the Wildcats posted three of the top seven finishes to place second with 69 points behind the Eagles (21) in the season-opening Clovis Invitational at Ned Houk Park.

Lubbock Cooper took the girls' team title with 54 points, with Clovis finishing fourth with 79.

A midafternoon shower made for muddy conditions and hampered times a bit, but CHS coach Mark Bussen was pleased with what he saw from the boys.

"You can't look at times because you probably lose about 40 seconds in the mud," Bussen said. "And we're not conditioned like we'll need to be as we get farther into the season."

Bussen said both CHS squads actually ran pretty well.

"What was our teams' grade today? They both get A's," he said. "They're really both young teams as far as varsity experience.

"I thought the boys' top three ran well. We get Jon and Dominic back next week, and they'll make a difference in how we score."

Sophomore T.J. Gregg led the Cats with a three-mile time of 17 minutes, 0.44 seconds, while freshman Bryce Lentz placed sixth in 17:20.95 and junior Jose Salas was seventh at 17:23.03.

Hobbs' Patrick Coburn ran away with individual honors at 16:03.44. The Eagles and Cats claimed the top seven finishes in the race.

"I didn't expect that," Lentz said of his strong showing. "I was expecting to maybe get top 10, but I surprised myself."

The Eagles' showing was perhaps a bit surprising, considering they were hard-hit by graduation after winning last year's Class 6A state title.

"Hobbs lost their top four from last year," Lentz said. "I thought we could get them today."

The Lady Wildcats were led by senior Kelsey McNaughton's sixth-place finish in 20:37.02. Hobbs also won that individual crown with Mitzi Madrid running 19:12.28. Junior Karli Windham was next in 10th place at 21:16.13.

"Karli ran really well; that was a bit of a surprise," Bussen said. "I didn't know how well she'd run today."

McNaughton missed school and practice on Tuesday with a bit of a bug, but said she felt strong in the race.

"It wasn't too big of a deal," she said. "I's never good to miss a day of training, but I think I was OK."

She said the muddy track wasn't a major factor either.

"It was fun, though," she said. "It was exciting, and a cool thing for my last meet at Clovis."

CHS squads return to action next Saturday in the Plainview (Texas) Invitational, scheduled for a 9 a.m. (MDT) start.