Clovis cross country ready to race

CLOVIS — Where Paseo Del Norte and Eubank meet in Albuquerque, Clovis High's cross country teams hope to make some memories.

That's the location of the course where the District 2-6A cross country meet will be held on Friday, hosted by nearby Manzano High. The girls will race at 3:30 p.m., the boys at 4 p.m.

Clovis' boys team has definite designs on getting into the top three and qualifying to advance in state tournament competition. The Lady Wildcats might have more of a tussle, but think they are definitely in the conversation of teams with a realistic chance to move on.

Neither Wildcat team has run on the course, but Clovis head coach Mark Bussen isn't worried about that. "We're going to get there early enough Friday so the kids can check out the course and get a feel for it," he said.

"The kids are used to running a course they're not familiar with."

The boys have big, big expectations. Bussen considers La Cueva and Eldorado the district's top dogs in boys competition, but thinks his team may have just as much bark based on numbers he's seen.

"Of course, times are a little elusive in cross country because you don't know the courses and conditions," he said. "But I think we match up well."

Bussen recalls 1999, his second season as Wildcats coach, when the boys district meet was so tightly contested that his sixth runner wound up being the deciding factor.

"It may not be that close (this time)," he said, "but I think that certainly our guys have a good shot at running with (the other top teams) or beating them."

The top three teams out of six qualify to move forward, so if Bussen's estimation of his team's talent is correct and his runners are indeed comparable to La Cueva's and Eldorado's, they should be a shoo-in.

"I think our guys would say we'd be highly disappointed to not qualify for the state meet," Bussen said.

The Clovis girls are just as charged up, but their task might be a bit tougher. Bussen says, "Eldorado is clearly the best team," and adds that Sandia isn't far behind. His Lady Wildcats will battle with Santa Fe and La Cueva to be in that top three.

"We're hoping to slip in under the radar," Bussen said. "We're not expected to be a contender."

They themselves, however, expect to be one.

For both teams, Bussen says he likes to act as sort of an advance scout who goes and sizes up the opposition, the field conditions. In this case, he tries to run the course and give his runners as many pointers as he can.

"Little things like footing, direction," he said. "Just little things I can kind of watch out for."

The state meet is scheduled for Nov. 4 at Rio Rancho High School.