Lady Cats state title contenders

Some of them suffered a heartbreaking five-game loss at state in volleyball. Then came the pain of a basketball state semifinal loss.

But the year's not over quite yet.

Many of the key components to very good Clovis teams, in those sports, have one more chance at a state title. And after cooling off red-hot Cibola at a meet in Alamogordo last weekend, the Clovis girls are now considered a favorite - if not the favorite - in track and field.

A large amount of the point gatherers for the Wildcats' thin-clads should be pretty familiar to Clovis High supporters, because they're the same athletes that have been wearing varsity purple-and-white all year long.

Kim Perkins, currently with the state's best time in the 100-meter hurdles and second-best in the 300-hurdles, played volleyball for the 'Cats. Vanessa O'Neal, who was a key reserve on the basketball squad, has state-qualifying marks in the 400-sprint, the long jump and the triple jump.

Aimee Hilburn, the school record holder in the javelin, is better known for her hoops prowess - as is also the case of Brittany Blackmon, who has qualified to compete at state in the high jump.

All of those athletes have something else in common, besides multi-sport tasking: They're all seniors with less than a month of school left.

"They're very hungry. Our senior leadership has put that up in front of the team several times - that we want to win," Clovis girls track coach Darrel Ray says. "I don't have to do too much in the way of motivation because the seniors take care of that for me."

"We just want it really bad, because it's their last year. They're worked really hard and they deserve it," says sophomore Jasmine McDonald, who was on both the volleyball and basketball teams - like Hilburn and Blackmon.

McDonald is part of a slew of Clovis athletes qualified for state in the high jump. McDonald, Blackmon and Ebony Bunton all cleared 5-feet, 2-inches at the Alamogordo invite.

Bunton, a starter on the Wildcats' basketball team, also has state-qualifying marks in the long jump and triple jump.

Come state meet time, the 'Cats are hoping that their relay teams and middle-distance runner Caitlin Waters can also rack up some more points - in addition to whatever Perkins and O'Neal do on the track itself.

At most meets, however, the track events begin just as the field competitions are winding up. And for the Clovis girls track squad, the "& Field" may be the crucial portion of its state championship aspirations.

"That's where a lot of teams kind of forget about us, because they're outrunning us on the track. We're going second to Cibola; we're going second sometimes to Highland and people don't notice us as much," Ray says.

"But we're getting a couple of positions in the triple (jump), the long, the disc(us), the shot, high jump - we're scoring points and we come in with a lead and now you've got to catch us."

Phoebe Berning is another Clovis entrant qualified in the high jump while a trio of Wildcats - Lorena Garza, Kaycee Escobar and Kanisha Beachum - are state-eligible in the discus.

Escobar also has the state's second longest throw, thus far, in the shot put.

"I think we're favored (for state) and we're very excited about it," says Escobar, a junior. "I think we just have to hold up and do our best."