Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
TONY BULLOCKS: Staff photo Portales senior J.J. Bargas competes in the long jump during Thursday’s Wildcat Relays. Bargas jumped 19-11 1/2, finishing seventh overall and first out of four athletes in the event from Class 3A schools.
Sports writer
CLOVIS — The Portales High track teams knew the sledding would be tough in Thursday’s Wildcat Relays.
The idea was to get better, and both boys coach Glenn Johnson and girls coach Sandie Schillings thought their teams did that.
link TONY BULLOCKS: Staff photo
Portales senior J.J. Bargas competes in the long jump during Thursday’s Wildcat Relays. Bargas jumped 19-11 1/2, finishing seventh overall and first out of four athletes in the event from Class 3A schools.
The girls finished 10th in a 13-team field, made up of mostly Class 5A schools, with eight points. The boys tied for 13th with Melrose, each scoring one point.
Michael Nichols had the lone point for the Rams, finishing sixth in the 300 hurdles in 42.29 seconds, one spot ahead of teammate David Viera. Rio Rancho Cleveland ran away with team honors, finishing with 148 points to 76 for the runnerup host Wildcats.
“We had an open week last week, and we went back and got in the weight room and improved our conditioning,” Johnson said. “Going into a meet like this, with competition like this, it’s been a great meet for us.”
The Lady Rams came into the meet short-handed due to injuries and other commitments. Their points came on a fourth by Kate Thomas in the 3,200 (12.47.78), a tie for fourth by Hannah Cabledue in pole vault (8-9) and a fifth by Karimah Hulett (102-9) in javelin.
Thomas, a senior, is within three seconds of qualifying for Class 3A state competition.
“She took 13 seconds off her season-best time today,” Schillings said. “It was good for her to have some people to push her.”
PHS squads will have their second home meet of the spring on Tuesday when they host the Barbara George Relays.
