Cabledue repeats, 13 score at state for Portales

Staff report

ALBUQUERQUE — Portales finished with one state champion — make that a a two-time state champion in Hannah Cabledue — on a relatively calm Saturday at the Class 4A state track championship.

There were only a pair of weather delays Saturday at the University of New Mexico, compared to four on Friday, before the meet finally ended with Portales notching its biggest score of the day — a second-place finish in the mile relay.

link Staff photo:

Joshua Lucero

Ram junior Hannah Cabledue clears 9-6 during the Class 4A pole vault finals at the University of New Mexico track

complex. Cabledue fell short in her attempt to set a new state record, but won the event with a vault

of 10-0.

“Overall, it was a great day for everyone,” Portales coach Glenn Johnson said. “I don’t think there were more than one or two things we didn’t PR (set a personal record) in. If you’re going to PR, the best and greatest times to do that are the district and state meet.

“There were a couple of guys on the 4-by-4 (where) it was their fourth event, and for another it was the fifth. That says a lot about those kids.”

Both the boys and girls meets were crowded at the top. In the boys meet, the three trophy winners — Taos (67), Hope Christian (65.5) and Bloomfield (64) — finished within three points of each other. It was nearly as close in the girls meet, with Ruidoso (67) edging Sandia Prep (66) and Hope Christian (61).

The Portales boys finished in sixth with 32 points, well behind fourth-place finishers Silver and St. Michael’s (47) and comfortably ahead of West Las Vegas (23). The girls were eighth with 21 points, between East Mountain (25) and Kirtland Central (15).

link Staff photo: Joshua Lucero

Sophomore Trenton Small throws 159-6 to take fourth in the javelin.

Senior Kobi Shillings was Portales’ top all-around scorer with 11.25 points, with a second-place in the 400 (51.22), third in pole vault (13-0) and legs on the mile and 400 relays. Lane Nichols and Trenton Small each notched third-place finishes, with Nichols going in the 300 hurdles (42.14) and Small in the javelin (156-6). Senior David Viera finished just behind Nichols in the 300 hurdles (42.66) to nab a sixth-place finish.

Cabledue, who won Class 3A pole vault last season with a leap of 10-0, won the 4A meet this year with the same height. The junior again tried to set a new state mark after securing the title, but came up just short.

Portales’ top girls scorer, however, was sophomore Taryn Kizer, who finished second in the 200 (26.4) and fifth in the 100 (13.3) and helped the 400 relay team secure a third-place finish.

“Taryn’s been working very hard through the entire season,” Johnson said, “putting herself into the position to have the success she had. It was expected from her, and she expected it too.”

Other 400 members included senior Brenda Calderon, freshman Trinity Staugaard and eighth-grader Abree Aldaz.

Of the six females to score points for Portales, only Calderon is a senior. The boys will say goodbye to plenty of their 2015 state point scorers, including Shillings, Nichols, Viera and Michael Fox — who, like junior Bronte Staugaard, was part of two Rams relay teams.