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Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Staff photo: Tony Bullocks Clovis High sophomore Jon Fuentes finished fourth in the boys race with a time of 16 minutes, 54.93 seconds in Friday Clovis Invitational cross country meet at Ned Houk Park. The Wildcats were second behind defending Class 6A state champion Hobbs with 38 points.
Junior Kelsey McNaughton was third in girls competition in Friday’s Clovis Invitational cross country meet at Ned Houk Park. The two-time defending meet champion posted a time of 20 minutes, 4.38 seconds, slightly faster than her winning time from a year ago. The Lady Wildcats were second in the team standings with 57 points.
Sports writer
Jon Fuentes surprised himself a bit on Friday.
link Staff photo: Tony Bullocks
Clovis High sophomore Jon Fuentes finished fourth in the boys race with a time of 16 minutes, 54.93 seconds in Friday Clovis Invitational cross country meet at Ned Houk Park. The Wildcats were second behind defending Class 6A state champion Hobbs with 38 points.
Clovis High’s No. 1 runner coming into the season, the sophomore lived up to the billing in Friday’s season-opening Clovis Invitational at Ned Houk Park, leading the Wildcats and finishing fourth overall in the boys race with a time of 16 minutes, 54.93 seconds over three miles.
“I didn’t think I ran that good today,” said Fuentes, a sophomore. “I thought I was about seventh.”
The Cats put together a solid showing overall, placing five of the top 11 runners in the meet to finish second with 38 points. They trailed only rival and defending Class 6A state champion Hobbs (18).
The Clovis girls were also second with 57 points, trailing only Lubbock Cooper at 43.
The Cats started a bit slowly in the boys race, but eventually came on strong. The Eagles, longtime Clovis district rivals before this year, were close to a perfect team score of 15, finishing 1-2-3-5-7.
“I was very surprised the boys ran that well,” CHS coach Mark Bussen said of the Cats. “It was a great day for the boys, and I’m really excited about what we can look forward to.”
Fuentes said the team was able to stay in a bunch and make up ground.
“We were just picking off people one by one,” he said. “We ran a smart race. I don’t think we can beat Hobbs until later in the season.”
link Junior Kelsey McNaughton was third in girls competition in Friday’s Clovis Invitational cross country meet at Ned Houk Park. The two-time defending meet champion posted a time of 20 minutes, 4.38 seconds, slightly faster than her winning time from a year ago. The Lady Wildcats were second in the team standings with 57 points.
Junior Dominic Moreno was sixth in 17:09.72 for the Cats, while senior Dylan McNaughton, sophomore Bailey Goodgame and freshman T.J. Gregg ran eighth, ninth and 11th, respectively. Hobbs’ Andrew Bosquez was the individual winner in 15:46.10.
Junior Kelsey McNaughton led the Lady Wildcats with a third-place finish in 20:04.38. She came in as the two-time defending champion, and couldn’t make it a three-peat despite running a couple of seconds faster than a year ago.
McNaughton had been bothered by a cold most of the week, but said she felt a bit better on Friday.
“I’ve been sick all week, but today I felt OK,” she said. “I was excited. The race was difficult, but my time was faster than last year.”
Bussen said the girls did well in general. In a 46-runner field, the Lady Cats’ top five finished 17th or better, including an eighth-place showing for senior Silvia Velasquez in 21:36.53.
“Kelsey’s kind of disappointed,” Bussen said. “I told her she did what she needed to do for the team. She was able to run within herself.”
Hereford’s Sabattha Taylor captured individual honors with a time of 19:43.17.
The Cats and Lady Cats return to action next Saturday in the Plainview Invitational.
