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STATE CROSS COUNTRY: McNaughton, CHS boys post eighth-place finishes

Staff report

RIO RANCHO — Things just didn’t go the way Clovis High’s boys had hoped in Saturday’s Class 6A state cross country meet.

For senior Kelsey McNaughton, though, it wasn’t a bad day at all.

McNaughton, the Lady Wildcats’ lone representative in the girls meet, finished eighth in a field of 93 runners with a time of 19 minutes, 31.30 seconds.

The boys, though, had designs on a top-three finish and a team trophy. It just wasn’t their day, though — the Wildcats were eighth with 191 points.

“We really just didn’t get out well,” CHS coach Mark Bussen said of the boys. “Once we got going, we competed well.”

Sophomore Bailey Goodgame turned in the Cats’ top time at 17:15.85. Sophomore Jon Fuentes and junior Domingo Moreno were 36th and 37th respectively.

“We were about 40 seconds slower than in our (District 2-6A) meet (last weekend), and Eldorado and Sandia, who beat us (then), ran about the same times they did at our meet,” Bussen noted of the boys.

Hobbs successfully defended its 6A boys title behind individual winner Andrew Bosquez, finishing with 54 points to 73 each for Rio Rancho and Eldorado. The Rams got the higher team finish over the Eagles by virtue of a sixth-man tiebreaker.

McNaughton, competing in her third consecutive state competition, was aggressive and ran a good time, Bussen said.

“Kelsey had a great race,” he said. “She got out there in the ttop 10 and held it.

“She had her fastest first mile of the season, and that’s what it takes.”

Bussen said McNaughton, who finished 10th in the event two years ago, actually had designs on a top-five finish.

“She didn’t get beat by anybody she probably shouldn’t have,” Bussen said.

Rio Rancho cruised to the girls team championship with 30 points to 76 for runnerup Volcano Vista. Rio Rancho Cleveland’s Amanda Mayoral claimed individual honors with a time of 18:20.55.

Other team winners for the boys included Albuquerque Academy in Class 5A, Navajo Prep in Class 4A, Pecos in Class 3A and Mesa Vista in Class 1-2A.

On the girls’ side, Academy made it a sweep for the school in 5A, finishing with 52 points to 58 for Los Alamos in a two-team race. Winners in other classifications included Taos in Class 4A, Zuni — on a sixth-runner tiebreaker — in Class 3A and Penasco in Class 1-2A.