Clovis boys heavy favorite in district meet

CLOVIS — Last week’s Pre-District cross country meet in Carlsbad was aptly named because it gave the Clovis team a fairly accurate preview of how Friday’s District 4-5A meet will likely go.

In the Pre-District meet last Thursday, the Wildcats competed against Hobbs and Carlsbad. Just toss Roswell into the mix and you have Clovis’ competition for a district title this Friday at Ned Houk Park.

Which seems to bode well for the Clovis boys, who won the Pre-District meet with 25 points, ahead of Hobbs (31) and Carlsbad (55). They ’Cats just have to perform similarly again and beat Roswell too this time.

Clovis head coach Mark Bussen is confident they can do all that.

“The boys will have to fall down not to win,” Bussen said. “We always love to win a district championship.”

Clovis’ girls have raced hard throughout the season and have had some decent showings, but Hobbs has been tough to catch. Thursday, the Lady Wildcats were second (40 points) to Hobbs (20), but well ahead of Carlsbad (51).

“The girls will have to pick it up a little bit,” Bussen said.

When Clovis was last seen racing at Ned Houk Park, it was Labor Day weekend and the boys team captured first place. So did Jon Fuentes individually.

Fuentes continued his success throughout the season, though finished second (15:31) behind Hobbs’ Patrick Colborn (15:29) last week in Carlsbad. Bussen hopes Fuentes can be back on top this Friday.

Jerrick Maldonado and T.J. Gregg have been finishing close behind Fuentes throughout the fall, with Jose Salas finishing strong as well. Salas was missing from last week’s meet due to lower-leg tendinitis, so his return could make Clovis that much deeper. The Wildcats were already plenty deep last week, as Elias Calderon (seventh, 17:32) and Kannon Brooks (ninth, 17:37) posted top-10 finishes, and Colton Wolf came close (11th, 17:52).

“They’re in a good frame of mind, they’re working hard,” Bussen said of the boys team. “Our goal is to close that gap; we can’t afford to have a minute between our 3 and 4 (runners). Our challenge will be for our back guys. Elias and Kannon and Colt are going to have to step it up to be on the awards stand at the state meet, and we’re going to use district to work on that. I think if we run our race we’ll be fine.”

Clovis’ girls have been evolving throughout the season. Annalysse Hamlett has been a steady-eddy runner for the Lady Wildcats, and posted third (20:42) last week in Carlsbad.

Bussen sees the district meet as a good way to prepare for states.

“With the girls it’s a little different,” he said, “because we’re going to have them a little more rested than the boys. Our goal is to try to be rested at the district meet, and we’ll take what we get at the district meet.”

Not that the girls won’t try to excel on Friday.

“I think the girls can be second in the district,” Bussen said. “As far as looking at the state meet on the girls side, it’s really, really tough. But that’s a couple of weeks away. We’re going to try to focus on seeing if we can get close enough to Hobbs to steal the district title from them. I’ll be happy if we race well.”

The boys are scheduled to start at 3 p.m. Friday, with the girls to follow.

“It should be a good race,” Bussen said. “I’m kind of excited to see how things play out. I love hosting the district meet and I hope we can get some fans out there to support us.”