Cross country: Clovis boys crush field

CLOVIS — It was a pretty nice haul for the Clovis cross country program.

— Hosting Friday’s District 4-5A championship meet at Ned Houk Park, the Clovis boys took first, outdistancing second-place Hobbs by 29 points.

— Wildcats senior Jon Fuentes won the individual boys title, his first district crown.

— Fellow Wildcats Jerrick Maldonado and T.J. Gregg captured second and third, respectively. From one to three, Clovis finished a mere three seconds apart.

— Junior Annalysse Hamlett took second place in the girls meet, as did the Lady Wildcats as a team.

A nice haul indeed.

“I think all the kids had a good day,” Clovis head coach Mark Bussen said, “but more than that, we’re going to be fresher for next week (at states), and that’s going to be a real jump for us.”

“It’s awesome, it’s exciting,” Fuentes said of the boys team title. “We expected to win, but it’s always exciting.”

“It’s great,” Maldonado said. “This is barely my second year and we haven’t won district in such a long time. And I’m just excited that we won district this year.”

The Wildcats did acknowledge that Hobbs burner Patrick Colborn was absent from the race. “It wasn’t as sweet as it would’ve been if Patrick was here,” Gregg said, “but it was still pretty great coming in right next to each other as a team.”

To the best of Bussen’s knowledge, it had been six, maybe seven years since Clovis’ boys won a district championship.

“Hobbs has kind of dominated the boys side for a while,” Bussen said. “We’ve had five or six girls district titles in a row, and Hobbs seemed like they won the boys that many times.”

Perhaps in small part because Colborn was missing, but in larger part because of the Wildcats’ depth, they simply blew the doors off district Friday, finishing with 19 points. Hobbs was far back in second with 48, followed by Carlsbad with 60. Roswell, with only four runners, didn’t qualify for the team standings.

Fuentes’ title-winning time was 16:18. “It’s nice to finally be a district champion,” he said.

Maldonado was right behind with his second-place time of 16:19. “Really exciting,” he said.

Gregg was right there too with his third-place time of 16:21. “It just shows how well we can run as a group,” he said.

Helping in Clovis’ dominance was Jose Salas, who missed last week’s Pre-District meet in Carlsbad with lower-leg tendinitis but was back in action Friday and placed fifth with a time of 16:57.

But Clovis wasn’t done landing in the top 10. Kannon Brooks was eighth (17:22) and Colton Wolf 10th (17:25).

Top 20 Wildcat finishes were tallied by Elias Calderon (16th, 18:06) and Bailey Goodgame (20th, 18:27). Kyle Richardson wasn’t far out, taking 21st (18:40).

“To be able to come in here on our home course and run that well was really special,” Bussen said.

On the subject of running well were the Clovis girls, whose 36 points were just three off the pace of team champion Hobbs. Carlsbad had 70, Roswell 84.

Standing out for the girls was Hamlett taking second individually with her time of 20:11.

“Whew,” she said. “It was tough, very tough. We all worked together, though, and pushed each other. ... And it was the last district race for the seniors, so it was special.”

Roswell’s Maritza Alvarez won the girls race with a time of 19:35. Daniella Jacob of Hobbs was third at 20:20.

Next up was Clovis’ Shylee Tree, taking an impressive fourth with a time of 21:05.

Faith Hays and Veronica Perez were also top-10 finishers for Clovis — Hays was ninth (22:08), Perez 10th (22:12). And outside the top 10 by 10 seconds was Clovis’ Ali Tree (11th, 22:22).

Placing in the top 20 for Clovis were Layla Walley (17th, 23:00) and Fatima Hernandez (20th, 23:20).

“I’m sure at least three of those girls ran best times today,” Bussen said. “And this is not an easy course; that hill is a killer over there. I just can’t say enough about all those girls. Ali Tree stepping up. ... We were three points away and anything could’ve happened.”

What happened was a big day for Clovis’ boys and girls, for Fuentes and Hamlett, for all the other competitors in purple tank tops.

“It’s incredible,” Bussen said. “It’s so much fun to have a group of kids that really care about each other. And to have Jon win district was really special.”