Lady Rams capture fifth in Class 4A state track meet

ALBUQUERQUE — Portales High senior Kylyie Paden left Albuquerque a bit disappointed in her performance at the Class 4A state track meet over the weekend.

Of course, it’s all relative. Paden also left with first-place finishes in pole vault and high jump and a third-place showing in the 300 hurdles, and she ran a leg on the Lady Rams’ third-place 1,600 relay team.

Led by Paden, Portales posted a fifth-place team finish in the meet with 31 1/2 points, trailing only Los Alamos (165), Albuquerque Academy (63), Hope Christian (40 1/2) and District 4-4A rival Artesia (40).

Meantime, senior Michael Riess accounted for all seven points for the PHS boys, who tied with Pojoaque for 14th place. Los Alamos also took that team title with 115 points to 97 for Albuquerque Academy and 66 for Hope Christian.

Paden, who will attend Angelo State in the fall and compete in both track and volleyball for the Rambelles, went 11 feet in pole vault and cleared 5-2 in high jump. She clocked a time of 48.10 seconds in the 300 hurdles and ran anchor in Saturday’s 1,600 relay finale, which finished with a season-best time of 4 minutes, 12.70 seconds.

Last year at state, Paden won pole vault while coming in second in high jump.

It was the pole vault effort that left her feeling a bit deflated.

“My goal was to jump 11-7 or 12 feet,” she said. “But I accomplished one of my goals with the 4x4.”

Paden ran a split of 61 seconds on the relay.

“At the beginning of the year we were running 66, 67, 68 (splits),” PHS coach Quintin Wilson said. “We had a sophomore (Audrey Paden, Kylyie’s sister) open with a 63, a sophomore (Abby Ontiveros) with a 64, (freshman) Kadence (Reeves) with a 62 and Kylyie, so we’re getting better.”

Paden’s effort in the hurdles was impressive, Wilson said.

“She doesn’t practice (the event) very often, so for her to go out and get third at the state level is amazing,” he said. “Angelo State is lucky to get her.”

Paden has set high goals for herself at ASU.

“I would like to be jumping over 13 (feet in pole vault), win a (Lone Star Conference) championship and maybe qualify for nationals,” she said. “In high jump, I’m looking at going about 5-8.”

Other points for the Lady Rams came on a third-place finish by senior Angelina Maestas in javelin (109-4) and a fourth by sophomore Olivia Low in discus (98-10), while Reeves added a half-point with a tie for sixth in pole vault (9-0).

“I thought Olivia did really well; she qualified in three events (also high jump and discus),” Wilson said. “And I’ve only had Angelina for two years, but she’s been to state both years and done well.”

For the boys, Riess posted a personal-best time of 1:57.25 to finish third in the 800 and ran fourth in the 1,600 in 4:24.42.

“What do you say about Michael?” Wilson said. “He gives it his all every time out. When he steps on the track, you know he’s going to leave it all out there.”

Nobody was going to touch Los Alamos on the girls side, or the boys side as well. The Lady Hilltoppers won an astonishing 14 of 20 events, including all 13 on the track, while the boys racked up six first-place finishes, five on the track.

Los Alamos, Academy (six) and Hope (five) combined to win all but three events for the boys.