Lady Cats seeded 12th in 5A soccer

ALBUQUERQUE – The Clovis High girls soccer team slipped into the Class 5A state tournament as the No. 12 seed,, and the Lady Wildcats are slated for a 5 p.m. first-round match on Friday at fifth-seeded Santa Fe High.

Clovis (13-5-1) is in the tournament for the third consecutive season. The Lady Cats lost at Volcano Vista 4-1 in 2021, while last year they were edged by La Cueva 1-0 at Leon Williams Stadium.

The Lady Demons (17-2-1) captured the Class 5A District 5 title. They’ve won five in a row since a 3-2, double-overtime loss at Albuquerque High on Oct. 14.

Santa Fe High started the season 8-0 before a 1-1 draw against Cibola. The team’s only other loss came against Rio Rancho Cleveland, a 4-1 decision on Oct. 2.

The winner travels to fourth-seeded Cleveland (19-1) for a quarterfinal match to be played either Friday or Saturday. Semifinals will also be hosted by higher seeds before the championship match at the University of New Mexico soccer complex in Albuquerque on Nov. 11.

CHS cross country teams first, second – Clovis High’s boys finished first while the girls were second to Albuquerque-based Legacy Academy in Saturday’s City of Natural Lakes Invite cross country meet at Santa Rosa. Full team scores were not available.

Junior Sammy Fuentes was the individual boys winner in the 5K competition, posting a time of 16 minutes, 51 seconds. Also for the Wildcats, sophomore Santiago Verdugo was seventh in 18:54, junior Rudy Ledezma 10th in 19:08 and eighth-grader Adrian Surita 12th in 19:08.

Other times for the Cats (places not available) included eighth-grader Erik Cordum 19:55, eighth-grader Marques Lippman 20 minutes even, and freshman Connor McQuiggan 20:28.

The Lady Cats were led by eighth-grader Rosalia Morales, third in 21:44.50, and freshman Brooke Newcomer, fourth in 21:44.96. Behind them were sophomore Jarelly Navarrete, sixth in 22:26, and juniors Kira Tree, 24th in 25:42; Joselyn Romero, 33rd in 26:24, and Liberty Kincaid, 37th in 27:46.

Clovis squads travel to Carlsbad for the District 4-5A meet on Friday.