Marshall stars at Day 1 of state meet
Hobbs senior soars to tie record mark in high jump
Zach Marshall broke out a new T-shirt Friday on the awards stand at the Class 4A-6A state high school track meet. It could hardly have been more fitting. Marshall, a Hobbs High School senior, was the picture of elation after tying the Class 6A high jump state record with a leap of 7 feet. It came on Marshall’s last attempt and equaled the marks set by Clovis’ Hank Baskett and Valley’s Derek Poynter in 2000. (Los Alamos’ Kevin Dotson set the overall record of 7-2½ in 1995.)
Afterward Marshall strolled to the awards stand sporting a T-shirt from the movie “White Men Can’t Jump.”
“One of my buddies brought it up here for me,” Marshall said. “I thought it would be fun to wear it if I won, maybe dispel the stereotype a little bit.”
Marshall’s jump came during intermission of the day’s running events, so fans and competitors at UNM track stadium focused on the high jump pit and clapped as he attempted to tie and later break the 6A standard. Marshall had cleared 7 feet at the Marilyn Sepulveda meet earlier this season but knew he had to do it at the state meet to earn a spot in the record book.
“It was crazy with everyone clapping and watching,” Marshall said. “All I could think was, ‘I really need to do this.’ When I cleared (7 feet), I wanted to jump up and hug everyone.”
Marshall narrowly missed his final try at 7 feet, ¼ inch but didn’t mind owning just a piece of the record.
“I wouldn’t mind if the meet ended now,” he said. “I’m satisfied.”
Marshall’s was not the only record or eyecatching performance on the first day of the
two-day meet. Friday’s competition included several field event finals, a handful of distanceevent finals and a slew of preliminary races.
Albuquerque Academy’s Jackson Morris extended his dominance in throwing events, setting a state mark in the Class 5A discus at 179 feet. It bettered the mark of 177-1 set by Kirtland Central’s James Randolph in 2003.
Morris was disappointed he did not eclipse the overall state record of 183-9 set by Rio Rancho’s Brandon McKinney in 2004, but Morris will shoot for a third straight sweep of the 5A throwing events in the shot put and javelin competitions today.
Ruidoso senior Shalom Keller erased a long-standing Class 4A record in a 400 meters prelim, crossing the finish line in 55.59 seconds. The old mark of 56.62 was set by Silver’s Audrey Madrid in 1993.
“I was just like, ‘Praise the Lord,’” Keller said. “My legs were cramping up so bad. I was thinking, ‘If I don’t finish soon I might die. Just get to that finish line.’”
Roswell’s Anastasia Daliege pulled off a surprise with a state mark in the Class 5A long jump. Her leap of 18-5 surpassed the record of 18-2½ set by former Coyote and UNM volleyball standout Chantale Riddle in 2008. Daliege exceeded her qualifying mark by more than a foot.
It wasn’t the day’s only surprise in girls long jump. In Class 6A, Cleveland’s Kaylee Caldwell far surpassed her qualifying mark (17-8½) with a winning jump of 18 feet. Top seed Caitlin Barnard of Cleveland did not qualify for the finals.
“This is the best day of my life,” Caldwell said.
Albuquerque metro-area runners swept the boys 1,600-meter titles. Volcano Vista’s Jericho Cleveland pulled away from the pack to win the 6A mile in 4:17.48, a second ahead of Hobbs’ Andrew Bosquez.
“I felt really good the first two laps,” Cleveland said, “so I decided to pull away and see if I could break anybody. I could hear them behind me but I never saw anyone after that.”
Academy’s Jordan Lesansee won by more than 6 seconds in the Class 5A mile, and East Mountain’s Isiah Padilla edged Miguel Coca of West Las Vegas for the 4A title.
The Class 6A girls 3,200 final was shaping up as tight one with Cleveland’s Amanda Mayoral and Rio Rancho’s Reina Paredes separating from the pack. With roughly 500 meters left Paredes kicked past Mayoral but lost track of how much ground she still had to cover. Paredes pulled up at the finish line with a lap still to go.
Mayoral blew past Paredes and pulled away to win in 11:14.72, with Paredes recovering to finish second at 11:34.39.
The Class 5A and 4A 3,200 races were never in real doubt. St. Pius’ Jacque Pinon won the 5A run by nearly 15 seconds in a time of 11:24.28, and Elizabeth Reyes of Taos dominated the 4A race in 11:48.70, more than 18 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.