Victory brightens Gibson’s day
Cottonwood Classical senior takes 1,600 as 1A-3A track meet begins
The 1,600-meter run may not be his event of choice, but Tyler Gibson nonetheless made it a performance to remember on Friday afternoon.
The Cottonwood Classical Prep School senior bested a trio of Pecos runners to win the Class 3A race at the 1A-3A state championships in 4 minutes, 33.17 seconds at the Great Friends of UNM Track & Field Stadium.
“It means so much. I’ve been shooting for a state championship for a long time,” Gibson said. “It feels great to finally get it.”
Gibson’s winning time was more than three seconds faster than his nearest competitor, Isaiah Armijo (4:36.29). Pecos’ Josh DeHerrera (4:41.46) and Angel Varela (4:42.07) were third and fourth, respectively.
“It was a little scary but I just knew I had to run,” he said of being trailed by three Pecos teammates. “That’s all it was, was getting around the curve and going for my last lap.”
In victory, Gibson shaved seven seconds off his qualifying time of 4:40.16.
“(That time) was from the first meet of the year. I battled some injuries and was off and on, and the mile wasn’t my favorite race. I just decided to come out today and run it. I like the 800 more.”
Next year, Gibson will run for Fort Lewis College, where he hopes to keep competing in the 1,600 and to get below the 4:30 mark as a freshman.
There were plenty of other highlights on Friday. Hagerman’s Martin Flores won the Class 2A 1,600 meters for the second consecutive year. His time of 4:31.57 was nearly eight seconds faster than his nearest competitor and about a second off the state record.
“Coming in on that the home stretch on the last 100 (meters), I was trying to do my best,” Flores, a junior, said. “As soon as I got to the 50, I saw my time. I was trying to go at it. But it wasn’t the strongest finish.”
In the finals of the girls Class 1A 3,200 meters, Elida freshman Alyssa Bargas took first with a state record time of 13:28.01, easily surpassing the previous best of 13:37.76 set by Cimarron’s Amy Gonzalez in 2015.
Meanwhile, Melrose’s Nataley Mondragon kicked off what could be a big weekend with a first-place finish in the Class 1A girls long jump with a mark of 15 feet, 10¾ inches. She also won the event last year as a freshman.
Mondragon, one of the weekend’s best overall athletes, will compete in the 100, 200, 400 and high jump today.
“It gets me a lot of confidence… It’s a good feeling just having a medal around my neck,” she said.
Something of an upset occurred in the girls 1A discus, as Springer’s Katy Scott upended Devils teammate — and state record holder — Alicia Arias. Scott won the event with a throw of 100-3, while Arias finished second at 96-10, below her record of 101-2 and her qualifying throw of 108-07.
Elsewhere, it was history repeating itself — only more impressively — in the boys Class 1A high jump, as Reserve teammates Ben Fletcher and Brenden Goetz reached 6-4 to top the state mark they set one year ago. In 2017, Fletcher, Goetz and Quemado’s AJ Lackey all shared a record with a jump of 6-2.
“We push each other with our competitiveness,” Fletcher said. “We just came in hoping to get first and second. It didn’t matter which order.”
Ultimately it was Fletcher who officially won first place due to Goetz having one more scratch at 6-2. For the Reserve seniors, that was a minor detail.
“When you check the record book it’s gonna have both our names; it’s not gonna say first or second,” Fletcher said.