Both Santa Fe Prep, Pecos expect to have strong showing
Santa Fe Prep is looking for a good weekend at the State Track and Field Championships. So are the Pecos Panthers. The same goes for Hayden Colfax and Deven Thompson.
Santa Fe Prep qualified a total of 49 athletes (25 boys, 24 girls) for the Class 3A state meet, which begins Friday at Great Friends of UNM Track and Field Complex. Last May, Prep went home with a runner-up (girls) and a third-place (boys) trophy, and look to at least bring home a pair of trophies this year as well.
At the very least, Prep should place several individuals, and Colfax in particular. She is seeded first in the high jump and the triple jump, while she is No. 2 in the 100 and 300 hurdles. Colfax’s best triple jump — 36 feet, 11 inches — is just 4¾ behind the state record set by Pecos’ Yeshemabet Turner in 2011. Daisy Cunningham is seeded third in the high jump with a 5-0 height. Teammate Taylor Lincoln tied for the best time in the 100 (12.84 seconds) and will be the fourth seed in the 200.
Chelsea Griscom is seeded third in the 800, and Prep has the No. 2 seeded 800 and medley relay teams, plus the
No. 3 1,600 relay squad, according to the heat sheets published by the New Mexico Activities Association.
On the boys side, Sam Sparks and Sean Coles lead the boys caravan of qualifiers. Coles will be the top seed in the high jump, thanks to his 6-2 height, while Sparks is No. 4. In the triple jump, Sparks is the second seed, and Coles is fifth in the long jump. Nicky Perillo has a chance to place in the javelin, as he will be the fourth seed in that event.
Desert Academy’s Jonas Kaare-Rasmussen has the third-best time in the 400 and is seeded fourth in the 800. Ahbedoh Whiteeagle continues a recent trend of strong sprinters at Academy for Technology and the Classics, as he has the third-best time in the 100 (11.44) and No. 4 in the 200 (23.14).
Pecos, though, has a host of distance runners who are prepared to make some noise. Senior Josh DeHerrera is seeded second in the 1,600 and 3,200 with the fifth-best time in the 800. Sophomore Isaiah Armijo is No. 1 in the 3,200 (10:25.74), third in the 1,600 and seventh in the 800, while junior Angel Varela is No. 6 in the 1,600 and fifth in the 3,200.
The Panthers also have some field representation, mainly with Carlos Cordova, who also cleared 6-2 in the high jump. The girls have Reyna Perez seeded second in the shot put with a distance of 34-8.
Not to be left out is Thompson, the 6-9 junior at New Mexico School for the Deaf. The 2017 defending discus champion is the second seed in that event (137-5½) and the top seed in the shot put at 47-6. If the seeds hold to form, Thompson would flip-flop his finishes from last year’s state meet.