ATC outruns its foes for 1st place at Jamboree
It’s not like Academy for Technology and the Classics needed to make its case as the team to beat in Class 2A cross-country.
But the Phoenix went ahead and did that anyway Saturday morning. In a preview of the 2A meet in the girls small-school division of the Rio Rancho Jamboree at Rio Rancho High School, ATC bested Pecos 40-47 in the lowest-score-wins format on the same course that will determine the state champion in three weeks.
The Phoenix’s strength is in its pack time, as its five scoring runners all came crossed the within 1 minute, 18 seconds. Maggie Rittmeyer led the maroon wave with a fourthplace finish in 21:28.30, Josette Gurule was seventh, Noelani Van Loon took eighth, Kamryn Hoehne 10th and Lily Rittmeyer (the eighth-grade sister to Maggie) came in 16th.
Pecos had Vanessa Dominguez finish third, Misti Roybal fifth and Savannah Ortiz took ninth, but Kianna Quintana was 16th and Loryn Trujillo 17th to round out its scoring ladder. In third was Peñasco with 103 points.
On the boys side, ATC rode the finishes of Cole Ferguson (sixth) and Gonzalo Reyes (seventh) to take second place to Cloudcroft’s 60.
In the big-school meet, Santa Fe Prep boys placed fourth with 191 points, with Adrian Whitten taking 11th in 18:32.40. Santa Fe High’s Brock McKinney took third individually with a 17:19.70.
ST. MICHAEL’S 2, LAS VEGAS ROBERTSON 1
The Horsemen learned a valuable lesson from 2017 — mark Cardinals midfielder Musah Dumbia.
Last year, he scored twice in the final 10 minutes to help Robertson overcome a 3-2 deficit and beat St. Michael’s, keeping its drive to a district title alive at the time. This time, the Horsemen only allowed Dumbia one goal — in the 72nd minute to cut their lead to 2-1 — and never let the Cardinals get a good look after that.
“Unlike last year, when he found those seams and got behind us, this year, we stretched him out and made him move side-to-side,” St. Michael’s head coach Mike Feldewert said.
St. Michael’s retook the District 2-1A/3A lead with the win, and needs just a win over Albuquerque Sandia Prep on Tuesday to win its first district title in five years.
Justice Johnson opened the scoring for the Horsemen (12-5-1 overall, 7-2 in 2-1A/3A) with a goal off an Esteban Rigales assist in the second minute. Eric Nuñez found Wesley Sage Graham at the top of the penalty box and Graham slotted his shot just under the crossbar for a 2-0 lead in the 35th minute.
MONTE DEL SOL 9, QUESTA 1
The Dragons are one win away from securing their first district title in program history after handling the Wildcats in their 1-1A/3A home finale at the Municipal Recreation Complex.
Moises Cerda had a hat trick, while Pedro Chavez and Lukas Rosas each had a pair of goals for Monte del Sol (11-3-1, 8-0).
“All in all, it was a good performance,” Dragons head coach Fritz Rothdach said. “It wasn’t all about discipline. The kids had fun and we got a lot of kids some playing time.”
Monte del Sol can secure the district outright with a win over Desert Academy on Tuesday.
ESPAÑOLA VALLEY 3, CLOVIS 1
The Lady Sundevils went to Clovis for their final nondistrict match of the regular season, but it was Game 3 that dominated the thoughts of head coach Damon Salazar.
Chloe Fell served the first 14 points of the game and gave Española (12-5) a 14-0 lead that eventually blossomed into a 25-3 win. It was the highlight of a 25-18, 23-25, 25-3, 25-21 win.
“They just couldn’t pass,” Salazar said. “The first three or four points, Chloe got aces, and then [Lady Wildcats head coach Ruth Chavez] subbed a kid and we served at that kid, and she shanked a ball. Then it just it just kept rolling.”
Fell finished with 10 kills, 10 digs and 12 aces on the night, while Dulce Maldonado had 16 kills to lead Española. Meranda Romero had 16 digs to lead the defense, and Andrea Perea had three blocks.
SANTA FE INDIAN SCHOOL 3, WEST LAS VEGAS 0
It seemed like all the Lady Braves did their part in helping secure a 25-13, 25-9, 25-10 sweep of the Lady Dons in the Pueblo Pavilion in a 2-3A match.
SFIS head coach Brian Gurule said his team served well throughout the match, and pointed to Camilla Lewis as an example. She served 15 straight points to start Game 2 and the Lady Braves cruised after that.
“All six players were just serving really tough,” Gurule said. “We kept West out of system for most of the [match].”
SFIS hits the road to finish out the season, starting with a 2-3A match at Las Vegas Robertson on Tuesday.
DESERT ACADEMY 3, MONTE DEL SOL 0
The Lady Dragons could not handle the Lady Wildcats’ serving in a 2-2A match in the Institute of American Indian Arts fitness center, and Desert Academy went on to a 25-16, 25-13, 25-16 sweep.
The Lady Wildcats (8-8, 3-0) broke a firstplace tie with Monte del Sol (4-11, 2-1).
“We had some good plays, but we were just lax with the serve-receive and some of our blocking up front,” Lady Dragons head coach Chela Butler said.
Emi Fukuda had a team-high six kills to go with six assists, Jamie Lujan led Monte del Sol with seven assists and Daisy Ortiz had 13 digs to lead the defensive effort.