Gordon sets Sandia mark
He wins javelin during Metro Championships
This time, football didn’t get in Malik Gordon’s way.
The Sandia sophomore set a school record Thursday at the Albuquerque Metro Track and Field Championships, throwing the javelin 182 feet, 5 inches, handily (so to speak) winning the metro title on the first day of the meet at Milne Stadium.
“Last week (at the Harper meet), I had lifted before, so I was a little sore,” Gordon said. “This meet, we made sure two days in advance there was no lifting, or any workouts for football, so I was well rested for this one.”
He went 169-7 last week, his previous season best. He won Thursday by an impressive 12 feet.
“It was a little unreal,” Gordon said. “A lot of people didn’t believe I was a sophomore.”
The javelin was one of six finals Thursday.
Highland’s Mustafa Mudada, on his first attempt in the finals, soared 21 feet, 10½ inches to win the long jump.
Albuquerque Academy’s Connor Schmidt took the pole vault at 13-6, and Rio Rancho’s Colby Stinson won a close shot put event by about a foot-and-a-half over Cibola’s Juan Pimental.
Cleveland’s Luis Martinez posted yet another first place in the 3,200.
The high jump proved to be the most interesting of the six finals, as Cleveland’s Nathan Barnes and Academy’s Parker Hibbett went to a jump-off.
After both missed at 6-4 and 6-3, Hibbett missed at 6-2 while Barnes cleared to win the event.
“He’s been beating me every week,” Barnes said of Hibbett. “This does a lot for me and really boosts my confidence.”
Girls
At Wilson Stadium, the 3,200-meter final Thursday was a riveting duel, as Del Norte’s Jenna Thurman and Eldorado’s Jessie Hix went stride for stride down the stretch before Thurman found enough of an extra gear to cross the line first.
Thurman finished 2 ½ seconds ahead of Hix, and it was another 35 seconds before the third-place runner arrived.
Although Eldorado pole vaulter Lauren Martinez didn’t break any state records as she did last week at Albuquerque Academy’s Harper meet, her 11-foot, 3-inch mark gave her another victory.
La Cueva’s Allison Mady, the daughter of former UNM football player Fred Mady, captured the shot put.
Chelsea Harris of West Mesa was perhaps a surprising winner in the high jump; two-time Class 5A state champion Cassie House of Cleveland didn’t crack the top three.
The other event winners Thursday were Nicole Pendley of Rio Rancho in the javelin and Eldorado’s steady Kyra Mohns in the long jump.
Today
Boys and girls will be together today at Milne Stadium for the second and final day of competition.
The meet resumes with the final field events — triple jump and discus — at 3:45 p.m.
The first of the running finals begins at 5 p.m., and the last running event is scheduled just after 8:30 p.m.