CLEVELAND ON TOP
The Storm now leads topsy-turvy baseball division
Five Rio West-area athletes won events Friday on the first day of the Albuquerque Invitational track and field meet at Community Stadium.
Valley’s Antoinette Ybarra had a commanding showing in the shot put, with a mark of 32 feet, 6 inches, nearly 3 feet ahead of Cibola’s Jordan Martinez.
The Vikings’ Jahlil Ford went 5 feet, 8 inches to win the boys’ high jump.
Cibola had a trio of winners, led by Juan Pimentel in the shot put (54-7), Ryan Harlow in the 3,200 (9:57.47) and Renee Brinson in the girls’ long jump (15-10).
The meet continues at 9 a.m. today at Community, with all of the running finals, except the 3,200, and the remaining four field events.
Some of the area’s top athletes were at the Marilyn Sepulveda Meet of Champions on Monday at the University of New Mexico.
Boys event winners included John Finnegan of Rio Rancho in the 400, Steven Duran of St. Pius in the 800, and Pimentel in the shot put and discus.
St. Pius’ Eli Limon was runner-up in the long jump. Third-place showings went to Josh Foley of Rio Rancho in the 110-meter high hurdles, Limon in the triple jump and Rio Rancho’s Steve Bailey in the javelin.
There were three girls’ champions at the Sepulveda. Sarah Mackin of Cleveland won a duel with Aztec’s Sarah Root to claim the 300-meter intermediate hurdles title in 45.19 seconds. Merica Valdez of Rio Rancho (10-6) won the pole vault. And St. Pius freshman Arianna Martinez went 5-4 to take the high jump.
The Storm had four runners-up: Larimar Rodriguez in the 400, Katie Howerton in the discus, Alina Armstead in the triple jump and Nia Powdrell in the long jump.
St. Pius’ Jordyn DiLorenzo ran third in the 800, and Cibola’s Nicole Gomez was third in the 3,200.
Both Rio Rancho and Cleveland were in Clovis for a meet late Friday.
Baseball
District 1-6A is wildly entertaining and unpredictable. Rio Rancho had the lead when the week started. Then Cleveland, the Rams and Volcano Vista shared it together. Then Volcano Vista had the lead by itself.
But today, it is Cleveland that leads the league after a tumultuous week.
Cibola’s 6-3 upset win over the Hawks leaves Volcano Vista at 14-6 overall and 3-2 in district.
Rio Rancho (16-7) is also 3-2. The Rams lost both their games this week, 5-4 to Cleveland on Tuesday night and, more surprisingly, 3-0 to Santa Fe on Thursday.
Cleveland, which also beat Valley 5-0 on Thursday, is 13-7 overall and 3-1 in league play headed into the final two weeks of the regular season.
The next key game in league play is Tuesday, when Rio Rancho welcomes Volcano Vista.
There is a showdown game at Valley at 3 p.m. today, as the Vikings play host to rival Rio Grande. Both teams are 2-1 in district, trailing leader Atrisco Heritage (3-1).
It’s an important stretch for Valley, which will face Atrisco next Thursday.
In District 5-5A, co-leaders Albuquerque Academy and St. Pius meet for two games, starting at 2 this afternoon. Both won their league openers earlier this week, with the Sartans routing Moriarty.
Bernalillo resides in third place in 2-5A, behind Española Valley and
Los Alamos.
Softball
Volcano Vista (18-2, 4-1) leads District 1-6A. The Hawks on Thursday defeated Cibola 8-3.
Cleveland (16-6, 3-1) had the week’s best win, ripping Rio Rancho 14-4 on Tuesday.
Next week there are two pivotal games, with Volcano Vista meeting Rio Rancho (17-6, 3-2) on Tuesday, and Cleveland facing the Hawks on Thursday.
District 5-6A looks to belong to Atrisco Heritage after the Jaguars shredded West Mesa 21-3 on Thursday. The Mustangs are 2-1 in league play.
In 5-5A, St. Pius and Academy won district openers, and the two meet today at St. Pius for two games, starting at 2 p.m.
Bernalillo is tearing its way through District 2-5A. The Spartans are 6-0, with a two-game lead on Española Valley. Bernalillo collected a 9-4 win over the Sundevils on Wednesday to extend its lead.
Tennis
The Albuquerque Metro Championships begin Monday. There are no Rio West-area boys among the top eight seeds in the singles draw. For the girls, Bosque School’s Caroline Donahue is the No. 6 seed, while St. Pius’ Gabby Rivera is seeded No. 8.
The boys are at the Jerry Cline Complex for the first three rounds — Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — then move over to Albuquerque Academy for the final three rounds Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The girls are at Academy all week. The singles finals are a week from today.
The Albuquerque Metro Championships are Monday morning at Desert Greens Golf Course in Paradise Hills.
It’s a shotgun start at 8 a.m. Cleveland, Rio Rancho, Cibola, Volcano Vista, Valley, West Mesa and Bosque School are all in the field.