Melrose boys, girls win state championships in 1A
Melrose (Class 1A), Hagerman (2A) and Tucumari (3A) won boys state championships Saturday at the Class 1A-3A state track and field meet at the University of New Mexico.
The Buffaloes scored 68 points, five better than Reserve. In 2A, the Bobcats’ 70 points were 16 better than both Logan and Lordsburg. The Rattlers won a competitive 3A meet with 56 points. Dexter (47) was runner-up.
A handful of individual state records fell Saturday.
That list included Elida’s Kaull Burton, in the 1A javelin with a throw of 155 feet, 11 inches.
Job Sarellano of Animas is the new record holder in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles, after a time of 40.78 seconds.
Jared Lee, who shattered the 3,200-meter record Friday, added another strong run Saturday in the 1,600, crossing in 4 minutes, 49.28 seconds. The record was 5:01.16. Lee also won the 800 on Saturday.
Girls
Melrose (1A), Cloudcroft and Logan (2A) and Eunice (3A) carried home blue trophies this year.
The Lady Buffaloes were commanding throughout the twoday meet, scoring 101 points, blitzing the field. Cimarron (56) was a distant second.
The 2A meet yielded a rare first-place tie, as Cloudcroft and Logan each scored 68 points. And Cloudcroft pulled into that tie with a strong victory in the day’s final event, the 4x400-meter relay.
Eunice’s 63½ points were enough to hold off runner-up Santa Fe Prep (54).
Several girls established individual state records Saturday.
In the field events, that included Carrizozo’s Hannah Ventura in the 1A shot put (33-11, crushing the record of 32-3¼). The second-place finisher, Taylor Epps of Elida (33-5), also eclipsed the old record.
In the 1A high jump, both Nataley Mondragon of Melrose and Hannah Burton went 5-2, setting a state record. Burton, at 5-0, held the old record, set two years ago.
Melrose’s Lakasey Mondragon broke the pole vault record, going 8 feet, 6 inches. That was a foot higher than the previous record. Angel Gonzales of Cimarron (8-0) also broke the record Saturday.
Remarkably, four girls in Class 1A broke the state record in the 100-meter high hurdles, led by Cimarron’s Jesslyn Selph (17.51 seconds). From Albuquerque, Evangel Christian eighth-grader Emma Cook broke the record in the Class 1A 400-meter dash with a time of 1:01.99.
Cottonwood Classical Prep of Albuquerque was 10th in the girls 3A team standings. The boys were eighth. Evangel Christian’s girls placed 11th in 1A.