La Cueva, Volcano Vista dominate Invitational
Bears’ girls, Hawks’ boys get team wins
The weekend at the Albuquerque Invitational belonged in almost equal parts to La Cueva and Volcano Vista.
Those two schools were responsible for 22 of the 40 event victories at the two-day, midseason track and field meet at Nusenda Community Stadium.
By Saturday afternoon, La Cueva’s girls had won emphatically, 113.2-83 over runner-up Volcano Vista. The Hawk boys scored 106 points to win their meet by eight points over the Bears.
BOYS: The Hawks only had one individual winner Saturday: Bridger Schaap in the open 400-meter final, but Volcano Vista had a strong presence in many events as it edged La Cueva in the team standings.
Schaap is the youngest of five brothers, all athletes.
“I was thinking about the advice my brother Abram gave me. He runs now at BYU, and he always tells me to get out quick and keep that pace the entire race,” Schaap said.
He beat La Cueva’s Hunter Roswold by roughly half a second in the 400. Roswold, however, was the winner in the 100-meter dash.
Christian Buzzard of the Bears won the 200 near the end of the program, in 22.17 seconds.
Third-place Eldorado produced winners in high jumper Gabriel Ball (6-4) and Sebastian Brothers in the 110-meter high hurdles (16.60 seconds). The latter proved to be a tremendous finish as Brothers nipped Volcano Vista’s Mason Lovato (16.64) at the line.
Isaac Tucker Scott of Sandia was first in the 1,600 (4:30.69). Gabe Trujillo of La Cueva won the triple jump (39-10¾) and was runner-up to Ball in the high jump.
Steven West of Sandia hadn’t competed in an 800-meter race this season until Saturday. And because of that, he was relegated to the first, slower heat.
West went out and ran a time of 2 minutes, 1.74 seconds. Albuquerque High’s Bahozhoni Church was in the second heat, knowing the standard to best. And he pushed hard down the stretch before crossing in 2:02.49 in a race that had an unusual suspense to it.
Cibola’s Reuben Johnson (1402) was the discus winner, and Albuquerque High’s Fredrick Ford (42.02) hurdled to victory in the 300-meter length.
GIRLS: Mikayla Evans of La Cueva added the triple jump Saturday to her long jump title on Friday, as she went 35-¾ in her top event.
The Bears also added individual victories in the discus with Elli Breckenridge (104-10), Sima Lucero in the 100-meter high hurdles (14.88 seconds) and Analisa Ibarra in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles.
Ibarra finished second to teammate Lucero in the 100, and she usually has Lucero next to her in the 300. That was not the case Saturday, but Ibarra posted one of the more exciting victories of the second day, finishing the 300 in 47.16 seconds. Jaelyn Bates of Volcano Vista’s time was 47.43.
“I didn’t get out of the box the way I wanted, so I messed up on the first hurdle,” Ibarra said. “But I like having people to chase and so I was able to catch up at the end.”
Lucero, for her part, was dominant, as she beat Ibarra by over 1.5 seconds in the 100 high hurdles.
Cibola senior Riley Midgett swept the open sprints, capturing first place in both the 100and 200-meter finals.
Midgett and teammate Imani Smith went 1-2 in the 100, with Midgett posting a winning time of 12.57 seconds. She later ran a 27.02-second time in the 200, just in front of Kailey Centers of Sandia.
“I guess, like, you only live once, and you want to make your parents happy,” Midgett said with a giggle. She has shaved about a second off her 100-meter time since the season began.
Volcano Vista’s Carysa Marquez was the 1,600-meter champ; the final lap Saturday looked like the last lap of Friday’s 3,200, in which she pulled away from Albuquerque High’s Ava Stratton over the final 400 meters. Marquez’s time was 5:27.55. Mariana Marquez, a junior and Carysa’s older sister, won the open 400 (1:01.56).
Other event winners were Dani Figueroa of Albuquerque High in the 800, in which she outlasted recent New Mexico State signee Angela Korte of Volcano Vista; and Sandia Prep’s Amelia Chiavetta in the pole vault (9-0).