Lady Panthers ready to surprise field
Pecos boys seek three-peat; girls 4A podium behind front-runner Taos will be wide open
Patrick Ortiz gave his Pecos Lady Panthers a reality check last fall.
When the Pecos girls cross country team left Rio Rancho High School last November with a green state trophy signalling a third-pace finish in the Class 3A State Meet, the runners wore the frowns of unmet expectations. Ortiz, Pecos’ head coach, reminded them that the Lady Panthers had no expectations of bringing home a trophy just a few years ago.
In fact, the last time they finished on the podium as a team was in 2003, earning a similarly colored trophy in the 1A/2A meet.
“I think they were a little hard on themselves,” Ortiz said. “I don’t think they realized we hadn’t taken home a girls trophy in over 10 years.”
But the girls looked over at the boys program and saw all the hardware it earned over the past three seasons, with a state runner-up and consecutive 3A titles in that span. This year, though, the boys might need to make room in the spotlight.
The Lady Panthers beat Academy for Technology and the Classics for the District 2/3-3A title on Oct. 27 by a 31-39 count in the lowest-score-wins format. It sets the stage for what promises to be a wild 3A meet on Saturday, with Albuquerque Cottonwood Classical Prep, Pecos and ATC in the running for a blue trophy. The three teams already faced off at the Rio Rancho Jamboree on Oct. 14, with Cottonwood Classical beating the Lady Panthers by a 65-77 margin.
However, Ortiz came away from that meet encouraged by his team’s pack time, which saw a split of 1 minute between Vanessa Dominguez, who finished in 10th place as the top runner, and Alexis Gonzales (21st) as the No. 5 runner. He kept the runnerup finish in perspective.
“We were shooting for Cottonwood and ATC,” Ortiz said, “but I told them, ‘Don’t feel like it we don’t get them today, it’s over. We just want to see where we’re at and we’ll figure it out.’ ”
Meanwhile, there’s not much to figure out for the Pecos boys, who are solidly in “contender” status with Zuni and Laguna Acoma for the top spot. A win would give the Panthers a third straight 3A title and send off seniors Josh DeHerrera, Carlos Cordova and Michael Montaño in grand style.
Ortiz lauded their calm demeanor for setting the tone with the younger runners about running for the team, as opposed to competing against each other.
“This is a good crew that feels very comfortable with themselves,” Ortiz said. “They’re not anxious or trying to find something extra. They’re real comfortable with their running. If you start competing against teammates or your best time, it gets stressful or negative.”
Santa Fe Indian School head coach Joe Calabaza likes the vibe he gets from his boys and girls teams for the 4A meets, and he hopes it translates into some hardware, too. The Braves have the best chance to finishing in the top three, but it will be an intense battle among at least five other schools: defending 4A champion Navajo Prep, Pojoaque Valley, St. Michael’s, Shiprock and West Las Vegas.
SFIS had a promising showing at the District 5-4A meet last week, with its top four runners finishing within 45 seconds of each other, and Lauren Chavez finishing the scoring ladder in 12th with a time of 19 minutes, 38.55 seconds. Calabaza is worried, though, that the school break on Wednesday and Thursday could throw a wrench in those plans.
“Hopefully, the kids did their own workouts,” Calabaza said. “But there’s not much we can do about that, we’re always taking that break off. But we’re pretty much not doing anything more than speed work and maybe a couple-mile workout.”
The 4A girls meet should belong to Taos, the two-time defending champion. But SFIS finds itself battling Shiprock, East Mountain and Albuquerque Hope Christian for a podium spot. Calabaza adds Pojoaque and Las Vegas Robertson as dark horses in that equation, too.
“Pojoaque always seems to find a way,” Calabaza said.
The 5A meet should be an Albuquerque Academy parade for the boys and girls, but Los Alamos is never far behind.
The 1A/2A race will feature Peñasco girls and Mesa Vista boys trying to pull off the repeat. Carly Gonzales, the 2015 champion, looks to be the favorite to re-take the individual race.