Taos’ Vigil claims five titles
Los Alamos boys, girls finish second overall in Class 4A
ALBUQUERQUE — For those who weren’t in the know, it seemed like Taos senior Jonah Vigil was being carried by his teammates at a track and field complex.
Los Alamos won matching green Class 4A runner-up trophies Saturday from the Class 4A/5A State Track and Field Championships at Great Friends of UNM Track Complex, the Taos girls rode the stellar performances of two athletes to a third-place finish in the 4A girls and Judith Allison gave Santa Fe High a moment to celebrate in the 300 hurdles. But it was Vigil who carried the day. As the Taos seniors posed for photos marking the end of perhaps the most fruitful era in the program’s history, a pair of teammates lifted Vigil as he was adorned in five first-place medals and the high-point scorer award for the 4A boys meet.
Once again, Vigil dominated the weekend in his usual fashion, winning the three sprints (100, 200 and 400 meters), his third long-jump title and setting a 4A state record in the 100 in 10.51 seconds that almost matched the overall 5A state record belonging to two track legends: Albuquerque Highland’s Bobby Newcombe and Manzano’s Jordan Byrd. He missed it by 0.01 seconds.
For good measure, he ran the anchor 400 leg of the 1,600-relay team in what is believed to be his fastest time around the track, and helped set another state record in winning the final 4A race of the day. The Tigers coaches didn’t time his 400 split, but head coach Benny Mitchell said other coaches clocked him in the 46-second range. “I had him at ‘Taos thunder,’ ” Mitchell said in describing Vigil’s lightning-fast sprint.
All the while, the unsung efforts of Vigil’s teammates went unnoticed by the rest of the crowd — but not by him.
“I’d go back to camp [next to the indoor football facility], they’d roll me out, make sure I was OK,” Vigil said. “They took care of me, but we take care of each other.”
That was especially the case in the 1,600 relay, as Jonathan Garcia did everything he could to close the gap on Albuquerque Academy’s Lucas Jepsen on the third lap so Vigil had a fighting chance take the lead. Vigil said he only needed to be within 30 meters of the front, but Garcia only knew that there was too much real estate in front of him.
“We’ve never been behind in a fourby-[400],” Garcia said. “I saw a gap, and I knew Jonah was the fastest guy in the state, so I just needed to close the gap enough to let him finish it off.”
Vigil caught William Piwowarek around the final turn and sped away to finish in 3:19.44 that broke a 28-year-old
record by 1.66 seconds. It capped a 30.50-point total that earned him the high-point honor for the third straight year.
It also was the bittersweet way to end an unprecedented five-year run on the backs of 12 seniors for the boys and girls program. Competing since eighth grade, the boys team won four straight titles before surrendering the throne to Academy, while the girls took third after winning it all last year.
The Lady Tigers rode the shoulders of seniors Faith Powell and Abigail Gunther, who combined for five individual titles, two seconds and a third. Powell won the high-point honor for winning the long, triple and high jumps and a pair of runner-up finishes in the 400 and 200. Gunther won the pole vault Friday, then followed it up with a win in the 300 hurdles Saturday.
The only other Lady Tiger to score in the event was freshman Alyx Mastor, who went from seventh to fourth on the final lap of the 3,200 for three points to stay ahead of Artesia for third, 52.50-49.
“I am so proud,” Gunther said. “It doesn’t matter the color of the trophy. Just to show that the three of us could get that is insane. It was a team effort, but it means the world to go out like this.”
Los Alamos boys, girls finish second
While Taos rode its seniors, Los Alamos simply relied on depth to carry both teams to runner-up finishes behind Academy. The Lady Hilltoppers led the Lady Chargers, 54-53.50, heading into the final two events, but could not match Academy’s armada of 3,200 runners. The Lady Chargers took first, third and sixth, while Los Alamos’ Sophie Chadwick faded from fifth to seventh and Academy held a 65.50-54 lead with the 1,600 relay left.
Los Alamos won the final relay, and head coach Aaron Padilla said it was a moment the team will carry with it back to “The Hill.”
“The four-by-[400] was great,” Padilla said. “These girls are super happy. That’s all that counts.”
The boys team did not have an individual champion, but won the 400 and medley relays and took second in the 800 relay, to boot. The Hilltoppers also got runner-up finishes from Dima Tretiak (100), Gabe Holsinger (high jump), Elijah Velasquez (800) and Duncan Fuehne (1,600) on Saturday to fashion 68.50 points, trailing Academy by 31.5 points.
Santa Fe’s Allison wins 300 hurdles
For the sixth time in the last seven years, Santa Fe High brought home an individual or relay title, and it was Allison who did it. The senior beat Rio Rancho Cleveland’s Hanna Keiss to record a winning time of 44.04 in the 300 hurdles for her first state title.
“This is probably the greatest feeling ever,” Allison said. “I’ve been working toward this all season long. To finally have it happen is just one of the best feelings, honestly.”
Teammate Riannah Varela couldn’t repeat as the triplejump champion, but she got on the podium in sixth place with a distance of 35 feet, 9¾ inches. It was a trying season for the junior, as she battled back and hip injuries. Varela said she felt her best, and she hoped that she could challenge for the title. It almost happened, but she scratched a potential 37-foot jump on her second try in the preliminaries that could have placed her in second.
She was upset, with tears running down her face.
“I am just trying to gain consistency, and I’ve had some trouble on the [scratchboard] this year,” Varela said. “I finally got my run-throughs consistent.”