St. Michael’s seeks to repeat its double trophies
A year ago, the St. Michael’s track and field team did something historic — it brought home matching Class 3A boys and girls state championship trophies.
Starting Friday, the program will try to do something just as significant — repeating. When the Horsemen and Lady Horsemen take to Great Friends of UNM Track Complex for the small school State Track and Field Championship, they will take different paths to reach the same end.
The boys will rely on their depth in sprinters and throwers to outpoint the rest of the 3A field; the girls will rely on the versatility of a handful of athletes to do the same.
Those two teams are not the only ones chasing a blue trophy. The Academy for Technology and the Classics’ girls team will ride the wave of distance runner Josette Gurule and sprinter/hurdler/ javelin thrower Charli Koseoglu to make a run at the 2A title.
But first, St. Michael’s.
The boys are aiming to take their third straight 3A title, having claimed the blue trophy in 2021 and 2019. There was no state meet in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The path to it will be through the relays. St. Michael’s has four teams seeded in the top three, including a 1,600-meter relay team that is more than 4 seconds faster than second seed Albuquerque Sandia Prep.
Add to that junior Daniel Kupcho, who will contend for individual titles in the 100, 200, 400 and long jump. Kupcho is the second seed in the 400, trailing only Santa Fe Indian School senior Fenyx
Morningdove. The best event where the Horsemen can score points could be the 300 hurdles, where they hold the second, third and fourth-best times in the event — behind Morningdove.
Speaking of Morningdove, he is the favorite to pull off the highpoint honor at the meet. He is the top seed in the 400, 200 and 300 hurdles and second in the javelin at 156 feet, 8 inches. Morning
dove also might play a role in the Braves’ medley relay team.
On the girls side, St. Michael’s will rely heavily on the trio of Raylee Hunt, Jada Lujan and Jacquelyn Gorman. Hunt could be the breakout star of the meet, as the freshman will show off her versatility.
She holds the top times in all three distance events (800, 1,600 and 3,200) and is the top seed in the 300 hurdles. As if that wasn’t enough, Hunt will be seeded fourth in the triple jump, more than a foot behind the topseeded Gorman.
The 300 hurdles also could bring a chunk of points for the Lady Horsemen, as Lujan and Gorman are seeded third and fourth behind Hunt. Gorman also is at the head of the class in the pole vault and the No. 3 100 hurdler.
Meahwhile, Lujan comes in as the fourth seed in the high jump, with a height of 5-2. The top seed for the event is Santa Fe Prep sophomore Emery Kurth, who also is the second seed behind Gorman in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump.
One athlete notably absent from the meet will be Santa Fe Prep’s Finn Coles, who was declared academically ineligible a few weeks ago after setting the school record in the high jump at 6-4¼. He would have been the top seed in that event.
In the 2A portion of the meet, ATC’s podium fate will be determined by the Gurule/Koseoglu connection. Gurule, a senior, is the top seed in all three distance events and will try to sweep the events after taking the 800 and 1,600 last year.
Meanwhile, Koseoglu will make a run at the 2A highpoint honor. The sophomore has the best times in the 100 and 300 hurdles, as well as the 200. She also is the third seed in the 100 and the javelin.
Meanwhile, Pecos’ Savanna Ortiz could bring home a longjump championship as she holds the best distance in the event at 16-8 heading into the meet.
In the 1A meet, Santa Fe Waldorf’s Andres Gonzales will try to capture the 300 hurdles title that eluded him last year when he fell clearing the final hurdle while leading. He is the second seed behind Logan’s Haden Judd.
NMSD’s Kieran Vollmar could be the first individual track champion for the school since Mark Chavez won the 200 in 2014. Deven Thompson won the shot put for the school in 2019.