Taos Tiger teams place second, Daffron takes the top spot at meet
Boys and girls keep improving as key meets loom
There was a very prominent chill in the air. Athletes clad in flip-flops and their team’s hooded sweatshirts and sweatpants quietly erected tents and arranged gym bags with their sleeves over their hands. Parents and fans sipped steaming coffee from paper cups.
This was the scene on the campus of Santa Fe Indian School as autumn made its presence known at the 2023 John Grimley Invitational Cross-Country meet Oct.
7 — signaling a clear transition happening in real time in Northern New Mexico.
Pre-race tribute
Before the first race of the day, a moment of silence was called in honor of longtime Jemez Valley head coach, Daniel Chinana, who passed away recently. Chinana earned five boys state championships and four girls state championships. He was given the 2016 New Mexico High School Coaches Association (NMHSCA) Hall of Fame Award.
In remembrance of Chinana, participants at the meet wore green and yellow ribbons, the Jemez Valley
High School colors. Chinana was considered a champion of Native American runners and provided a lifetime of service to the development of high school athletes at Jemez Valley and Jemez Pueblo. Coach Chinana, Taos High School coach Bruce Gomez and former Santa Fe Indian School coach Michael J. Gorospe have been acknowledged as torchbearers in their craft and sports heroes in their respective communities. The route runners followed on the campus of Santa Fe Indian School was named the “Mike Gorospe Course.”
The race
The course itself was a relatively flat layout, with segments of the path rising and falling into the man-made drainages surrounding the playing fields. One challenging feature was the starting line, which featured a very wide chute that funneled very quickly and incorporated a 90-degree right turn. This created a need for runners to bolt out fast to establish a favorable position. By the time races were underway, the blanketing chill gave way to elevated temperatures under direct sunlight.
For the girls’ varsity event, there were exactly 100 runners. Six total
runners made the trip for the Lady Tigers, led by sophomore Elaina Cisneros. Cisneros finished first for Taos and eighth overall with a time of 22:18.
With adjusted scoring (meaning runners who are participating solely as individuals and not with a full roster of five or more teammates and are not counted in the final team scores), Cisneros garnered 7 points for her team. Aaliyah Padilla followed in 10th place (8 points) with a time of 22:29.
The Lady Tigers leaders were joined by Jaeda Blair, MJ Cook and Lilli Hart, who finished 23rd, 24th and 25th, respectively (17, 18 and 19 points, respectively), bolstering Taos’ low score of 69 points and locking in the runner-up spot. Blair notched a time of 23:51; Cook recorded a time of 23:57 and Hart came in at the 23:59 mark. The overall individual winner was St. Michael’s eighth-grader Chloe Grieco, who scorched the course with a time of 19:16 — a full 2-minutes and 6 seconds ahead of the next best runner.
As demonstrated in earlier meets, the strategic bunching of the three Taos runners helped them maintain their team advantage over pursuing teams.
The Santa Fe Prep Lady Blue Griffins came in ahead of Taos with a team score of 40 points and included runners in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place. The Santa Fe Indian School Lady Braves finished the race in third place with 81 points, followed by McCurdy, who earned the fourth-place spot, but was best among small schools. The Legacy Academy Lady Silverbacks rounded out the top-five finishers with 167 points.
On the boys’ side for Taos, sophomore Judah Daffron was the overall varsity winner among the 129 entrants, crossing the finish line with a time of 17:13. He was joined by Billy Romero who came in second overall at the 17:23 mark. The duo held off a bevy of runners trying to gain ground throughout the course, including a rush at the end that led to a speedy footrace in the final 300 yards.
Brandon Mirabal was also involved in a shootout at the end of his respective race as he trailed athletes from Mesa Vista and Pecos by a mere 1 second to garner a 15th-place finish (14-points), with a time of 18:47.
Other scorers for the Tigers included Carlos Lima, who finished in the 23rd spot (21 points) with a time of 19:16, and Antonio “Tony” Silva, who was 24th (22 points) and crossed the finish line at the 19:19 mark. And just like the girls, the close finishes helped the boys garner their second-place finish with 60 points — coming within 12 points to claim the top spot — behind the Santa Fe Indian School Braves, who tallied 52 points.
Not surprised
After the race, Coach Bruce Gomez expressed his excitement for his athletes after their strong performances. “We really had a great time at this meet,” Gomez remarked. “Our kids are starting to come around, and they’re really pushing each other.”
The Tigers and Lady Tigers are idle again this week as they prepare for the Albuquerque Academy Extravaganza scheduled for Oct. 21. The varsity-only event is a precursor to the upcoming state meet, and is formatted exactly to match what teams can expect in November, with each race containing each classification by itself. The 4A races are slated to start at 2 p.m. (boys) and 2:40 p.m. (girls). The A/2A boys’ race is scheduled for 12:20 p.m., with the A/2A girls’ race to follow at 1 p.m.
Asked if anything surprised him about this race, Gomez was elusive in his response.
“I was really blown away by how we did,” Gomez chimed. “But I’m reluctant to say I’m surprised by anything these kids do. They are really good.”