Taos track invite takes place despite sour weather
Both Taos High School teams place 1st in frosty, abbreviated track meet at Anaya Stadium
One of the unique facets of competing in Northern New Mexico during the spring season is the unpredictable weather that may make it rough to take part in outdoor sports. Often, windy and cold afternoons can affect softball and baseball games by changing the trajectory of hit balls or by hindering visibility. Wind could also affect runners and field athletes trying to earn state qualifying times or distances when steered by gusts at one or more segments of an oval track.
Such was the case on April 6, when the Taos Tiger Track and Field Invite took place despite a winter storm that moved into the area and blanketed Anaya Stadium with snow and ice.
Conditions were spotty in the early morning hours, with the sun peeking through clouds at times, wind speeds varying and snowflakes falling on competitors. Ultimately, the meet was shortened and teams went home early as the weather deteriorated with no improvements forecast for the afternoon.
The meet featured 12 teams from the region who braved the elements to participate, including Cimarron; Peñasco; Questa; Crownpoint; Española Valley; Mesa Vista (Ojo Caliente); Valencia (Los Lunas); Pojoaque Valley; McCurdy (Española) Shiprock; St. Michael’s (Santa Fe); and Taos.
In team scores, Taos Lady Tigers came out on top with 45 points. Shiprock came in second with a score of 31, followed by St. Michael’s in the third position with 30.5 points.
On the boys’ side, the Tigers secured the victory as a team with 91 total points. St. Michael’s was the runner-up team with 57 points, followed by Cimarron, who finished third with 23 points.
In the first boys’ event of the morning, Juan Romo and Aaron Romero finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 100-meter dash, earning a combined three points to start the team’s point accumulation. Judah Daffron, who is a current state qualifier, won the 1,600meter run with a time of 4 minutes, 58 seconds. Another state qualifier, Billy Romero, came in second in the 3,200-meter run — barely getting edged at the finish line by Landen Sandoval from St. Michael’s, who won by a mere three-tenths of a second.
Taos ran unchallenged in the 4x200-meter relay and the 4X800meter relay, garnering a combined 20 points. The 4X800 relay team also qualified for state at an earlier meet this year.
In the long jump, Carlos Rodriquez and Nicholous Jones took first and second place, respectively. Rodriguez achieved a leap of 17 feet, while Jones jumped 16 feet, 11 inches.
Highlights from the girl’s side included Breanna Taylor, who added four points to the Lady Tiger’s total for a third-place finish in the 100-meter dash with a time of 14.16 second. Elaina Cisneros ran a strong race in the 1,600-meter run, earning second place with a time of six minutes — less than one second behind first-place finisher Kailiah Peters from Shiprock, who notched a time of 5 minutes, 59 seconds. In the field events, Kira Mitchell-Armstrong threw the javelin 81 feet, 6 inches to claim third place. She also threw the discus 95 feet for another third-place ribbon. Rounding out her individual events, Mitchell-Armstrong clinched a fourth-place with a shot-put toss that traveled 28 feet, 11 inches.
Both boys’ and girls’ teams will participate in the Rio Rancho Invitational meet this Saturday (April 13), where they will have the chance to qualify for state in more events.
The class 4A state track and field championships will take place at the UNM track May 17-18.