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Fort Sumner junior Bree Lucero battles Jaci Hatch of Animas in the Class 1A 100 meters hurdles at the State Track Meet Saturday. Hatch edged Lucero in the event, but Lucero came back to beat Hatch in the 300-meter hurdles.
FNM Correspondent Photo: Scot Stinnett
Fort Sumner cruises to Class 1A repeat
ALBUQUERQUE — Sandbagging or genuinely suffering? Opponents of Fort Sumner eighth-grader Christa Boyle would just have to find out as the 1,600 headed into the last lap on Saturday.
Roy sophomore Megan Costa trailed Boyle slightly after the first three laps, as she did in the 3,200 on Friday. While heading into the backstretch, Boyle made a habit of shaking her arms as if to rattle them back to life — all the while in a slightly-forward position reminiscent of a runner staggering along.
Then she turned a lead of a few feet into one of about 25 yards in a matter of moments as the bell lap began, leaving Costa far behind long before the runners got to the final stretch. It was much like Boyle’s victory in the 3,200 the day before.
“I’m just trying to put people on,” Boyle said. “I felt pretty good. The wind was blowing, so that made it harder.”
Boyle’s victory was just one of many highlights for area teams as the state Class 1A and 2A state track meet concluded at the University of New Mexico complex.
Fort Sumner’s girls were the biggest winners as the Vixens raced away from the field. With 102 points, they easily outdistanced second-place Roy’s 52 for their second consecutive 1A title and eighth overall.
Animas finshed third, with 45 points, while Floyd (42) and Clovis Christian (38) rounded out the top five. Melrose, paced by Lauren Graham’s repeat win in the javelin, squeaked into the top 10 with 15 points overall.
Besides Boyle’s triumph, the Vixens also got an individual win on Saturday from junior Rita Herrera in shot put as her throw beat runnerup Jennifer Schaap of Clovis Christian by just under three feat. In the 300 hurdles, fellow junior Bree Lucero added to Fort Sumner’s point total by coming from behind to nip Animas’ Jaci Hatch at the finish line.
Earlier in the day, Lucero lost to Hatch in the 100 hurdles.
“I just prepared myself more, I guess,” said Lucero, who caught Hatch at the second-to-last hurdle. “I was fighting through that. I was hoping, ‘Jeez, I hope I can get her.’ I was like, ‘Come on, keep pushing it.’”
Texico’s girls almost had enough to add another Class 2A championship trophy to the ones already earned this year in volleyball and basketball. In fact, the Lady Wolverines had a 10-point lead with three events remaining.
However, led by the long-distance running Schultz twins (Courtney and Camille), Cloudcroft overcame Texico to take the title with 66 points. Texico was second with 55 points and had standout performances from Victoria Richards, who won the long jump, and teammates Katlin Luscombe and Brooke Bailey, who took second, respectively, in the javelin and shot put.
Richards’ winning effort of 16-1 in long jump was nearly a half-foot better than her qualifying mark.
“I hadn’t been jumping very well,” Richards said. “There was an older man there and, after I scratched on the first jump of the finals, he told me to relax and jump as if it were my last jump ever.
“When I was stretching, I relaxed and said, ‘OK, this is your last jump,’ and I got a lot of speed and height.”
For Clovis Christian, Schaap’s second-place in the shot wasn’t the school’s best result of the day. With senior Cristen Wofford surging to the lead in the last leg, the Lady Eagles won the 800 relay going away over second-place Santa Fe Waldorf
“It was basically amazing,” Wofford said. “The girl was really close behind me when we handed off, so I was just trying to make sure I got in front of her on the exchange. Then I just took off and didn’t let her catch me.
“It was crazy. I’ve never been so nervous and excited at the same time.”
Clovis Christian also claimed a first-place finish in the 400 relay.
Other high finishes in Class 1A included Elida sophomore Shanna Anthony and Dora junior Audra Pinkston going 3-4 in girls shot put, Fort Sumner freshman Sarah Stinnett taking third in the 100 and Floyd junior Kelsi Gray placing second in long jump. Floyd also got second-place finish in javelin from Tori Tucker, who was just ahead of Herrera.
