The benefits of having a year of running under their belts manifested last week as the Socorro High School boys and girls cross country teams started their second season with a meet in Alamogordo on Saturday, Sept. 5.

While individual girls ran in 2008, Socorro posted a girls team score for the first time Saturday, and finished third out of 10 teams. The boys team finished eighth out of 11 teams.

"Out of my top five runners I only had one, and we still placed eighth," said coach Steven Montoya.

Sierra Cahall was the top finisher for the boys team, finishing 26th, closely followed by senior Trey Thundborg in 27th.

"Last year we were in last place," said Cahall. "It felt good that we've actually had a team this year." "It's come a long ways," said Thundborg. "There is a lot more people (on the team this year)."

The girls team has seen an explosion of growth, with a large group of soccer players competing in both soccer and cross country.

"I thought it would get me in better shape and I wanted to help the cross country team out," explained Zoe Howell, a sophomore. "It was harder than I thought it would be — everyone went a lot faster."

The Lady Warriors top finisher, DamiAna Contreras, was ninth overall and sister JeriAna Contreras finished 11th — both are also soccer players.

Socorro's one returning female runner, sophomore Nikki Mortensen, dropped out of Saturday's race due to an injury, but is expected to be back in race condition soon.

Despite the setback, the Lady Warriors still outperformed the larger schools of Alamogordo, Oñate, Gadsden, Deming, Artesia and Silver City — only Los Lunas and Mayfield did better.

"It's got me at a loss because I don't know what can I expect," said Montoya. "I don't know what to think, but I know they can do better."

The Socorro team currently puts in about 30 miles a week of running practice.

The improvements from their beginnings last year are dramatic, when most started running distance for the first time, and promise an even better performances for the future.

"Last year we didn't have anyone under 20 (minutes)," said Tim Abeyta. "This year the top five (runners) are all under 20."

While some of the top runners missed out on the most recent meet, records mean little in cross country — only the performances at district and state meets will be remembered.

"The goal is to have everyone ready for October 30th (the date of the District 3-3A meet). We have to be ready and run our best on one specific day," said Montoya.

Both the Socorro boys and girls teams outperformed district rival Cobre on Saturday, an early promise of hoped-for results at the eventual district showdown.