Socorro High School took a full boys and girls cross country team to the Class 3A state tournament and set the standard to improve upon in future years.

The girls team finished ninth out of 12 teams and the boys finished 10th, also out of 12 teams.

"Next year I'm going to see what it takes to move up again," said coach Steven Montoya. "I think if you look at the times at state — the average times — there is not a lot of difference there. I'm already looking forward to next year."

The Lady Warriors scored a total of 237 team points to trail eighth place Laguna-Acoma at 205. Zuni topped the competition with 64 points.

DamiAna Contreras led the team with a 15th-place individual finish, and also set a new time record for Socorro with her finish in 19:53.

"I guess it's my passion to run," Contereras said, noting that it was her parents who first convinced her to give the cross country team a try.

Eighth-grader Dayna Guerro finished in 20:30; sophomores Nikki Mortensen, Kaitlin Warden and Brittani Webb finished in 21:51, 23:55 and 25:14, respectively.

"All five girls ran personal bests," said Montoya. "On the girls side, we had a perfect day."

The varied course was a bit of a challenge.

"I think what was difficult was the sandy hills," said Contreras. "But whenever you finish you feel accomplished."

"I liked the course because it had grass, sand and hills," said Guerro, who liked the variety.

Contreras had the third-best time as a freshman in Class 3A and Guerro had the second best of eighth-graders.

"I'm very proud of the girls. We beat Cobre — and its not something we set out to do," Montoya said.

Socorro finished runner-up to Cobre at the District 3-3A meet.

"I just started (this season)," said Guerro. "This is the only sport I do. I like running."

The girls team, with the oldest runners being sophomores, has plenty of promise for the upcoming years.

"My motivation for this year is last year's (performance). I thought, 'You can do better than that,' and also to be up there with DamiAna," Mortensen said. "Last year, it was more of an experience to see how it would go. Now it's more of a competition — more team work and helping each other."

"It was my first year of cross country and it was a great experience," said Warden. "It's individual — but it's a team. It's like every sport — it's something you have to be dedicated to."

The Warriors were led by senior Owen Azevedo, who finished 28th individually in 17:21. Azevedo broke his own best time and set a new record for future Socorro boys to pursue.

"It felt good," said Azevedo of his finish. "I was just running to get better."

If not for chance, Azevedo might not have even been on the team.

"I didn't even know who he was last year," Montoya said. "I just saw him in the halls and asked him to come out."

Tim Abeyta finished in 17:42, Trey Thunborg in 17:54, Dylan Gallegos in 18:03 and Isaiah Vigil in 18:20 to round out the team score of 214. Raul Contreras and Sierra Cahall finished sixth and seventh for the team in times of 18:45 and 20:14, respectively.

"The strength of my boys is that they are a team," Montoya said. "For us to do good we need to have all five boys running well."

Out of the seven boys, six of them broke their personal records.

"We've come a long ways," said Thunborg, a senior. "I think we probably have the best team here — maybe not in speed — but in how we all get along."

Thunborg finished in a small pack and edged a Pojoaque runner by a half second, but trailed behind a pair of Zuni runners and one from Hope Christian.

"I thought I was going to pass him, but he picked it up at the end," Thunborg said.

Socorro's team score of 214 was just a single point behind ninth-place Bloomfield and only three points behind eighth-place Thoreau. Santa Fe Indian School was the top boys team with 55 points.

"Eventually after we have run for four years, we'll have the workouts that are required (to compete with the top cross country teams)," said Montoya, who expects his runners to continue to improve dramatically over the coming years. "That is the first time we ever set the state bar. Now we have to improve on it."

To get better just requires more work, Montoya said. As the runners become more mature, they will be able to handle longer runs and be more physically fit for the challenge.

"I think we focused a lot on winning district this year," Montoya said. "Next year, I think we need to focus more on the state level 3A teams and see what we need to do."

All of the runners echoed words of credit to coach Montoya, who started the program, as a major motivation for participation.

"Mr. Montoya just encouraging us all the time and knowing you can do it," Warden said as the reason she enjoys running. "We thank Mr. Montoya for everything he's done for us. He's always positive."

"He's one of the few coaches who actually runs with us," Mortensen said.

The key to a successful team in the future is to listen to Montoya, Thunborg said.

"So far all of our training has paid off and we're getting a lot better. I think in a few years we can have some state champs," Thunborg added.

"He's a good coach and he makes me comfortable when I'm about to race — and confident," Contreras concluded.