Wednesday, April 5, 2006

Track teams getting in shape on the fly

Dave Mathieu Invite set for Saturday, 10 teams scheduled

Jason W. Brooks El Defensor Chieftain reporter

Some local track and field teams had a little longer time to get in shape than others, depending on when the basketball season ended for each school.

All local coaches seem to agree on one thing — expectations are for things to improve as the season progresses, and they are generally pleased with early results.

On Saturday, Socorro and Magdalena both sent teams to the Rose Relays at Tularosa High School, while Alamo and Quemado were represented at the Menaul Invitational in Albuquerque. Magdalena also took a few athletes to the Twi-Night Invite at Laguna-Acoma on Thursday.

Saturday at Socorro High School, the host Warriors will be joined by Magdalena, Quemado and seven other schools at the Dave Mathieu Memorial Invitational.

Socorro

Even with several of Class 3A Socorro's athletes attending a MESA conference, the Warrior track teams finished second at Tularosa's Rose Relays on both the boys and girls sides, behind Class 1A Capitan. The boys trailed Capitan in the final tally by an 82-62 count, while the Tiger girls amassed 76 points to Socorro's 65.

Socorro athletes took home plaques for both high point awards. Jay Majumdar scored 19 points for the boys, while Abigail Wolberg won four individual events en route to scoring 30 points for the Socorro girls.

Majumdar won both the triple jump and the high jump at the event, along with placing fourth in the long jump. Alvaro Alvarado, who took the top spot in the 400 Meters, outlasted Hatch Valley football and soccer speedster Rafael Martinez by half of a second.

Other boys achievements at the meet were second-place finishes by both the 800- and 1600-meter relay teams. The 800-meter team is slightly more than one second away from qualifying for the state meet in May.

Both Chris Paz and Sefie Winders were third in two events. Paz competed in the 110- and 300-meter hurdle races, while Winders came close to state qualifying in both the 100 and 200 meters. Winders needs to improve in both sprints by less than half a second to qualify.

Alvarado took fourth in the 200, and Jaron Contreras took fourth place in the shot put, despite not being able to throw in a conventional way due to a foot injury. Isaac Juarez was sixth in the discus.

For the girls, Wolberg triumphed in the long jump (an event in which she qualified for state at a previous meet) along with the triple jump, the 100 meters and the 200 meters. The girls 800-meter relay team was also a first-place finisher.

Second place honors went to Audrey Johnson (in the 400 meters), Shannon Baxter (300-meter hurdles) and the 1600-meter relay team. Tah'nee Chavez was third in the 200-meter event that Wolberg won, while Baxter was fourth in the 100-meter hurdles.

Other top finishes for the Socorro girls included a sixth-place javelin performance by Stephanie Abeyta, along with a sixth in the high jump for Desiree Hernandez.

Magdalena

Cold and windy conditions, combined with what was described as a slow-moving meet, didn't keep the Magdalena track team away from the Twi-Night Invite at Laguna-Acoma on Thursday. However, those circumstances did shorten the meet for the team.

Boys coach Jory Mirabal said events were running about two hours and 30 minutes behind, so Magdalena left early. The meet was much smaller in the past, he said, and didn't seem prepared for the 21 teams that showed up this year.

Still, KC Armstrong qualified for state in the pole vault at Laguna-Acoma for the boys, winning the event; and Anjelina Torres took first place in the 400 meters. Armstrong was third in the pole vault at the Rose Relays on Saturday, in Tularosa, and had strong performances in the 300-meter hurdles as well, according to Mirabal. Torres is also not far from qualifying for state in the long jump.

Mirabal said Kayla Armstrong was a top competitor for the Class 1A Magdalena girls, finishing fourth in the discus and fifth in the shot put at Tularosa. She also was third in the javelin at Laguna, and Mirabal pointed out Armstrong is close to qualifying for state in all three events.

Another standout for the girls was sprinter Chelsea Armstrong, who Mirabal said is less than a second away from qualifying in the 100 and 200 meters.

The coach also said Frank Marquez, Patrick Martinez, Robbie Zamora and Briar Billa all excelled in their respective events. He said Martinez broke the school record in the 3200 by more than a minute. Martinez was sixth at Tularosa in the 3200, finishing in 12:18.99.

Magdalena's girls finished tied with Carrizozo for ninth at Tularosa with 17 points. The boys were 11th at the meet with 11 points.

Alamo and Quemado

Both Alamo and Quemado sent small teams to the Menaul Invitational in Albuquerque, with the Alamo girls being the only ones to score any points. The Class 1A Lady Cougars scored nine points, placing them 14th between Class 2A Menaul and Class 3A Thoreau.

Another Class 2A team, Estancia, won the girls team points title with 44 points, edging Bosque Prep.

Gallup Catholic, a member of District 6-1A, scored points on both the boys and girls sides.

jbrooks@dchieftain.com

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