Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Magdalena teams sweep points titles again

Jason W. Brooks El Defensor Chieftain Reporter

State qualifiers abound for dominant deep Steers teams

jbrooks@dchieftain.com

Magdalena's Natalia Montoya knew she only had a few more steps to go Saturday. The trouble was, her 4-by-100 relay teammate Kayla Armstrong had already taken off and was pulling away from Montoya.

"I kind out of pooped out at the end," Montoya said about her leg of the relay.

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However, Magdalena not only won the event, but also triumphed in team points for both boys and girls for the second straight year at the District 6-1A track and field championships, held at Quemado. The school managed this feat with ease, despite not having the high-point athlete on either side.

"We didn't know much about what we had to work with coming into this meet," said Magdalena senior Anjelina Torres. "I think our team(s) did really well."

The Steers and Lady Steers both dominated the meet. The boys finished with 160 points, compared to 88 by their closest competitor, Gallup Catholic. The girls finished with a 150-119 advantage over Gallup Catholic.

Torres won the long jump event and qualified in the 100 meters at Saturday's meet. The senior also qualified for state earlier in the season in both the long jump the 400 meters

Magdalena also qualified more athletes for this week's Class 1A-2A state track and field meet at the University of New Mexico. Seven boys and seven girls will represent Magdalena at the state meet, which will take place Friday and Saturday.

The meet was an exciting one for many young athletes from other schools as well. Alamo had one of its strongest showings ever at a district track meet, and Tse' Yi' Gai showed off its first-ever state qualifier in track in javelin-thrower Jennifer Montoya.

Many on the young Magdalena team punched their tickets to state with strong performances at the district meet. For the girls, Lexy Pettis qualified in the pole vault in her first-ever competition in the event. Montoya qualified in the 200 meters, which she ran after a grueling 800-meter leg of the medley relay.

Kayla Armstrong, who had already qualified in the girls discus, added the javelin and shot put to her 2006 profile. While Armstrong didn't have an especially strong discus performance Saturday, she will still enter the state meet as the top-seeded discus thrower among Class 1A girls.

Sadly, the girls discus had a major incident accompany it. Gallup Catholic senior Stevie Womble, who was stretching near the discus area, was hit by an errant disc from a teammate who was competing. Womble was hit on the right forearm during the early-morning event, and after swelling developed in her arm, she was taken by ambulance to a Gallup-area hospital. Womble's condition wasn't known as of late Saturday.

Other Magdalena girls who will compete at state are Nicole Hardy in the 300-meter hurdles, Sasha Hardy in the high jump, and Chelsea Armstrong in the 100-meter hurdles. Chelsea Armstrong also qualified in the 100 meters a few weeks ago.

Magdalena's relay teams all earned points, with few schools deep enough to field squads in those areas. Both the girls medley and 4-by-100 relay teams are set to participate at state.

On the boys side, KC Armstrong won the pole vault event, and is the third-seeded male in Class 1A in that field event. Frank Marquez qualified Saturday in the 110-meter hurdles and the high jump, beating out state-qualifier Eugene Hutton of Quemado with a jump of 5 feet, 4 inches. Marquez was on the 4-by-100 and 4-by-400 teams that qualified at the meet.

Robbie Zamora set a new school record with his run in the mile, while Patrick Martinez qualified in the discus. Cody Henderson will compete at state in the 100 meters, while Chad Abeyta added the long jump as another event the Steers will have a participant in this week.

Cord Trujillo had quite a day as well. In addition to qualifying in the javelin and the pole vault, Trujillo edged Marquez by 0.26 seconds in qualifying in the 110-meter hurdles.

"I've stayed just ahead of him all year," Marquez said of his teammate while smiling. "Then he comes along and beats me at district."

Tyson Secatero of Alamo was named top male athlete with 28 points on his own, while Gallup Catholic's Maggie Kilgore was the top female with 27 points.

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