Local girls track will head to state

The local girls track and field teams turned in solid efforts at the district meets, which, in turn, means there will be strong representation at the Class1A-3A New Mexico state meet Friday and Saturday at the University of New Mexico Track and Soccer Complex.

Socorro

Nine Warriors athletes earned individual state meet bids either via automatic qualifying or by virtue of finishing first or second at the District 3-3A meet last weekend.

“I was really pleased with the girls,” said coach Beth Cadol. “They performed spectacularly. They definitely exceeded my expectations. Many of them got (personal records). Even the kids who were less experienced and younger, they performed well. The day was just a fine one as far as a coach is concerned.”

Socorro finished with 180 points, more than doubling runner up Hot Springs at 86.

“I knew we had a good shot if everybody showed up,” Cadol said. “And if we got the baton across the line without hang-ups (in the relays), then I thought we had a really good shot. I was really more focused on getting our kids qualified for state. That’s never a guarantee.”

As for state, the coach said she doesn’t think the Warriors will be bringing home any gold medals, but they should have plenty of opportunities to hit the podium and earn experience for next season.

“We’re in the best position we can ever be because no one is paying attention to us,” she said. “I don’t think we’re going to be winning anything this year, but we have a realistic shot at advancing to the finals. And an outside shot at placing in the top six if we have our best day and I have no doubt that we can have our best day.”

Magdalena

Steers coach Fran Ganadonegro went into the District 2-1A meet with one goal: to bring home the district championship banner that has eluded the Magdalena girls for far too long.

“As far as my end, I did all that I could to get as many people in as many events as I could,” she said. “I stacked everybody with five events, except for one or two people who had four, just to get as many points as we could out of each event.”

And it worked as the Steers came away with a tough 135-122 win over Cliff.

“It’s very important,” Ganadonegro said of the district win. “That’s been the goal. That’s the goal every year to win the district championship. The last couple of years we’ve come up short by just a few points. But all the hard work and the dedication of the girls came through on that day and we did well.”

A big shout out goes to the team’s only senior, Jorianne Mirabal, the coach said, who totaled 26 points to take home high-point honors.

“She qualified in a lot of individual events and helped the 4X400 and 4X800 qualify for state so that is pretty exciting for the girls,” Ganadonegro said.

Now it’s time to get let the athletes dip their toes into the state meet pool just to see how it feels.

“The biggest challenge will be not letting the nerves get the best of them,” she said. “Everybody but the eighth graders has been there, but nerves still factor into it sometimes.”

Alamo Navajo

Cougars coach Lindy Torres knew it was going to be a tough meet with just two of her athletes ready to compete on this level.

But her daughter, eighth-grader Ania Torres, put on a show, taking first in the 800- and 1600-meter runs. She also earlier auto-qualified in the 400, in which she is seeded second in the state behind Gabriella Knoten of Mountainair. Torres also is seeded fourth in the 800.

State qualifiers:

Socorro:

100-meters, Sienna Bunning; 200, Natalie Marshall; 400, Breanne Lucero and Marshall; 800, Abby Cadol; 1600, Cadol and Kathleen Johnson; 3200, Cadol and Johnson; 100 hurdles, Ma’Leah Brown and Tatum Brown; 300 hurdles, Ma’Leah Brown and Miquelia Padilla; 4X100 relay; 4X400 relay; medley relay; 4X800; high jump, Adrianna Gutierrez; long jump, Gutierrez; pole vault, Lucero, Sienna.

Magdalena

400, Jewel Mirabal; 800, Jema Ganadonegro; 4X100; 4X200; 4X400; medley relay; 4X800 relay; long jump, Jorianne Mirabal; triple jump, Jorianne Mirabal; pole vault, Jorianne Mirabal, Brooke Pettis.

Alamo Navajo

400, Ania Torres; 800, Torres; 1600, Torres.