Socorro County XC runners compete at state

Alamo Cougars

The two qualifying Cougars ran in the NM State A-2A race the morning of Saturday, Nov. 8, at Albuquerque Academy. It was a beautiful autumn day with fall colors, great temps for a race, and views of the Sandias from the course.

Pherrell Herrera started at 9 a.m. in a pack of 171 other boys. He finished 39th with a time of 18:32.10. He had the fastest time among the boys from Socorro County, even if the others ran the course at a separate time.

“Pherrell ran short of his goal but all in all he ran extremely well. He will have competition again next year since the boys he runs against in the district are not graduating this year. He ran hard…I am proud of him.” Head Coach Ira Pino said.

Special recognition goes out to Ania Torres for bringing in Socorro County’s highest place finish at the meet. The girls A-2A race started at 9:45 a.m., and Torres finished with a time of 21:59.30 for 14th overall out of 120 total runners.

“Ania ran a wonderful race. It was the best race of her career so far. She always wanted to run 21 minutes, and she did at the one place everyone has their eye on you. I could not have seen a runner give everything like the way she runs. She left nothing in the tank and ran her hardest. That is all a coach can ask for.” Pino said.

Ania’s mom, Lyndy Torres, was at the meet to cheer on both of the Cougars running that day and take photos.

“As parents, we couldn’t be happier or prouder of Ania’s performance at State. I’m confident she’ll use this experience as motivation to come back even stronger next year.” Lyndy Torres said. “We truly appreciate Coach Ira and his staff for their dedication and commitment to the cross-country team, and we want to thank ANSBI for their continued support of athletics and for ensuring our students have the resources they need to be successful—both on and off the field.”

These two multisport student-athletes won’t rest for long. Ania Torres has the NM state volleyball tournament coming up this week, then she plans to play basketball. Pherrell also plans to play basketball in the upcoming season.

“I am proud of them both and hope they have success in the next sport they are going to join.” Pino said.

See A-2A results here:

https://nm.milesplit.com/meets/716149-nmaa-a-2a-state-xc-championships-2025/results

Socorro

The Socorro XC teams ran later on in the day in the NM State 3A race, with the boys race starting at 12:40 and the girls starting at 1:25 p.m. Both SHS teams qualified for state, so seven boys and seven girls ran that day.

The top finisher for the boys was Kyle Berger. He had a time of 18:34.70 to place 39th out of 93 total runners.

“Kyle had been sick for most of the week and I was really proud of him for stepping on the line even when he knew his big goals were likely out of reach.” Head Coach Beth Cadol said.

SHS boys race times: Rylan Timmons 19:27.50, Timur Aitbayev 19:52.60, Riley Sewell 20:53.30, Peter Edmondson 20:56.20, Liam Demorest 21:01.20 and Paul Franklin 23:22.80.

“The boys team out-performed our expectations for State on the strength of our 3-4-5 runners who all had significant PRs Saturday. It’s exciting to know they’re all young and building momentum for next fall already.” Cadol said.

Next up were the girls, and Kathleen Johnson led the way for Socorro with a time of 22:47.20 and a 37th place finish out of 86 total runners.

“The girls battled the emotional toll of a long season and came through with solid results. Aria Jacobs was our secret weapon the last half of the season, as she kept improving with every race and showed courage each time she explored further and further out of her comfort zone.” Cadol said.

SHS girls race times: Anastasia Zagrai 23:11.60, Aria Jacobs 24:01.80, Abby Cadol 25:10.20, Max DeVries 25:26.70, Kailyn Woods 25:31.10 and Sasha Zagrai 25:39.00.

“We’re proud of what we accomplished this season, and are already looking forward to what we can improve on for next year.” Cadol said.

Only two of the boys and one of the girls are seniors, so there are many experienced runners returning to lead the way next year.

See 3A results here:

https://nm.milesplit.com/meets/716151-nmaa-3a-state-xc-championships-2025/results