sa国际传媒官网网页入口

sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Academy鈥檚 girls and La Cueva鈥檚 boys are showing the way at the Richard A. Harper Memorial track and field meet.

The first day of one of the state鈥檚 most elite regular-season meets saw the Chargers score 44陆 points, with La Cueva (24陆) and Los Alamos/Highland (each with 19) in pursuit.

The Bears had a big day in the field events, and a large, talented field, chasing them after a 40-point Friday. Juggernaut Cleveland (29) and 4A power Academy (23) were next in the standings.

Opening day of the Harper, as always, was mostly a day for the field athletes, with 12 of the 14 finals staged on Friday. Only the javelin remains, on Saturday morning. There were only two running finals Friday.

The first of them, the 3,200-meter final, went to Anna Hastings of the host Chargers, and also Lucas Espinosa of Cleveland.

Espinosa ran a season-best time (for him) of 9 minutes, 22.07 seconds, as he outraced Academy鈥檚 Nicholas Ponte 鈥� who has been the top metro runner in this event this spring 鈥� to the finish. Ponte鈥檚 time was 9:23.65.

Espinosa was the stronger runner over the final 800 meters after the two were side by side for the majority of the race.

鈥淔irst and foremost, Nick is a great competitor,鈥� said Espinosa, whose qualifying time for the Harper was 9:36-plus, a time he posted just last week at Sandia Prep鈥檚 meet. 鈥淭oday, I just felt really good going into those last couple of laps. I鈥檓 feeling really fit, and I just didn鈥檛 want to lose today.鈥�

Hastings dominated, as she鈥檚 done pretty much everywhere she鈥檚 been this season, winning in 11:02.07, which was 20陆 seconds ahead of runner-up Elisabeth McNiff of Los Alamos.

Claire DeFoy of Hope Christian (2:18.33) and Elliot Hickey of Academy (1:56.72) later in the program were winners in the 800-meter final.

The rest of the day on the track was spent on prelims and athletes attempting to get qualified for Saturday鈥檚 finals. The Saturday running program begins at 9:30 a.m.

For the host school, it was no surprise that Grace Erinle shined the brightest. The junior who is in the conversation as New Mexico鈥檚 top girls track and field athlete, swept the long jump (18-9, winning comfortably and a season-best for her) and the triple jump. Her triple jump mark was 37-4; Academy went 1-2-3 in this event. Erinle also was the top qualifier in the open 100, in a time of 12.27 seconds.

鈥淚 honestly feel like the Harper is the second most important meet to state,鈥� said Erinle.

sa国际传媒官网网页入口 High鈥檚 Anayjah Garza was a close second in the 100 prelims to Erinle, and Garza later earned the top qualifying mark in the 200.

La Cueva, as mentioned, had an excellent day in the field events Friday.

Jhett Kinghorn edged Farmington鈥檚 Gilberto Quezada in the pole vault, where each cleared 14 feet. They raised the bar to 15 feet, where neither cleared it, but Kinghorn didn鈥檛 miss at 14 feet and that was how he won the event.

鈥淚 think when I was at this meet my freshman year, I no heighted, so my goal at this meet every year is just to get a height,鈥� Kinghorn said. 鈥淚 wish I could have gotten 15 (feet), but my eyes are on state.鈥�

Tony Trujillo and Hunter Butler went 1-2 in the high jump, with Trujillo鈥檚 6-6 four inches better than his teammate.

Tanner Montano had his best long jump of the season and finished first on Friday. His top jump this season coming into the Harper was 22-5, but Montano, looking to ramp up ahead of trying to become the solo overall state record holder next month, leapt 23-3陆 on Friday.

The La Cueva girls had success, as well. Kate Crowell, following up her win at the recent Sepulveda Meet of Champions, made it a pole vault sweep for the Bears, winning at 11-6, with another La Cueva athlete, Grace Danley, in second place.

Raymundo Lujan of Eldorado was runner-up to Montano in the long jump, and also added another victory in the triple jump (45-10 陆).

Gianna Rahmer of Eldorado, who has only run one meet so far this season as she comes back from a couple of minor injuries, was onsite at Academy on Friday, but was not in uniform.

The sophomore did not have a qualifying time to make her eligible to compete at the Harper, either in the 3,200 or the 1,600, so she is not competing at Academy this weekend.

She is, however, planning to run a meet at St. Michael鈥檚 in Santa Fe on Saturday, in the 1,600. The hope is, she鈥檒l meet the qualifying standard which would allow her to be at the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Metro Championships next week in the mile.

Rahmer, a multiple state distance champion, is not yet qualified for state in any individual event. She can qualify for the 3,200 at the District 2-5A meet, which is in two weeks.

Shot put winners Friday were Anni Presser of Rio Rancho (36-5陆) and Moses Sparks of Cleveland (55-3), who is the latest in a line of Storm shot putters to excel in this event.

鈥淭he peanut-butter-and-jelly (aspect),鈥� Sparks said, describing the school鈥檚 success in the shot. 鈥淟ike, the stuff we do every day. It鈥檚 the way we go about practice every day, the seriousness of it.鈥�

Sparks is likely to be the 5A favorite at state. This week, he鈥檚 also paying attention to the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh.

Sparks, a University of Utah signee, watched Thursday night as two Utes, both of them offensive linemen, were taken in the first round.

鈥淚t鈥檚 nice, knowing I have a plan to go next year to Utah. Maybe if all the cards go my way, and I work my ass off 鈥� I have a plan to (get) to the next level,鈥� said Sparks, an offensive tackle.

Two non-metro athletes, Kael Farley of Piedra Vista (159-8) and Sarah Martis of Los Alamos (115-11), captured discus titles Friday.

Rebecca Neal of Highland and Antonella Begay of Academy both cleared 5-2 in the high jump 鈥� four girls, in fact, finished at 5-2, including Crowell 鈥� but Neal had the edge on jumps.

Neal is one of those athletes who has a daunting task ahead of her. She is qualified for state in a whopping eight events, but can only do five at the state meet.

鈥淚 haven鈥檛 decided (which),鈥� Neal said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to choose which ones to do. You don鈥檛 know how to practice.鈥�

Collin Joyner of Cleveland was the top qualifier Friday in both the 110-meter high hurdles (14.38) and 300-meter intermediate hurdles (39.74). Morgan James of Cleveland is seeded first and second, respectively, in the 100 and 300 hurdles in the finals.

James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at .