SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
Albuquerque Hope Christian runs off with team honors, with Santa Fe High the runner-up
By ARNIE LESHIN, Santa Fe Today
The Santa Fe High girls had a good run at Saturday morning’s fifth annual John Grimley Memorial Cross Country Invitational, but had to settle for runner-up in the team scoring behind Albuquerque Hope Christian.
The Demonettes’ first to finish was senior Daisy Gephart 12th in 23:09, but they also ran 17th with sophomore Maya Holder (23:21), 21st with sophomore Brooke Guevara turning in a time of 23:34, 30th with junior Judith Allison running 24:29, and senior Rue Allison 28th in 24:26.
It was kind of a surprise that two-time defending state champion sophomore Carly Gonzales of Penasco took second behind Estancia’ junior Jaimey Fastnacht, who clocked 21:57 and was 14 seconds ahead of Gonzales.
It was a field of 142 runners, but Hope dominated with its harriers sticking together and taking six of the first 15th places. Its junior Kylie Poole led the way with a third-place 22:20.
For host Santa Fe Indian School, sophomore Iris Emery turned in a 22:59 to finish seventh. The Braves scored 151 points for sixth place, 13 behind fifth place Pecos. Desert Academy and Capital High did not have complete teams, but Jaguar sophomore Emma George ran 38th in 25:07 and senior teammate Audrey Gonzales was a second behind in 39th.
Freshman Vanessa Dominquez paved the way for the Panthers by running 16th in 23:20.
Santa Fe High did win the junior varsity team title, scoring 42 points. Indian School was second with 65.
The individual winner was Pecos’ 8th-grader Savanna Ortiz in 24:55, and the next spot went to Braves freshman Taveah Lucero running 25:33. Third and fourth, respectively, went to Pecos 8th-grader Loryn Trujillo in 25:47 and Santa Fe High senior Katherine Sanchez in 25:26.
But the Demonetes ran in a pack to take 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th. Senior Sophia Gavin was eighth and had the same 26:50 time as freshman teammate Maya Ellers.
