Junior Lucas McNatt, Capital’s lone 5A qualifier for weekend state track and field championships, with Santa Fe High junior Theodore Goujon in the 6A 100, 200 meters at the UNM event
By Arnie Leshin | May 11, 2017
Photos by: Rita Vigil, Head Coach and Zeke Villegas, Athletic Coordinator at Capital High School
Good for Lucas McNatt. While Albuquerque Academy and Los Alamos dominated the District 2-5A track and field championships that Capital High hosted, the Jaguars junior qualified for the weekend 4A-6A state track and field championships at the University of New Mexico.
McNatt will take his 11:47 (12th fastest) in the 100 and 6-feet (7th best) in the high jump. He will run the anchor leg on the 4 x 100 relay, and the third leg 400 on the 1,600 sprint medley.
He will be joined by juniors Francisco Miranda and Francisco Vega, and freshman Osman Padilla in the 4 x 100 stick-pass, and by Padilla, Vega, and junior Joseph Namingha in the medley. Padilla and Vega will race the 200 and Namingha the anchor 800.
As for the Chargers and Hilltoppers, they qualified 106 for state and will not surprisingly be the top two teams in 5A. Academy is the defending boy’s champion.
In 4A, St. Michael’s makes a bid for team honors in both the girls and boys with 35 individual qualifiers. Not counting the four relays they both qualified in, the girls total 21 and the boys 13.
Busy, busy, busy, busy will be Lady Horsemen junior Lauren Chafins. The defending 400 champion, she’s also racing the 100, 200, as well as the long jump and anchor legs. Junior teammate Ellie Breeden is in the 200, 400, triple jump, plus the relays.
Senior Jocelyn Fernandez is favored to win her second javelin title, and will also throw the discus. Sophomore Janai Clayton goes in the 400 and 800, sophomore Joelyn Fernandez in the 100 and 300 intermediate hurdles, and senior Amanada Marbourgh doing the shot put and discus.
The Lady Horsemen have qualified in 17 of the 19 events.
Chafins is expected to get her biggest challenge from Ruidoso senior Shalom Keller, who was injured last year, and now has the fastest times in all three races. Breeden has the third-best clocking in the 400. In the relays, the team is tops in the 4 x 200, and has run the second-fastest in the 4 x 400 and sprint medley.
The Horsemen qualified for 14 events. Senior Austin Luttrell will run the 1, 600 and 3,200, sophomore Justin Angel the same, sophomore Justice Johnson the 400 and 800, senior Esteban Alcaraz the 110 and 300 hurdles, and junior Joey Fernandez the triple jump and javelin.
Luttrell’s best chance to medal should be the 1,600 where he has the third-best time. Angel has the third-fastest in the 3,200. Alcaraz is on a mission to win the longer hurdles and also medal in the shorter one. Its top relay quartet goes in the sprint medley where it is the fastest qualifier, as well as the 4 x 200 where it is second-best.
In 6A, Santa Fe High once again had to contend with the strong District I lineup in districts but was able to qualify junior Theodore Goujon in the 100 and 200, sophomore River Edward in the 200, senior Mateo Martinez in the pole vault, and its 4 x 200 relay quartet, which had the 13th best qualifying time.
Goujon has made a vast improvement after giving both sprints a try last year. He made it to the 100 finals, but didn’t in the 200. He has a good shot to land on the podium in both. Martinez has gone 12-7 and hopes to soar his way to a medal.
The Demonettes send sophomore Judith Allison into the 300 hurdles, senior Ryann Tanuz in the high jump, and freshman Riannah Varela in the long jump and triple jump. Tanuz has the third-best high jump at 5-2, while Varela has gone 35-11 in the triple jump, her best event.
Also in 4A, state cross country champion Michael Tenorio, a Santa Fe Indian School senior, is looking to add another title as he runs the 1,600 and 3,200. His best bet is probably the shorter distance. He will also run the anchor 800 in the sprint medley relay.
The Braves also have senior Tolaska Hunts Along tripling in the shot put, javelin and high jump.
The Indian School girls will be led by freshman Iris Emery in the 400, 800 and anchoring the sprint medley. The Braves are also in the 4 x 200 and sophomore Jordan Moya throws the shot put.
Friday’s first day will have mostly preliminaries, with finals on Saturday. But the girl’s 3,200 final will be contested Friday, as will the 4A and 5A boy’s high jump, the girl’s 4A discus and long jump, the 6A boy’s pole vault and the girl’s long jump.
The running events on Friday will begin with the 4 x 100 prelims at 10 a.m. On Saturday, the 4 x 100 will line up first at 11 a.m.
Online State 4A-6A T & F Qualifiers
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GIRLS
100 – 4A: Lauren Chafins, St. Michael’s
200 – 4A: Lauren Chafins, St. Michael’s
Ellie Breeden, St. Michael’s
400 – 4A: Lauren Chafins, St. Michael’s
Ellie Breeden, St. Michael’s
Janai Clayton, St. Michael’s
Iris Emery, SF Indian School
800 – 4A: Janai Clayton, St. Michael’s
Esperanza Cortez, St. Michael’s
Iris Emery, SF Indian School
3,200 – 4A: Violet Eklund, St. Michael’s
100 Hurdles – 4A: Joelyn Fernandez, St. Michael’s
Claire Lee, St. Michael’s
300 Hurdles – 4A: Joelyn Fernandez, St. Michael’s
6A: Judith Allison, Santa Fe HS
4 x 100 Relay – 4A: St. Michael’s
4 x 200 Relay – 4A: St. Michael’s
SF Indian School
4 x 400 Relay – 4A: St. Michael’s
Sprint Medley– 4A: St. Michael’s
SF Indian School
High Jump – 4A: Danielle Trujillo, St. Michael’s
6A : Ryann Tanuz, Santa Fe HS
Long Jump – 4A: Lauren Chafins, St. Michael’s
Danielle Trujillo, St. Michael’s
6A: Riannah Varela, Santa Fe HS
Triple Jump – 4A: Claire Lee, St. Michael’s
Ellie Breeden, St. Michael’s
6A: Riannah Varela, Santa Fe HS
Shot Put – 4A: Amanda Marbourg, St. Michael’s
Jordan Moya, SF Indian School
Discus – 4A: Amanda Marbourg, St. Michael’s
Jocelyn Fernandez, St. Michael’s
Javelin – 4A: Jocelyn Fernandez, St. Michael’s
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BOYS
100 – 5A: Lucas McNatt, Capital
6A: Theodore Goujon, Santa Fe HS
200 – 4A: Lee Hayden, St. Michael’s
6A: Theodore Goujon, Santa Fe HS
River Edwards, Santa Fe HS
400 – 4A: Justice Johnson, St. Michael’s
800 – 4A: Justice Johnson, St. Michael’s
1,600 – 4A: Austin Luttrell, St. Michael’s
Justin Angel, St. Michael’s
Michael Tenorio, SF Indian School
3,200 – 4A: Justin Angel, St. Michael’s
Austin Luttrell, St. Michael’s
Eli Steward, St. Michael’s
Michael Tenorio, SF Indian School
Cody Quintana, SF Indian School
110 Hurdles – 4A: Esteban Alcaraz, St. Michael’s
300 Hurdles – 4A: Esteban Alcaraz, St. Michael’s
4 x 100 Relay– 4A: St. Michael’s
5A: Capital
4 x 200 Relay – 4A: St. Michael’s
6A: Santa Fe HS
Sprint Medley– 4A: St. Michael’s
SF Indian School
5A: Capital
High Jump – 4A: Tolaska Hunts Along, SF Indian Schoool
Triple Jump– 4A: Joey Fernandez, St. Michael’s
Pole Vault – 6A: Mateo Martinez, Santa Fe HS
Shot Put – 4A: Jake Tetrault, St. Michael’s
4A: Tolaska Hunts Along, SF Indian School
Javelin– 4A: Joey Fernandez, St. Michael’s
4A: Tolaska Hunts Along, SF Indian School