Soaring over the high jump bar at 6 feet, Capital High junior Lucas McNatt topped the field to win championship

Soaring over the high jump bar at 6 feet, Capital High junior Lucas McNatt topped the field to win the 5A event in day one Friday of the state 4A-6A state track and field championships at UNM

The lone Jaguar to qualify for state, McNatt made the height in his first attempt, than led the 4 x 100 relay quartet into the Saturday finals

 

Story by Arnie Leshin —- Photos by Coach Rita Vigil and Athletic Coordinator Zeke Villegas

Up and over he went, securing his place on the top step of the podium in the 5A high jump.

For Capital High junior Lucas McNatt, a victory on day one of the state track and field championships at the University of New Mexico, was a chance to grab the headlines in what is mostly a day of preliminaries.

And that he did. The only Jaguar to qualify for state made his first of the 6 foot height, than watched as the rest of the field struggled to match him and the five remaining than had to go for second place.

“I felt good mentally,” McNatt said, “and when I made the height on my first attempt, I felt great because it put the pressure on everyone else. When we were done, I heard my name called as the winner, held up the number one finger, and sprinted over to my high jump coaches Brian Gonzales and Zeke Villegas.”

It was just a shade past 8 a.m. when McNatt got off his first jump in the initial 5A event of the two days. It was this and the 4A discus and 6A long jump that began things way before the crowd filed in.

“My dad was here,” he said, “to cheer me on, and when I stood on the top step of the podium, it was just unreal. Last year I ran with the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 at state, stood with my team when we ran fourth in the 4 x 200, but this time it was as a champion and winning a gold medal.”

His best jump coming in was also at 6 feet, and it was seventh best among a bunched field. But at state it was McNatt who was best at that height.

Also a member of the school’s football and wrestling teams, the talented athlete returned to the track in plenty of time to run anchor leg on the 4 x 100 relay. The quartet ran 45.41 and was the last to qualify for the finals.

“We can do better,” said McNatt. “We had three bad stick passes on handoff, so we have to improve on that.”

He also ran the 400 third leg on the 1,600 sprint medley relay team, with not a single senior on either foursome.

The last Jaguar to win state was a year ago when senior Augie Larranaga showed his heels in the 400. Larranaga is now running track at Adams State in Alamosa, Colo., and was happy to learn that McNatt had won at state.

In other finals, the 4A St. Michael’s girls picked up a sixth and seventh, respectively, in the long jump. Junior Lauren Chafins went 16-02 to get the one point, and right behind was senior Danielle Trujillo at 16-01.73.

In the 6A long jump, Santa Fe High freshman Riannah Varela took sixth at 17-02.25. In the 4A discus, Lady Horsemen senior Amanda Marbourg finished fourth with a best throw of 96-10.

In the boys 1,600, the Horseman received a third place from sophomore Justin Angel in the time of 4:30.57. In the next spot came his senior teammate Austin Luttrell turning in a 4:31.59. Sixth in 4:34.67 was Santa Fe Indian School senior Michael Tenorio, the state 4A cross country champion.

In the 6A boys pole vault, Santa Fe High senior Mateo Martinez came in seventh with a best of 12-06, the same height as two others in the event.

In the relay preliminaries, the St. Michael’s girls and boys made it into all four finals. In the 4 x 200, the Lady Horsemen won their heat in 1:47.94 and their 4 x 100 was fifth-best in 51.49. In the 1,600 sprint medley, they were seventh in 4:33.19, and in the 4 x 400 they ran the third-fastest time of 4:11.25.

The Horsemen had the fourth-fastest in the 4 x 100 in 45.63, and their 4 x 200 was the seventh-best time of 1:34.96. In the sprint medley, they clocked 3:45.06 (fourth best) and Indian School (seventh best) 3:48.02 as both gained the finals. In the 4 x 400, they were right up there with the third-fastest time of 3:32.25.

In the 110 hurdles, St. Michael’s senior Esteban Alcaraz tied for second in 16.2. In the 300 intermediate hurdles, he had the fastest time of 40.97.

In the girl’s 300, Lady Horsemen sophomore Joelen Fernandez made the final with the sixth-best time of 49.45.1, and in 6A, Santa Fe High sophomore also made the finals in taking seventh in 47.73.

In the 400, Chafins won her heat in 58.04, with senior teammate Ellie Breeden second in 59.48, but that was the second and third fastest behind Ruidoso senior Shalom Keller’s 56.59. In the 200, Chafins sped 26.20 for the fourth-fastest time. Breeden did not run this, and Keller’s 25.01 was again the best.

Santa Fe High junior Theodore Goujon missed out on the 100 finals, but did sneak into the 200 by racing 22.60 for the last qualifying spot. Just missing was his sophomore teammate River Edwards, who was right behind him in 22:64.

Along with Goujon, those that failed to score in an event was McNatt in the 100, Indian School freshman Iris Emery in the 400, Indian School senior Tolaska Hunts Along in the high jump, and the Indian School girls in the 4 x 200 and sprint medley relays, St. Michael’s freshman Violet Eklund in the 3,200, and Horsemen sophomore Hayden Lee in the 200, and the Jaguar boy’s sprint medley quartet.

Chafins scratched from the 200, as did Horsemen boy’s sophomore Justice Johnson in the 400.

St. Michael’s girls had only one point after day one, but will certainly pick up plenty of points in day two. Taos leads the way with 19 points. The St. Michael’s boys picked up seven points for seventh place behind Portales (17) and defending champion Taos (12).

The final day starts at 8 a.m. with the 4A discus, shot put and high jump. The running events begin at 11 a.m. with the 4 x 100 relay finals.

The weather forecast is for sunny skies with a high of 75 degrees. But get there early because that parking lot fills up fast.