ST. MICHAEL”S CROSS COUNTRY

It was quite a start for St. Michael’s Raylee Hunt.

Only an 8th-grader, she made her initial run at Monday’s Albuquerque St. Pius X Super Cinco run and left the defending girls state 3A champion Albuquerque Cottonwood Classical on her heels as she won the 2.64-mile race in the time of 16:58. Trailing her were Cottonwood’s junior Alyx Master (17:07), junior Liza Cardinale (18:09), sophomore Sophia Lopez (18:19), and junior Audrey Lozoya in 18:39.

At last year’s state championships, Lopez ran fifth, Lozoya seventh, and Cardinale ninth.

At St. Pius, Hunt won the Super CInco All-Meet award after taking first in the 1-2 Race. The 3-4 Race went to Cardinale, with St, Michael’s 8th-graders Lauren Barela seventh in 23:51 and Lauren Patton eighth in 24:00. In the 1-2 Race, Lady Horsemen senior Paris DIxson ran 10th in 22:52. Cottonwood won the team title with a top cumulative time of 1:35.02, with St. Pius X second (1:59.50), and St. Michael’s third (1:48.50)

In the boys competition, Albuquerque Hope Christian won the team title (1:19:16), and its Rendon Kykendall took first in the All-Meet Super Cinco in 13:50, just ahead of teammate Eric Scharton, who ran 13:52. In the 3-4 Race won by Hope’s Evan Stewart in 15:18, Horsemen 8th-grader Jaden Perea finished fifth in 18:11 and sophomore teammate Irvin Loya came in eighth in 19:46, while the team took fourth in the team scoring at a cumulative time of 1:31.37.

In the 1-2 Race won by Kykendall, St. Michael’s senior Dennis Ortiz placed eighth in 16:29,.with junior teammate Ryan Kuhn nexkt in 17:11.