HORSEMEN TRACK AND FIELD INVITATIONAL AT ST. MICHAEL’S

After following up its girls and boys sweep of the 2021 state track and field 3A  championships by doing the same at the recent Capital City Invitational at Santa Fe High, St. Michael’s will be home Saturday to host its 4th annual Horsemen Invitational.

The meet is scheduled for a 9 a.m. start, with temperatures listed to be in the 60s, and expected to join the field are Capital, Santa Fe Prep, Santa Fe Indian School, Taos,  West Las Vegas, Robertson, Tierra Encantada, Albuquerque Cottonwood Classical Prep, Bernalillo, East Mountain, and Academy of Technology and The Classics.

If you get there at the start, you can take in the girls 4 x 800 relay. Head coach Joey Fernandez will line up the foursome of sophomore Rebekah Bagwell, freshman Ellie Musolf, junior Logan Hunt and freshman Raylee Hunt.

The Hunt sisters took last weekend off by attending Monday’s annual Boston Marathon to cheer on their parents Lee and Kristi running the 26 miles, 285 yards. Raylee is also slated to race the 200 meters and 300 hurdles, of which she’s favored in both.

St. Michael’s versatile junior Jacqueline Gorman usually competes in several events that includes both track and field, and she’s currently scheduled for both the 100 and 300 hurdles, the pole vault and the triple jump. She will probably also race anchor leg on the 4 x 200 relay quartet, and is favored to claim the triple jump and pole vault.

She loves to compete, and when asked if the difficult pole vault is one of her favorites, she answered that “It’s up there.”

Lady Horsemen junior Grace Sandoval, a member of the state 2021 championship soccer team along with Logan Hunt, senior goalkeeper Milena Keene, Gorman, and sophomore Jada Lujan, comes off a 400-meter victory at the Capital City meet. In the relays, they have a shot in the 4 x 200 and in the sprint medley along with Indian School.

Keene also goes after the 200 and shot put, while Lujan looks to finish in the top three of the long jump, and Indian School’s leading distance runners are junior Destiny Marquez and freshman Destiny Chino.

Santa Fe Prep has state 2-time tennis champion Isabel Voinescu in several events, and the young Griffins are banking on points from sprinters Sophia Bair, an 8th-grader, freshman Nya Garcia, and freshman Helen Desmond, whose mom, Lis, is an assistant coach at Prep and a former stellar triathlon champion, plus sophomore Emery Kurth, daughter of the school’s athletic director, in the field events.

As for the Horsemen, they have a variety of quality athletes.

Senior Daymon Lujan’s versatility has him again probably winning both hurdles, being up there in the javelin, and dashing the opening leg for the strong 4 x 400 relay team. He could again have company in the hurdles, for at the Capital City meet, freshman and senior teammates Soren Annon and Isaiah Salazar finished second and third, respectively.

St. Michael’s also features its sprint medley relay that usual passes the baton among sophomore Marcus Leyba, juniors Trevor Erickson and Daniel Kupcho, and senior Ryan Kuhn. In the triple jump, Salazar’s biggest challenge comes from Taos’ Fabian Cordova, and senior Jordan Bernal should be up among the shot put and discus leaders.

Junior Johnny Abeyta will be headed for the 1,600 and 3,200 distances, Kuhn goes in the 800 and with the 4 x 100 relay team, senior Devin Flores, one of the top Horsemen all-around athletes, is down for the javelin and 100 meters. And Kupcho, the team’s leading sprinter, will dash the 100 and 200.

Indian School figures to content in the sprint medley, as does Taos in the 4 x 200 and 4 x 800. Santa Fe Prep senior Finnegan Coles tries to improve his best high jump of 6-4 and is the one to beat in the event. Junior teammate Asher Nathan could be up there in the 200, as well as senior Hakan Gurler-Hatch in the triple jump, and junior sprinter GB Davis, while ATATC’s best distance runner is senior Joey Gurule.