SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
And he had so much left after sprinting to victories in Saturday’s the 100, 200 and 400 championships of the state 3A boys track and field championships.
That was St. Michael’s senior Daniel Kupcho. He celebrated with cheers and some flashy finishes and then anchored the day’s final event, the 4 x 400 relay.
Naturally, it won as he stole the show and even added a state-record in the 200 as the Horsemen pieced together 101 points to outdistance second place Santa Fe Prep by 44 points at the University of New Mexico oval.
He has already set his sights on a college on the west coast of South Florida, but on the final day of the two-day meet under sunny skies, he had his sights on crossing the finish line each time.
He sped the 100 in 11.4, the 200 in 21.74, the 400 in 49.67, and led the 4 x 400 to a 3:30.3 success, four off the school record.
For the Horsemen, it was the fourth consecutive state title in the sports. They scored points in all but one event — the 800.
As for Kupcho, head coach Joey Fernandez said: “Last year, it was a matter of confidence, but he had a good soccer season, worked hard in the offseason with lifting weights, and he got his steps in place with many practices.”
In his final fling, he gathered in 30.5 points, an individual high for the day.
“I felt good, I felt relaxed, felt like a winner,” he said not long after crossing the finish in full stride of the 4 x 400.”
He had several standoffs with Prep star Asher Nathan, and won them all, which was a big chore against athlete who had a splendid campaign.
St. Michael’s sophomore Soren Annon also had a big day with victories in both hurdles and ran with the 4 x 400 relay. A big improvement after taking fourth and fifth, respectively, last year in the hurdles.
Despite settling for third place, Horsemen junior Landen Sandoval turned in a huge run in his first year in the track championships, and initial year of cross country.
With the two state top seeds dueling stride for stride in the 3,200, Sandoval hung around a half-track behind them in third place, even made a run around the final turn.
“I knew they were good,” he said happily after, “but I felt strong from the start although those first two ran to the front quickly, but it was neat, my first track championship run, after also doing my first cross country.”
Yes, it was live and learn as he now looks forward to next time.
St. Michael’s lost the first event, the 4 x 100 relay when Kupcho was taken out to concentrate on the four sprints and the final relay, so it was Santa Fe Prep that won by a few steps with sophomores Cyres Hnasko and Weston Stump and seniors G.B. Davis and Nathan.
But the 4 x 200 relay went to St.Michael’s with senior Marcus Leyba, juniors Lucas Gurule and Mario Maurin, and Jeramiah Sandoval.
The Horsemen just into the day with only one thing on their mind — winning — and that they did, leaving the rest of the field behind.
In 2A, Pecos won the 4 x 800 with Zachary Fox, Israel Villegas, Lorenzo Ortega and Elijah Lujan, with Lujan racing a strong anchor come-from-behind run.
In the 4 x 400, it was the Panthers again victorious with Fox speeding the super anchor leg after the handoffs from Ortego, Julian Mueller, Brandon DeSantos.
Then there was senior Malik Berrens after stumbling over a hurdles in the 110 coming back to win the 300 with a strong start.
“When I got to the 300,” he said, “Heck, this is my best chance after the 110 mistake, so I got away real fast and happily it turned into a win.”
Berrens had four seasons of basketball, so he said he wanted to win something as an individual, and got his wish.
The Panthers of coaches Patrick and Victor Ortiz scored 46 points for four place.
