Clovis senior Moses Bibbs, left, battles it out at the finish line of the Class 5A 100 meter finals with Highland's Derek Montoya, right, along with Wynton El of Cibola. Montoya edged Bibbs by two-tenths of a second for first place.

Clovis senior Lance Lukkar throws shot put during Saturday’s Class 5A finals in the state track and field championships at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Lukkar finished third, while teammate Richie Chavez won the event to give Clovis

ALBUQUERQUE — Did Moses Bibbs win the 100? The Clovis senior honestly didn’t know.

Nor did his opponent, Highland’s Derek Montoya.

As they caught their breath, they looked up at the board. Montoya had posted an 11.35, and Bibbs an 11.37. Two hundredths of a second cost Bibbs and Clovis two points.

It was one in a litany of small setbacks that kept a third-place track and field trophy out of the Wildcats’ collective grasp at the University of New Mexico track facility. But coach Darren Kelley considered the 45-point day, good for fifth place, a forward step.

“The guys competed their butts off,” Kelley said. “We were competing better than we had in a long time, and we scored more points that we have in a long time.”

La Cueva won the three-team race for third with 57 points, tops in a field that couldn’t do much about Rolando Trammel and the rest of his Highland teammates.

“I think we had five first-place finishes, but we also had a lot of seconds,” longtime Hornets coach Gary Sanchez said. “It helps when you have three really good seniors that run hard.”

Behind Trammel’s 28-point weekend, the Hornets scored 84 to win handily over defending champion Cibola, which scored 67 1/2 in what was a two-team competition from the outset.

Clovis went in looking for a third-place trophy, but missing out on small points added up down the road. Bibbs couldn't get into the top six in the 200 later, and senior Izzy Miranda fell from first to fourth on the final lap of a greuling two-mile.

But Clovis had its share of positives, too, with Miranda setting a school record in the one-mile Friday and a 1-3 finish for Richie Chavez and Lance Lukkar in the shot put — with Chavez defending his title with a throw of 58-3 1 /2.

And, even on the final event, the 1,600 relay, the Wildcats were out of trophy range and senior Stefan Mills held on to a slim lead for sixth so Clovis could leave Albuquerque on a positive.

“Usually if you score in the 40s, you’re going to get a trophy,” Kelley said, “so this was a good meet for us.”