Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
40 area teams slated for contest.
Tucumcari's Rod Dunlap placed second in the high jump Saturday during the District 5-3A track meet.
More than 40 area high school athletes will compete this weekend in the 1A-3A state track and field tournament at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
"In order for us to win a another championship, the boys will have to place where they are seeded and hope Dexter isn't as good as they look on paper," said Wayne Ferguson, Tucumcari head track coach.
The Tucumcari Rattlers boys track and field team won the 2017 3A title and are poised to repeat.
Ferguson said the odds look good if they can overcome top-seeded Dexter, but there are two other schools, Cottonwood and Eunice, who currently are in the running with the Rattlers at second place.
"We had a good showing at the District 3-5A meet Saturday at Santa Rosa that the teams can build on," Ferguson said.
Ferguson said the Rattlers and Lady Rattlers both came in second in team placing.
The Rattlers won seven district championships: Medley Relay, 1600 meter Relay, Javelin (Xavier Garcia), 110 meter hurdles (Seth Martinez), 300 meter hurdles (Martinez), and the 400 meter dash (Gerardo Villa).
The Lady Rattlers won four district championships: The 1600 meter relay, 3200 meter relay, Discus (Aaliyah Brown), 800 meter dash (A'Leaya Lucero) and High Jump (Kalani French).
There are 23 competing for the Rattlers and Lady Rattlers at the 3A state track and field tournament.
The Logan Longhorns, Lady Longhorns will have 21 athletes competing at the 2A state track and field competition.
"We have several athletes that have experienced the level of competition at the state tournament level and we are going to take advantage of that experience," said Robert Young, Logan's head track coach.
Young said the team will be working to move up in some spots while hoping their performance throughout the season will help things to fall into place.
The San Jon Coyotes, Lady Coyotes will have three competing at the 1A state tournament.
San Jon track qualifiers
Teryn Foote
Tobe Slater
Dustin Bryant
Logan track qualifiers
Steven Coronado
Jantzen Paris
Colton Roach
Nick Brown
Jordan Evans
Dante Sandoval
Julian Chavez
Zach Byrd
Jodie Vance
Jonie Vance
Sierra Horne
Cheyanne Horne
Cassidy Cordova
Brooke Valentine
Carli Catrel
Cambry Burns
Kyra Conway
Destiney Cleveland
Kassi Foote
Keylee Foote
Tucumcari track qualifiers
Josh Chavez
Rod Dunlap
Jose Duran-Flores
Xavier Garcia
Robbie Hartmann
Christian Hernandez
Seth Martinez
Simon Ortiz
Isaiah Valverde
Gerardo Villa
Aaliyah Brown
Pricila Enriquez
Kalani French
Elena Gutierrez
Aliyah Herrera
Emily Lisabelle
A'Leaya Lucero
Gloriana Salas
Sierra Sandoval
Ashley Shipley
Secilee Skinner
Ashanti Taylor
Brittany Verdugo
