Serving the High Plains
Runners from the Tucumcari cross-country girls team finished 1-2 at the Mora Invitational on Saturday.
Erin Encinias of Tucumcari was the top girls runner overall at the meet with a time of 21 minutes, 56 seconds over the 3-mile course. A'Leaya Lucero finished runner-up in 24:23.
For the Tucumcari boys, Manny Hernandez finished second overall in a time of 20:18. Teammate Alexander Lujan finished fifth in 24:44.
Tucumcari did not take a full boys or girls team to the Mora meet.
At the season-opening Clovis Invitational at Ned Houk Park on Friday, Encinias was Tucumcari's top girls runner, finishing 27th in 23:58.
Rounding out the rest of the Lady Rattlers field were Lucero, 32nd in 24:43; Ashley Shipley, 55th in 28:27; Lizet Castillo, 57th in 28:59; and Leslie Navarrete, 69th in 33:30.
The Tucumcari girls finished eighth of nine teams with 206 points. Hobbs won the team title with 57 points.
For the Tucumcari boys at Clovis, Hernandez finished 64th in 20:46.
Also running for the Rattlers were Aiden Lusk, 73rd, 22:17; Lujan, 83rd, 24:17; Joe Martinez, 86th, 27:35; and Britt Lusk, 87th, 28:00.
The Hobbs boys won the team title, beating 13 other squads with 47 points. Sam Ashley of Canyon won the individual title with a time of 16:23.