Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The Tucumcari boys cross-country team finished sixth Friday in the ultra-competitive Class 3A District 3/4 meet at Cobre and did not qualify anyone for this weekend’s state meet in Albuquerque.
The top 10 individual finishers and top three teams qualified for the state championships this Saturday.
Alex Bueno De La O was the Rattlers’ top runner, finishing the 5,000-meter course at Cobre High School in 21 minutes, 21 seconds to finish 26th.
Other Tucumcari runners at the meet were Creed Owen (31st, 23:07), Tyrus Jones (34th, 24:08), Julian Flores (35th, 24:28) and Logan Lafferty (38th, 25:01).
Rattlers coach Tim Clark said his team had a “middle of the pack” performance and suggested his runners were sluggish after the long trip. He said a wreck on the highway forced a detour, resulting in a 1,000-mile round trip.
Clark said, however, he was encouraged by what he heard after the meet.
“The boys had fun,” he said. “They’re already talking about improving their times. There’s some future there.”
Noting the district meet had just two girls teams, Clark said he wants to boost the numbers of Lady Rattlers in the sport.
“If we could recruit a few, there’s some potential there,” he said.
Rodrigo Reyes of Hot Springs won the individual district title in 17:24, edging runner-up Gerson Gomez of Ruidoso by six seconds.
Ruidoso won the meet with 45 points, edging runner-up Cobre’s 56 points. Other teams at the district meet were Hot Springs (60 points), New Mexico Military Institute (71), Socorro (119) and Tucumcari (162).
The state championship races will be Saturday at Albuquerque Academy.