THS girls, Logan boys win Rattler Relays

The Tucumcari girls and Logan boys captured team titles Saturday during the season-opening, 23-team Rattler Relays track and field meet at Tucumcari's Rattler Stadium.

The Lady Rattlers and their 87 points comfortably prevailed over rival and runner-up Logan's 57 points in the team standings. San Jon, the other Quay County school at the meet, finished 15th with four points.

In the boys standings, the Longhorns and their 94 points topped runner-up Legacy Academy by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. Tucumcari finished third with 42 points. San Jon finished 12th with 11 points.

Alexus Lafferty won an individual title for Tucumcari in the girls javelin throw in a state-qualifying distance of 106 feet, 9 inches.

The Lady Rattlers also won two relay races: the 800-meter relay team of July Lafferty, Cambree Benavidez, Aubriana French and Miraqulis Cooper in a time of 1 minute, 58.14 seconds and the same runners in the 400-meter relay in 0:55.14.

Other Lady Rattlers who placed during the meet were:

- Kyla Lopez, sixth in the 100-meter hurdles (0:23.70), second in the 300-meter hurdles (0:56.82) and fifth in the high jump (4-0);

- Miraqulis Cooper, fifth in the 100-meter dash (0:14.11);

- Riley Knapp, sixth in the 100-meter dash (0:14.46);

- 1,600-meter sprint medley, fourth (5:12.62);

- Cambree Benavidez, fifth in the 200-meter dash (0:30.37);

- Haisley Huffman, fourth in the long jump (14-1);

- Aubriana French, sixth in the long jump (12-7 1/2) and second in the triple jump (27-7 1/2);

- Anastasia Ellis, second in shot put (25-0);

- Aleeja Salvador, third in shot put (23-11);

- Sierra Valverde, sixth in shot put (23-5) and third in the discus (70-9);

- Caylee Benavides, second in the discus (77-10);

- July Lafferty, second in the javelin (98-8).

Tucumcari coach Wayne Ferguson said he wasn't surprised by his girls' strong showing.

"Always an unknown element on what's going to unfold when a meet starts, but I knew going into this year our girls team would be very good," he said.

Logan saw several girls win titles, including Kaylee Williams in the long jump (15-11 1/2). Williams also finished third in the 100-meter dash (0:13.91).

Eighth-grader Makinlee Judd won the 300-meter hurdles in 0:52.03 for Logan. Abby Paris won the discus in 87-8 and finished fifth in the shot put (23-5 1/2).

Other strong finishers for the Lady Longhorns:

- Natalie Bongers, Judd, Williams and Desta Rose, second in 800-meter relay (1:58.44);

- 1,600-meter sprint medley, second (4:54.33);

- Haylie Bidegain, Rose, Williams and Judd, second in 1,600-meter relay (4:39.19);

- Laramee Shields, fourth in shot put (23-7);

San Jon's top finishers were:

- Alexa Becerra, fourth in the 100-meter hurdles (0:21.04);

- Summer Jennings, sixth in the 1,600-meter run (7:36.56).

In boys action, Logan's Christian Kotara took home an individual first-place medal with a time of 0:55.26 in the 400-meter dash. So did Kaeden Stoner in the 300-meter hurdles in 0:46.47. Brock Burns captured the high jump in 5-10.

Logan also piled up points with first-place finishes in four relay races. The 400-meter relay team of Diego Sanchez, Park Strong, Aydin Kotara and Christian Kotara won in 0:48.25. The Longhorns' 800-meter relay of Sanchez, Iziah Kneitz and both Kotaras won in 1:39.58. LHS' 1,600-meter sprint medley team also won in 4:13.02. The 1,600-meter relay of Sanchez, Payson Nials and the Kotaras won in 3:51.91.

Other Logan finishers:

- Aydin Kotara, fifth in 100-meter dash (0:12.31) and third in 200-meter dash (0:25.05);

- Hayden Bruhn, Bill DeLuca, Skyler DeLuca and Brock Burns, second in 3,200-meter relay (9:39.32);

- Kneitz, third in long jump (16-9 1/2);

- Strong, second in discus (106-9);

- Stoner, fourth in triple jump (34-3 3/4) and second in javelin (135-6);

For Tucumcari, Fernando Ureste won the 3,200-meter run by more than 30 seconds, in a time of 11:20.66.

Other strong finishers for the Tucumcari boys:

- Alex Bueno de la O, fourth in 3,200-meter run (12:14.58);

- Alijah Martinez, Daymion Urioste, Kamren Apodaca and Adan Diaz, third in 400-meter relay (0:48.63);

- Dezmon Pacheco, sixth in 800-meter run (2:27.53) and second in 1,600-meter run (5:22.09);

- Urioste, fifth in 400-meter dash (0:57.33);

- Martinez, sixth in 200-meter dash (0:25.79);

- Diaz, Urioste, Apodaca and Luis Archuleta, third in 1,600-meter relay (3:54.74);

- Diaz, sixth in long jump (16-0);

- Xzander Garcia, fourth in javelin (120-6).

"I'm very excited about Fernando Ureste's performance yesterday," Ferguson said Sunday. "That was unexpected. Dezmon Pacheco also ran well.

"We are pretty young on the boys side but showed a lot of promise, and having Curtis Gonzales next week will help with relays and sprints." Gonzales was playing in a basketball all-star game in Gallup.

For San Jon, Marvin Reece won the 110-meter hurdles race in 0:20.86.

Other strong finishers for the Coyotes:

- Eli Clements, Travis Lee, Nathaniel Erwin and Matthew Valdez, eighth in 400-meter relay (1:00.87);

- Tristian Reed, third in 110-meter hurdles (0:22.04).