Longhorns nab 1A track title

ALBUQUERQUE - Thanks in part to Haden Judd winning four events in record fashion, the Logan boys captured their first team title since 2016 during the Class 1A-3A Track & Field Championships on Saturday.

The Longhorns finished with 93 points, well ahead of district rival and state runner-up Melrose's 74 1/2 points for the Class 1A trophy. Fort Sumner finished third with 62 points.

The Logan girls finished runner-up during the state meet at the UNM Track-Soccer Complex, finishing behind only Melrose.

The Logan boys last won a state championship seven years ago, when future New Mexico Track Hall of Fame coach Robert Young led the squad. Dwayne Roberts was an assistant at the time.

Succeeding Young after he retired, Roberts nabbed a state championship in his first year as a head coach.

"We worked together for several years, and I learned a lot from Robert," Roberts said. "He had the foundation built, and we got a few more kids to fill those holes.

You couldn't have asked for (the weekend) to have gone much better," he added. "We came in and pretty much did what we needed to do. It's a great group of kids, a lot of fun."

Judd, who was high-point individual with 28 points, broke three Class 1A records and tied another during his state-title victories.

He finished the 100-meter dash in 11.05 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 11.31 seconds by Logan's Dyson Day in 2019. He ran the 200-meter dash in 23 seconds flat, shattering the mark of 23.28 seconds by Logan's Jantzen Paris in 2019. Judd ran the 300-meter hurdles in 40 seconds flat, breaking the old record of 40.78 seconds by Job Sarellano of Animas in 2017.

Judd also tied a Class 1A record by pole-vaulting 13 feet, equaling the state mark of Quemado's Oren Pierson in 2017.

Judd might have won a fifth first-place medal, except he clipped a hurdle during the preliminaries of the 110-meter hurdles race and accidentally touched the next hurdle with his hand, resulting in an automatic disqualification.

The sophomore said he was motivated to do well for his older teammates.

"It's really about my seniors this year," he said Saturday. "I was working hard for them. I was going to go for everything ... all or nothing."

Logan freshman Mason Wallin won in the discus throw competition for the first time this season, and it was at the state meet with an effort of 121 feet. He prevailed by 3 inches over Legacy Academy's Luke Sanchez.

Logan also captured a state title in the 800-meter relay (1:35.65) with Diego Sanchez, Aydin Kotara, Christian Kotara and Kaeden Stoner and with the 1,600-meter sprint medley relay (3:56.60) with Sanchez, Aydin Kotara, Christian Kotara and Devin Kotara.

Other Logan boys who compiled team points were:

- Aydin Kotara, second in the 200-meter dash (0:23.42);

- Stoner, second the javelin (152-6);

- Brock Burns, third in the high jump (5-10) and fourth in the discus (118-3);

- Hayden Bruhn, sixth in the high jump (5-6);

- Park Strong, sixth in the shot put (39-8 1/4);

- 400-meter relay team of Sanchez, Strong, Aydin Kotara and Christian Kotara, second (0:45.52);

- 1,600-meter relay of Sanchez, Devin Kotara, Bruhn and Christian Kotara, third (3:39.69);

- 3,200-meter relay of Payson Nials, Skyler DeLuca, Burns and Bill DeLuca, fifth (9:18.86).

Cade Lee, the only representative at the state meet from House, finished fifth in the pole vault with an effort of 10 feet.

The Lady Longhorns, with 61 points, finished behind Class 1A champ Melrose and its 95 points. Legacy Academy was third with 53 points.

Logan junior Kaylee Williams, en route to an individual first-place medal, broke a state record in the triple jump with an effort of 36 feet, 8 inches.

She finished second in the 100-meter dash (0:13.01) and the 200-meter dash (0:27.03), was fourth in the long jump (16-2 1/2) and was a member of the winning 400-meter relay team (0:52.7) with Bella Coronado, Desta Rose and Makinlee Judd.

Williams finished just behind Melrose's Graci Odom's 23 1/2 points for high-point individual. Williams totaled 22 1/2 points.

Other Lady Longhorns who scored team points were:

- Makinlee Judd, fourth in the 100-meter dash (0:13.28) and sixth in the long jump (15-4);

- Haylee Bidegain, third in the 800-meter run (2:35.39) and sixth in the triple jump (30-2 3/4);

- 800-meter relay team of Peyton Merrill, Judd, Rose and Coronado, second (1:53.88);

- Aspen Casey, fourth in the discus (95-9);

- Abby Paris, fifth in the discus (93-0);

- 1,600-meter relay team of Rose, Judd, Bidegain and Coronado, second (4:27.81);

- 1,600-meter sprint medley relay team of Coronado, Merrill, Rose and Bidegan, sixth (4:51.11).