The field is tough at Harper meet, with state track and field just weeks away

Apr. 21—The significance of winning any event at the Richard A. Harper Memorial Meet was written all over the face of Eldorado's Nick Moore.

"This," Moore said, beaming, "is like a dream come true."

The Harper meet kicks off an important three events leading up to state. And this meet, as it always does, attracted the best field of teams in New Mexico for a regular-season event.

Moore, a junior, was the dominant runner throughout the 3,200-meter final Friday afternoon at Albuquerque Academy. He cruised to a 13-second victory over Rio Rancho's Skyler Galbraith.

Moore's winning time was 9 minutes, 45.37 seconds.

"The plan was at the beginning of the race was go hard the first four (laps) ... and then try to make everyone hurt that first mile, try to drop everyone and then hold it the last mile," Moore said. "I think it worked pretty well."

Cleveland's Leah Futey has a certain comfort when she runs at the Academy. In the girls' 3,200, on the same track where she closed out the Class 5A state cross country title last fall, Futey took control about midway through and held off a spirited Emma Montoya, last year's 4A state cross country champ, at the finish.

Futey, a senior, crossed the line in 11:17.82. Montoya was less than half a second behind, in 11:18.19. The early leader, Anna Hastings from the host school, was third.

There were eight finals Friday: six field events, the open 3,200 and the 4×800-meter relays. Los Alamos swept the two relays.

The Hilltopper girls enjoyed a robust opening day and lead the standings with 59 points in what is already a runaway. It'll be a race for second place on Saturday, with Rio Rancho (22) holding a five-point edge on a trio of third-place teams.

Jaiya Daniels — who was a triple champion at last week's Sepulveda Meet of Champions — captured the girls triple jump for the Hilltoppers, and Los Alamos went 1-2-4 in that event. Dani Trellue, who was fourth in the triple jump for Los Alamos, was a co-champion with teammate Colette Bibeault in the pole vault (a rare first-place tie) where both cleared 10 feet. Nyla Lee won the long jump (17-0 3/4 ), narrowly over Academy's Gigi Galles (16-11 1/2 ).

Daniels and Lee were the top two qualifiers in the 100, and Daniels also was the fastest girl in the 200 preliminaries on Friday.

The Cleveland boys, led by field victories from Strat Shufelt in the shot put and Evan Wysong in the long jump, scored 38 points on Day 1, 23 points ahead of Rio Rancho and Los Alamos.

Shufelt's winning throw of 53 feet, 11 inches came early in the event.

"I just got excited," said Shufelt, a junior who also is one of the state's hottest prep football recruits. "There's a lot of competition here, so you have to bring your 'A' game."

Shufelt defeated district rival Reuben Johnson of Cibola.

"This on the calendar is the start of, 'Hey, this is getting serious,' " Shufelt said. "If you're not throwing big as of now, then you need to start to worry a little bit."

Wysong's first-place jump of 22 feet, 9 3/4 inches was three-quarters of an inch ahead of La Cueva freshman Tanner Montaño.

Also from the metro area, Rio Rancho's Noah Braunschweiger won the javelin, Cibola's Derrick Velasquez was first in the high jump, and Sandia's Joaquin Higuera took the triple jump.

For the girls, La Cueva's Victoria Marthaler was the winner in the high jump, Rio Rancho's ever-steady Sterling Glenn was the champion in the shot put, and Cleveland's Jaylee Gandert captured the javelin.

SATURDAY: The last of the field events, the discus, will be first off in the morning, with the girls at 9 a.m. and the boys at 10:45. The running program begins at 9:30 a.m. The 100-meter dash finals are at 10 a.m. (girls) and 10:05 (boys). The 1,600-meter relays, the last event, begin at 1:25 p.m.

TRACK AND FIELD

Richard A. Harper Memorial Meet

Friday — at Albuquerque Academy

BOYS

Team (after Day 1): Cleveland 38, Los Alamos 15, Rio Rancho 15, Cibola 13, Eldorado 13, Los Lunas 13, Sandia 12, Albuquerque Academy 11 1/2 , La Cueva 10, Hobbs 9, Valencia 8, Piedra Vista 8, Volcano Vista 7, Hope Christian 5 1/2 , Albuquerque High 5, Rio Grande 2.

Individual: 3,200—1, Nick Moore, Eldorado, 9:45.37; 2, Skyler Galbraith, Rio Rancho, 9:58.19, 4×800—1, Los Alamos, 8:24.60; 2, Cleveland, 8:25.64. Triple jump—1, Joaquin Higuera, Sandia, 42-3 1/2; 2, Tahi Gonzales, Cleveland, 42-2 1/2. Pole vault—1, Parker Johnson, Piedra Vista, 11-6; 2, Mac Piper, Valencia, 11-6. Shot put—1, Strat Shufelt, Cleveland, 53-11; 2, Reuben Johnson, Cibola, 52-5. High jump—1, Derrick Velasquez, Cibola, 6-0; 2, Nathaniel Steen, Eldorado, 6-0. Long jump—1, Evan Wysong, Cleveland, 22-9 3/4; 2, Tanner Montano, La Cueva, 22-9. Javelin—1, Noah Braunschweiger, Rio Rancho, 173-10; 2, Gabe Castillo, Los Lunas, 171-2.

GIRLS

Team (after Day 1): Los Alamos 59, Rio Rancho 22, Piedra Vista 17, Albuquerque Academy 17, Cleveland 17, Eldorado 12, La Cueva 11, Albuquerque High 8, Volcano Vista 7, Atrisco Heritage 4, Hobbs 3, Sandia 3, Sandia Prep 3, Cibola 2.

Individual: 3,200—1, Leah Futey, Cleveland, 11:17.82; 2, Emma Montoya, Los Alamos, 11:18.19. 4×800—1, Los Alamos, 10:12.61; 2, Albuquerque High, 10:17.2. High jump—1, Victoria Marthaler, La Cueva, 5-0; 2, Sophia Coleman, Piedra Vista, 5-0. Triple jump—1, Jaiya Daniels, Los Alamos, 38-2 1/2; 2, Kayli Lincoln, Los Alamos, 35-11 1/4. Long jump—1, Nyla Lee, Los Alamos, 17-0 3/4; 2, Gigi Galles, Academy, 16-11 1/2. Pole vault—1 (tie), Dani Trellue, Los Alamos, and Colette Bibeault, Los Alamos, 10-0. Shot put—1, Sterling Glenn, Rio Rancho, 39-1; 2, Samonne Cauley, Eldorado, 34-10. Javelin—1, Jaylee Gandert, Cleveland, 135-0; 2, Dakota Boag, Piedra Vista, 123-7.