State cross country: Cleveland's Futey finishes triumphantly

Nov. 5—A year ago, Leah Futey barely made it to the finish line. Saturday, she ran away from the field to win the Class 5A state cross country championship at Albuquerque Academy.

"I went through a lot last season," the Cleveland High senior said through failing vocal chords. "And being able to come back from that and come full circle is really important to me."

Futey led a Cleveland sweep in the 5A girls, while Steven West of Sandia and the Rio Rancho boys also took 5A titles on a cold morning at the Academy.

Futey, who just recently committed to run collegiately at Syracuse, last won state as a freshman for the Storm. She capped a marvelous senior season, winning by 30 seconds over the girl that appears to be her heir apparent in the metro area, Albuquerque High sophomore Dani Figueroa.

Futey's winning time was 18 minutes, 17.41 seconds. Figueroa finished in 18:47.52. Figueroa outkicked last year's champ, Ellary Battle of Alamogordo (18:48.79), to the finish.

Futey had a sizable lead after the first mile and was never threatened. She won every major race she entered this season.

"The last couple of years haven't been what I wanted," Futey said, "but I'm really happy finishing this way."

Futey chose Syracuse over Utah, Boise State and Arkansas State.

Meanwhile, Futey and teammate Eliana Rivera, who was seventh, led Cleveland to a blue trophy with 60 points. District 1 was again the most dominant at state, with Rio Rancho (85) and Volcano Vista (91) also collecting trophies.

West's victory came with more suspense, as Volcano Vista's Thomas Croshaw — just as he did at last month's metro championships — pushed West hard for 3.1 miles.

West's time was 15:04.38. Croshaw's was 15:08.24. Those two had a sizable gap on the field.

"Thomas is so good after just two years of this," said West. "He started running cross country last year, and I'm so impressed with him."

West, a senior, was 5A's most elite runner all season. But he seemed relieved to have gotten through this final race.

"I thought maybe I could drop (Croshaw), but I couldn't," West said, adding, "I did it. It was hard, but I did it."

Rio Rancho's boys scored 44 points, edging Volcano Vista by four points for the team championship. The Rams had three runners in the top 10: Collyn Tomoyose in fifth, Cody Sullivan in sixth and Skyler Galbraith in eighth.

Eldorado (104), led by Nick Moore who was third individually, was also third as a team.

CLASS 4A: The state has seen very little of Hope Christian senior Rendon Kuykendall this fall. He ran the first week, but missed the bulk of the season due to illness and injury. He only returned last week for district.

Saturday, the Duke-bound Kuykendall won his third individual state title, routing the field in the mid-afternoon race.

"It's so nice to do it three times," he said. His 15:29.20 was well ahead of runner-up Duane Sena of Los Alamos (16:16.68).

Los Alamos won state for the fourth time in five years. The Hilltoppers (44) bested the host Chargers (73), with Hope Christian (103) third.

Los Alamos and Academy had a tremendous battle in the 4A girls race. Both schools placed three runners in the top six individually, led by winner Emma Montoya of the Hilltoppers (18:19.60). Anna Hastings of the Chargers (18:48.26) was the runner-up. Shiprock, with 130 points, was a very distance third in the team standings.

CLASS 3A: Raylee Hunt of St. Michael's (18:52.51) defended her title, cruising to a 26-second victory over Nya Griego (19:18.13) of Santa Fe Prep. Santa Fe Indian edged Santa Fe Prep for the team crown.

Maximo Brito of Albuquerque's Cottonwood Classical Prep was the boys 3A champ, and this was the most exciting finish of the day. Brito's time was 16:43.17, as he nipped Devin Lansing of Navajo Prep (16:43.22) and Alec Lastyano of Zuni (16:43.33) at the line.

The Thunderbirds were first in the team standings, with CCP runner-up.

CLASS 1A-2A: Jude Martinez of Peñasco (16:51.60) and Erica Martin of Laguna-Acoma (20:20.10) were the individual champions, while Pecos' boys (64-65 over second-place Oak Grove Classical Academy out of Albuquerque) Peñasco's girls were team champions.

RESULTS

STATE CROSS COUNTRY

Saturday — at Albuq. Academy

BOYS

Class 5A

Team: Rio Rancho 44, Volcano Vista 48, Eldorado 104, Cleveland 117, La Cueva 186, Los Lunas 190, Sandia 197, Organ Mountain 222, Alamogordo 235, Hobbs 269, Roswell 298, Centennial 308, Carlsbad 311, Manzano 323, Albuquerque High 373.

Individual: 1, Steven West, Sandia, 15:04.38; 2, Thomas Croshaw, Volcano Vista, 15:08.24; 3, Nick Moore, Eldorado, 15:54.23; 4, Orion Chavez, Volcano Vista, 16:03.98; 5, Collyn Tomoyose, Rio Rancho, 16:13.69.

Class 4A

Team: Los Alamos 44, Albuquerque Academy 73, Hope Christian 103, Lovinton 124, Kirtland Central 167, St. Pius 176, Moriarty 188, Gallup 213, Del Norte 230, Española Valley 235, Miyamura 267, Silver 292, Belen 362, Artesia 381, Goddard 440, Deming 487.

Individual: 1, Rendon Kuykendall, Hope Christian, 15:29.20; 2, Duane Sena, Los Alamos, 16:16.68; 3, Derick Castellanos, Lovington, 16;21.29; 4, Beck Ellis, Los Alamos, 16:21.54; 5, Michael Riess, Portales, 16:33.99.

Class 3A

Team: Zuni 35, Cottonwood Classical Prep 73, Navajo Prep 93, St. Michael's 100, Newcomb 129, Santa Fe Indian 146, Ruidoso 198, Hot Springs 204, Cuba 246, Robertson 257, Cobre 259, East Mountain 301.

Individual: 1, Maximo Brito, CCP, 16:43.17; 2, Devin Lansing, Navajo Prep, 16:43.22; 3, Alec Lastyano, Zuni, 16:43.33; 4, Briley Dauphinais, Tohatchi, 17:00.80; 5, Landen Sandoval, St. Michael's, 17:01.69.

Class 1A-2A

Team: Pecos 64, Oak Grove Classical Academy 65, Laguna-Acoma 76, Cimarron 145, Maxwell 190, Mesa Vista 198, Dulce 233, Legacy Academy 238, Rehoboth Christian 247, Peñasco 279, Mora 317, Hagerman 342, Mescalero Apache 346, McCurdy 350, Santa Rosa 357, Quemado 401, Pine Hill 475, Gateway Christian 509, Native American Community Academy 532, Capitan 563, To'hajiilee 564, Loving 583.

Individual: 1, Jude Martinez, Peñasco, 16:51.60; 2, Tagoya Pedro, Laguna-Acoma, 16:58.07; 3, Tristan Pierce, Maxwell, 17:05.03; 4 Gerardo Mendoza, Hagerman, 17:07.06; 5, Elijah Lujan, Pecos, 17:08.59.

GIRLS

Class 5A

Team: Cleveland 60, Rio Rancho 85, Volcano Vista 91, Eldorado 112, La Cueva 149, Albuquerque High 166, Hobbs 176, Piedra Vista 181, Alamogordo 251, Clovis 308, Centennial 317, Santa Fe 337, Organ Mountain 340, Los Lunas 347, Carlsbad 425.

Individual: 1, Leah Futey, Cleveland, 18:17.41; 2, Dani Figueroa, Albuquerque High, 18:47.52; 3, Ellary Battle, Alamogordo, 18:48.79; 4, Bhret Clay, Hobbs, 19:00.45; 5, Nicole Pierce, Piedra Vista, 19:05.96.

Class 4A

Team: Los Alamos 31, Albuquerque Academy 37, Shiprock 130, St. Pius 148, Taos 149, Kirtland Central 149, Moriarty 176, Gallup 201, Artesia 251, Grants 290, Belen 292, Deming 300, Silver 303,

Individual: 1, Emma Montoya, Los Alamos, 18:19.60; 2, Anna Hastings, Academy, 18:48.26; 3, Hailey McDowell, Los Alamos, 19:07.27; 4, Addison Julian, Academy, 19:08.12; 5, Katie Patton, Academy, 19:09.12.

Class 3A

Team: Santa Fe Indian 40, Santa Fe Prep 56, Cottonwood Classical Prep 82, Zuni 126, St. Michael's 155, Navajo Prep 169, Bosque School 173, Wingate 177, East Mountain 211, Cobre 257, Socorro 320.

Individual: 1, Raylee Hunt, St. Michael's, 18:52.51; 2, Nya Griego, Santa Fe Prep, 19:18.13; 3, Alexis Aguino, Santa Fe Indian, 19:47.40; 4, Destiny Chino, Santa Fe Indian, 19:51.28; 5, Shania Chavez, Zuni, 20:05.70 5.

Class 1A-2A

Team: Peñasco 101, Academy for Technology and the Classics 103, Santa Rosa 109, McCurdy 115, Pecos 167, Rehoboth Christian 170, Legacy Academy 171, Laguna-Acoma 183, Gateway Christian 192, Jemez Valley 213, Cimarron 249, Native American Community Academy 292, Capitan 323, Dulce 331, Estancia 342, Ramah 381, Pine Hill 406.

Individual: 1, Erica Martin, Laguna-Acoma, 20;20.10; 2, Rochelle Lopez, Peñasco, 20:36.29; 3, Cecilia Campos, Chesterton Academy, 20:40.25; 4, Emily Garcia, Rehoboth Christian, 20:40.33; 5, McKenna Sahd, Cimarron, 20:54.42.