The SCORE
The Sandoval County Online Reporting Enterprise
Rio Rancho, N.M.
New Mexico's first totally online commuity newspaper was last updatedTuesday, March 20, 2012 at 8 p.m.
TEAM EFFORT:
The Rio Rancho boy's cross country team accepts its trophy for
finishing third at the state meet Saturday afternoon in Rio Rancho.
Robert Self, third from left, finished 10th in the individual
competition.
Ram Boys 3rd, Girls 5th at State Meet
By Eric Maddy The Score
The Rio Rancho boys cross country team gave head coach Larry Chavez a nice going-away present on Saturday, earning a third-place finish at the NMAA state meet.
Robert Selph
earned a medal by finishing in 10th place as the Rams scored a team
total of 117 points to place behind champion Gallup (82) and Cibola
(86).
Other Rio Rancho runners: Colton Trujillo, 17th place, 16:54.85; Alex Curtis, 25th place, 17:18.45; Chris Rubalcaba, 32nd place, 17:32.85 and Ben Matheson, 33rd place, 17:33.85 Clinton Bramelette, who finished 52nd in 18:02.75, and 73rd-place finisher Louis Trujillo (18:20.95) did not figure in the team scoring.
“The
boys sold out today. They were so spent after the race,” said Chavez,
who announced his retirement earlier this year. “It was amazing to
watch what they did out there. Irregardless if we got third or fourth,
I was just so proud of the performance they put on out here. They did
an awesome job.
“The coaches are so proud of them. We’re just
happy that with the effort they spent out on the course for us and
themselves, that they are able to go stand on the podium and get a
trophy.”
Chavez felt some special pride after Selph’s performance.
“He
had a sub-par performance at district, and he bounced back,” Chavez
said. “We actually thought he could be in the top five, but after last
week’s performance we’re just very, very happy that he could go up
there as an individual with all his hard work.
“This boy has
improved leaps and bounds from when he started running with me a year
and a half ago, and I think that next year he’s really got a shot to be
in the top five.
Like coach, like runner. A half a football field away a few minutes later, Selph was already thinking about next year.
“Top five, definitely,” he said.
Though he had a bit of a home-course advantage, Selph did notice one difference.
“It
was nothing really surprising, but it was more difficult because we
were the last race and the sand was really deep. We had to deal with
that,” he said.“The times were a little slower than for our
invitational, but other than that nothing really unexpected.”
Though happy with his performance, Selph was satisfied for a different reason.
“I
felt pretty good, obviously, because I got a medal,” he said. “But the
main thing is that it is a team sport and we’re glad we got a trophy
for coach in his last season.”
The Rio Rancho girls finished
fifth with 161points. Albuquerque Eldorado ran away with the title,
placing five runners in the top 15 for 38 points, followed by
Albuquerque La Cueva (89), Gallup (97), Albuquerque Cibola (131) and
Rio Rancho (161). The girls’ times and places: 17, Tamara Lementino, 20:08.20; 29, Kiana Gachupin (20:56.20); 34, Tatiana Lucero, 21:06.25; 39, Nicolette Quesada, 21:14.75; 62, Kandis Wright, 22:32.85; and 64, Jenna Padilla, 22:36.65.
“We were hoping for a better performance,” said girl’s coach Larry H. Martinez,
the son of the boy’s coach. “We thought we could finish in the top
five. Ultimately, that’s our goal every year and maybe one of these
years we can jump into the top three.”
The elder Chavez went out on a high note, too, by being the host for the state event.
“Everyone
talks about the facilities that we have. To host and event like this,
for the fans to be as comfortable as they are and the parking and all
that, we are pretty lucky,” he said. “And I think for cross county,
it’s really helped the whole sport in general.
“Gallup started this whole thing about turning this into a championship event. We just kind of carried the baton on.”
For a complete listing of results, go to the New Mexico Activities Association web site by clicking here.
