Three area squads finish second in state track

May 14—ALBUQUERQUE — Three area teams came home with second-place finishes in small-school state track competition over the weekend at the University of New Mexico's track complex.

District 6-1A rival Logan, led by a strong performance from junior Hayden Judd, nipped Melrose 100-98 for the Class 1A boys team championship. The teams were tied 90-90 going into the 1,600 relay finale, and the Longhorns finished first in the event while the Buffaloes were second.

Meantime, Texico led for much of Class 2A boys meet before defending champion Hagerman came on strong at the end to finish with a 65-61 margin over the Wolverines.

On the girls' side, Melrose's two-time defending 1A girls champions took a runnerup finish this time with 46 points, behind Albuquerque-based Legacy Academy (74).

Three Melrose athletes finished in the top 10 in 1A boys individual points, with senior Michael Cardonita (24) coming in second behind Judd (33). Senior Gray Brandon (17) and junior Brayden Eldridge (13) were fourth and ninth, respectively.

"The boys competed extremely well," Melrose coach Casey Jackson said. "We left a couple of points out there, but we pretty much maxed out on what we could've done."

Cardonita won in high jump (6 feet) and triple jump (42-11 1/4 ), setting a 1A meet record in the latter event, and finished second in long jump (20-7 1/2 ) behind Floyd senior Isaias Nieto (20-10 1/2 ). In addition, he ran the anchor leg on the Buffaloes' first-place 400 and 800 relays, both setting meet records with respective times of 44.84 seconds and 1 minute, 33.42 seconds.

Brandon led a 1-2-3 Buffs finish in the 110 hurdles with a meet record time of 15.52, followed by junior Landon Flores (16.27) and sophomore Jaxon Odom (16.70). Brandon, Eldridge and Odom also ran on the 400 and 800 relays.

Senior Dathan Yeary picked up a win in shot put for the Buffs at 49-1, while junior Cy Draper finished third (44-7 1/4 ).

Floyd finished eighth with 24 points, led by Nieto, who added a third-place finish in the 200 (23.39) and a fourth in the 100 (11.71). Dora was 14th with seven points, all from junior Mason Christensen, while Elida and Grady tied for 16th place with five points apiece.

In Class 2A, Texico junior Taye Smith repeated his championship from a year ago in shot put (48-0). Sophomore Luke Thompson posted a win in the 300 hurdles (40.45), tied with Wolverines sophomore Keaton Dumas for second in high jump (6-0) and anchored the 400 relay team also including senior Cade Figg, freshman Jaheim Moses and junior Alex Fuentes to a win in the 3,200 relay (9:14.49).

Figg, sophomore Maverick Hawkins, Fuentes and Thompson ran second behind Hagerman in the 1,600 relay (3:33.16), while Fuentes placed second in the 400 (51.61), third in javelin (155-6) and fifth in high jump (5-10).

Thompson tied for fifth in individual points with 16, and Fuentes was seventh with 15 1/2 .

Texico's girls were seventh in 2A with 27 1/2 points, spread over 10 events. The top finish was a second-place effort by sophomore Kailie Wieland in triple jump (31-0 3/4 ).

"Our kids showed up," Texico coach Jasmine Davalos said of her squads. "They ran really hard, and about everything this weekend was a PR (personal record). I was just super-proud of the kids and the way they competed."

Santa Fe-based Academy for Technology & the Classics claimed team honors with 61 points, six better than Sandia Prep.

Melrose's girls placed in all five relays, including a win in the 3,200 relay (11:13.42) with senior Heidi Macfarlane, freshmen Aislyn Wade and Kailey Jackson and junior Kambree Draper. The Lady Buffs scored in 14 events, including 10 on the track.

"I thought we competed really well," Jackson said. "This state meet was probably more competitive this year than it has been, but the girls competed."

Melrose picked up one other event victory when Macfarlane, who finished third in pole vault last year after winning it as a sophomore, got back to the top spot this time at 9 feet. She was eighth in individual points in the meet with 12.

Elsewhere, Dora freshman Karen Inge placed second in the 100 (13.56), third in the 400 (1:02.66) and fifth in the 200 (27.34) to lead the Lady Coyotes to 11th place with 16 points. Grady tied for 16th place with five points, Elida was part of a four-way tie for 18th with four and Floyd finished in a five-way tie for 23rd with three.

A complete list of team scores and area results can be found at http://www.easternnewmexiconews.com