Awkiembi and Marsh Post State Qualifying Marks

By Don Eskins

The Ron Singleton Invitational, held in the Cavern City on Friday, March 7, proved to be a good one for both head coach Charles Millar’s Cavemen and Cavegirls. Overall, the Cavemen placed fourth, the Cavegirls fifth, in 12 team fields.

“The Cavemen ran well! We also had two new state qualifiers, Reenson Awkiembi in the Long Jump and Tayvin Marsh in the triple jump,” said Millar. “I was also very happy with the way we ran the open 100, as well as the 4x200 and 4x400 relays. And even though our 4x100 was disqualified due to a bad exchange, they showed a lot of promise. But our kids are getting better each week, and that’s great!”

While the Cavemen’s strength can be found on the track this season, the Cavegirls continue to score points in the field.

“The Cavegirls had another great day in the field. Meagan McKibben was able to jump a personal best in the triple jump at 33’ 4.” We also had some good marks from Sophia Trujillo in the shotput and Estrella Herrera in the High jump,” said the CHS coach. “We also saw some improvement from our 4x100 relay team. They ran a season-best of 52.88 seconds, which is almost two seconds better than last week.”

Both the Cavemen and Cavegirl track teams will be in Las Cruces on Saturday, March 15, to compete in the Las Cruces Centennial Invitational. The meet will get underway at 10 a.m.

“With it being so early in the season and basketball still going on, we’ve really used the past two weeks to see who could run what at all distances,” said Millar. “In Las Cruces, we’re going to ‘load up’ as best we can in the events on the track and really see where we stand for our relays.

“Las Cruces has some of the fastest athletes in the state, so I’m excited to see how we stack up against them. Last year, we were able to qualify in several of the running events; I’m hoping we can do the same this year,” he said. “We are going to spend the night in Las Cruces as well, so it is a little bit of a trial run for the state meet.”

CHS Personal Bests

Cavemen PR’s: Bobby Castaneda, 100m, 11.38; Isiaha Almodovar, Discus, 119’; Kason Perez, Javelin, 139’ 10”.

Cavegirl PR’s: Sophia Trujillo, Shot Put, 34’ 4”; Meagan McKibben, Triple Jump, 33’ 4”.

Ron Singleton Recaps:

1-6 Placers-

Cavemen: 4/12

Long Jump: 2 Akwiembi, Reenson 21-03.50

Triple Jump: 2 Marsh, Tayvin 42-04.

Discus Throw: 2 Almodovar, Isiaha 119-03; 4 Sonora, Jeremiah 112-00

Boys Javelin: 6 Kason Peez 139.10

3200 run: 4 Reynolds, Rex Carlsbad High 10:49.23; 5 Hernandez, Dany 10:53.82; 6 Wittmayer, Judah 11:15.64

110 Meter Hurdles: 3 King, Bryan 16.34; 5 Williamson, Isaac 16.76

100 Meter Dash: 6 Castaneda, Bobby 11.38

4x200 Meter Relay: 4 Carlsbad High School ‘A’ 1:33.34; 1) Castaneda, Bobby 2) Akwiembi, Reenson 3) Harper, Jaden 4) Leos, Eaven

300 Meter Hurdles: 2 Williamson, Isaac 43.13; 6 King, Bryan 44.18

200 Meter Dash: 4 King, Bryan 24.00

1600 Meter Run: 5 Reynolds, Rex 5:06.54

Team Standings:

1) Artesia High School 136 2) Hobbs High School 104 3) Alamogordo High School 90 4) Carlsbad High School 64 5) Clovis High School 59 6) Lovington High School 58 7) Portales High School 33 8) Roswell High School 32 9) New Mexico Military Institute 18 10) Goddard High School 14 11) Hagerman High School 10 12) Eunice High School 7

Cavegirls: 5/12

Long Jump: 4 Bielstein, Cassie 15-08.50; 6 Gallagher, Norah 15-05.00

Triple Jump: 2 McKibben, Meagan 33-04.50; 3 Bielstein, Cassie 32-10.00

Shot Put: 3 Trujillo, Sophia 34-04.00

3200 Meter Run: 2 Balencia, Alyssa 13:20.54; 5 Robertson, Kaitlyn 14:22.19; 6 Baca, Jocelyn 14:53.06

4x100 Meter Relay: 5 Carlsbad High School ‘A’ 52.88; 1) Balcazar, Deandra 2) Gallagher, Norah 3) Lopez, Chloe 4) Foster, Campbell

100 Meter Hurdles: 3 Bielstein, Cassie 18.11

800 Meter Run: 5 Veloz, Aubrey 2:38.77

1600 Sprint Medley 5 Carlsbad High School ‘A’ 5:27.66 1) Falcon, Jasmin 2) Munoz, Jolee

3) Negrete, Okalonii 4) Aguilar, Alessandra

200 Meter Dash: 3 Medrano, Lauren 29.28; 4 Abeyta, Nicki 29.47; 6 Dowdy, Kaylee 30.31

4x400 Meter Relay: 4 Carlsbad High School ‘A’ 4:35.84 1) Veloz, Aubrey 2) Herrera, Estrella 3) Balcazar, Deandra 4) McKibben, Meagan

Team Scores:

1) Hobbs High School 141 2) Alamogordo High School 117 3) Artesia High School 94 4) Clovis High School 81 5) Carlsbad High School 65 6) Portales High School 51 7) Roswell High School 32 8) Goddard High School 14 9) New Mexico Military Institute 11 10) Lovington High School 6 11) Hagerman High School 4 12) Eunice High School 2