Cavegirl Atria Wells State Shot Put Champion

kmarksteiner0
May 20
3 min read

By Don Eskins

Senior Cavegirl shot puter Atria Wells, to nobody’s surprise, made the most noise for the Carlsbad High School Track and Field program at the Class 5A state meet, which took place in Albuquerque on Friday and Saturday, May. 15-16.

Wells launched the 8.8-pound shot 39’ 08.25,” nearly four feet further than Rio Rancho runner-up Sarah Martinez’s throw of 35’09.25,” to claim the Class 5A State Championship.

No stranger to the podium, Well’s victory marked the second time in the past three years that she’s come back to Carlsbad having turned in a gold-medal performance in shot put competition. In 2025, she was the Class 5A runner-up in both the shot and discus.

“Atria is an incredible athlete. She works extremely hard and does all the extras great athletes must do to be successful,” said CHS head track coach Charles Millar. “During the 2025-26 school year alone, besides winning her second state shot put championship, she also placed third at state in wrestling and was a state champion as an individual and team member in Powerlifting.

“I was extremely proud of her for her performance at state this year. After a disappointing seventh-place finish in the discus on Friday—an event she was seeded number one in—she pulled herself together and went out to dominate the field in the shot put on Saturday,” said the CHS coach. “A senior, Atria’s meant a great deal to our program for the past few years, and we’re going to miss her a lot.”

However, according to Millar, Wells won’t be the only Cavegirl senior who will be missed.

“Cassie Bielstein has also had a great career here, and she’s been an absolute honor to coach. She qualified for state in four events this season and made the finals in the triple jump,” he said. “She’s been a consistent point-scorer since her eighth-grade year. More than just an athlete, she’s also been a great leader and mentor for the young kids on our team.”

Marley Munoz headed the Cavemen effort. The CHS junior, with a leap of 43’06.5,” earned a silver medal for placing second in the triple jump.

“Marley had an outstanding season. He had some bumps in the road last spring, but since football season, he has really thrived. He got down to his last jump in prelims and then jumped what ended up being good enough for second place,” said the CHS coach.

“Besides his athleticism, he’s also proven to be a great teammate. Last week at the district track meet, he sat out the javelin and triple jump so Braden Florez (javelin) and Bennett Adsero (triple jump) could qualify,” he added.

Also medaling for CHS were Cavegirl Sophia Truijillo, who placed fifth in the shot put with a toss of 33’05,” and Caveman Bennett Adsero, who placed fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 42’09.5.” Both Trujillo and Adsero picked up bronze medals for their performances.

And how did Millar sum up his team’s performance at state?

“We had some really great results and some disappointing ones. But overall, it was a good weekend for our kids and our program,” he said. “We had four kids get on the podium, and we couldn’t be more proud.”

CHS Athletes on the Podium:

Girls’ Shot Put

1st, Atria Wells, 39’08.25” (Sr)

5th, Sophia Trujillo, 33’05” (Soph)

Boys’ Triple Jump

2nd, Marley Munoz, 43’06.5” (Jr)

5th, Bennett Adsero, 42’09.5”(Soph)

CHS State Meet Results

Cavemen:

Shot put, 7th, Colton McKibben, 46’08.25” (Jr)

110m hurdles, 11th, Bryan King (Sr)

Javelin, 8th, Lennon Ananins, 148’ 0” (Jr); 12th, Braden Florez, 142’02” (Jr)