Caveman Jonah Moyers State High Jump Champion

By Don Eskins

Carlsbad High’s Cavemen and Cavegirl thinclads closed out the 2025 season at the New Mexico State Tournament on Friday and Saturday, May 16-17. Thirty-five athletes, boys and girls, competed at the meet in Albuquerque.

Top medalists for CHS were Caveman Jonah Moyers, first place in the high jump, and Cavegirl Atria Wells, who finished second in both the shot put and discus.

“Overall, I think state went great for our kids. We competed all weekend and were able to send every single competitor for the girls (except the medley relay) to the finals,” said CHS head coach Charles Millar. “For the boys, a little bit of disappointment on the track was drastically overshadowed by our performance in the field events. For us to produce a state champion high jumper is incredible.

“Jonah Moyers, our Class 5A High Jump State Champion, cleared 6’6” on his final attempt and was able to beat out Hobbs Junior Adrian Mora for the state title. Carlsbad hasn’t had a state champion in the high jump since 1997,” said Millar. “Not only is Jonah CHS’s first state champ in almost 30 years, but he’s also the first and only boy to score points in the High Jump at state since 1997.

“Kason Perez also had a big day at state. On his last throw, he launched the Javelin 157’6” to place sixth. With the throw, he jumped two places and threw a 7’ personal best. He’s had a tremendous senior year, and using his last throw to get onto the podium was absolutely electric.”

Cavegirl junior Atria Wells also had a banner state meet. Although coming up just 3.25” short of repeating as the Class 5A New Mexico Shot Put Champion, she claimed silver medals in both shot put and discus competition.

“Atria had an incredible season! She finished second in the discus and second in the shot put. She scored 10 of the Cavegirls’ 11 points. As a team, she and Sophia Trujillo beat 14 teams in the 5A classification with their combined 11 points.”

With their 2025 season now in the books, Millar said he is anxiously awaiting the arrival of 2026.

“We were incredibly young this year. Between both the boys’ and girls’ programs, we’ll graduate just 12 seniors,” said the CHS coach. “On the girls’ side, only two of our seniors had run more than one year. So, I have incredibly high hopes for next season.

“We will be unbelievably strong in the field events in 2026. Hopefully, we can get our running events on track as well. But this year was a blast,” added Millar. “First time in almost 10 years both the boys and girls scored double-digit points at state!”

CHS Medalists: Gold, Caveman Jonah Moyers; Silver, Cavegirl Atria Wells, shot put and the discus; and Bronze, Kyler Daughtry, high jump.

State Tournament Recap

Top 6 Place

Cavemen Results:

110 Meter Hurdles: 6 Bryan King 15.96

High Jump: 1 Jonah Moyers 6’6; T3 Kyler Daughtry 6’2”

Triple Jump: 6 Tayvin Marsh 43-3.5

Javelin: 6 Kason Perez 157-6

Cavegirl Results:

Discus: 2 Atria Wells 115-10

Shot Put: 2 Atria Wells 39-9; 6 Sophia Trujillo 34-10.5