Cavemen 4x800 Relay Qualifies for State

By Don Eskins

On Saturday, March 28, the Cavemen and Cavegirl Track and Field teams competed in the Artesia Invitational. But, on this Saturday, the first official day of spring break, Carlsbad's squads looked both abbreviated and quite different.

Even at that, the Cavemen did manage to medal in four events and the Cavegirls in three.

Collecting CHS's only gold medal was defending high jump state champion Jonah Moyers. Moyers turned in the meet's top jump of 6'2" to capture gold.

"Saturday was the first day of spring break. So, not surprisingly, a lot of our kids were out of town," said CHS head coach Charles Millar. "We traveled to Artesia with, as I called it, a skeleton crew. However, with so many of our starters out, it did give us an opportunity to allow some of our younger kids to compete."

Despite Millar's skeleton crew, the kids who competed did turn some heads.

"Through it all, we had a great day. We qualified our boys' 4x800 relay team for state and just missed qualifying our Sprint Medley squad and Lennon Ananins in the javelin," said Millar. "With such a small group, I was very pleased with how well they competed."

The Cavemen's 4x800 relay squad, comprised of Rex Reynolds, Judah Wittmayer, Javion Scott, and Josiah Waddle, posted a time of 8:24.80 to place second en route to qualifying for state. The qualifying mark is 8:25.00.

"As the boys' distance coach, I couldn't be more proud of a group of young men," said CHS assistant coach Michael Sims. "They push themselves every day, and the hard work they've been putting in couldn't have shown up at a better time. These kids deserve an opportunity to run at state, and now, through their efforts in Artesia, that's exactly what they're going to do."

In javelin competition, Caveman Lennon Annanins came within 1'8" of qualifying for state.

 "Lennon threw it 155'4". It was really a great throw, but to qualify for state, he needed to throw it 157'," said coach Millar. "He's an awesome kid and works really hard. So far, this has been a great year for him. I feel confident he'll hit 157' before long."

The boys' sprint medley team, which included Ananins, Trey Barta, Brian King, and Rex Reynolds, ran a 3:42, just missing the state qualifying time of 3:40.94.

Next up for the Cavemen will be the George Love Relays in Portales on Friday, April 10. Action is set to get underway at 3 p.m.

Carlsbad High MedalistsCavemen: first place gold, High Jump, Jonah Moyers; second place Silver, 4x800 Relay, Rex Reynolds, Judah Wittmayer, Javion Scott, and Josiah Waddle; third place Bronze, 4x200 Relay, Henry Einkauf, Andrew Fuentes, Trey Barta, Lennon Ananins; sprint medley relay, Lennon Ananins, Trey Barta, Brian King, and Rex Reynolds.

Cavegirls: third place bronze, 4x100 Relay, Haley Long, Chaselynn Casey, Nicki Abeyta, and Kaylee Dowdy; sprint medley relay, Shaelyn Dominquez, Chaselynn Casey, Chloe Lopez, and Rainelle Ruiz; 4x800 relay, Jiordan Viernicek, Rainelle Ruiz, Ali Aguilar, and Soledad Martinez.

Artesia Invitational ResultsCavemen Top 10 Finishes200 Dash: 4. Harper, Jaden, 23.5813200 Run: 6. Mendez, Aiden, 11:01.516; 7. Vasquez, Kaleb, 11:02.003110 Hurdles: 5. King, Bryan, 16.394; 9. Moyers, Jonah, 17.322300 Hurdles: 6. Moyers, Jonah, 45.728; 10. Hufstedler, Logan, 48.8784x200 Relay: 3. Carlsbad High School, 1:35.715Sprint Medley Relay: 3. Carlsbad High School, 3:42.3634x800 Relay: 2. Carlsbad High School, 8:24.80Triple Jump: 5. Munoz, Marley, 40'03.00"High Jump: 1. Moyers, Jonah, 6'2.00"; 7. Munoz, Marley, 5'8.00"Pole Vault: 7. Meier, Mathyis, 9'0.00"Javelin: 4. Ananins, Lennon, 155'04.00"; 10. Florez, Braden, 130'03.00"Cavegirl Top 10 Finishes100 Dash: 7. Dowdy, Kaylee, 13.653800 Run: 10. Viernicek, Jiordan, 2:47.5983200 Run: 9. Balencia, Alyssa, 14:44.445100 Hurdles: 8. Kunkel, Kylee, 19.128300 Hurdles: 9. Kunkel, Kylee, 54.234x100 Relay: 3. Carlsbad High School, 52.1984x200 Relay: 4. Carlsbad High School, 1:55.328Sprint Medley Relay: 3. Carlsbad High School, 4:53.6614x800 Relay: 3. Carlsbad High School, 11:10.179High Jump: 10. Renfro, Patience, 4'6.00"Triple Jump: 6. McKibben, Meagan, 31'07.00"; 10. Renfro, Patience, 30'04.00"Long Jump: 9. Casey, Chaselynn, 14'10.00"Javelin: 6. Rivera, Faith, 81'08.00"Discus: 4. Noel, Chloe, 87'01.00"