Cavemen, Cavegirls 3rd at Centennial Meet

By Don Eskins

How well did Carlsbad High School’s harriers perform at the Centennial Invitational on Saturday, March 15, in the City of Crosses? CHS head coach Charles Millar may have summed it up best in just five short words.

“We had a great weekend!” said the jubilant CHS coach.

Millar’s assessment was well-founded. Both the Cavemen and Cavegirls placed third in fields that boasted some of New Mexico’s most talented athletes.

However, due to bad weather, the meet was shortened. As a result, five events had to be canceled.

But, despite the poor weather conditions, Millar said his kids continued to show improvement for the third week in a row.

As the coach saw it

“In the girls’ competition, Cassie Bielstein had another great day, as did Atria Wells, who won the shot put and had an 11-foot PR in the javelin. Also, Campbell Foster ran a huge PR in the 100 Dash, and Nicki Abeyta, with a great effort in the Pole Vault, cleared 7 feet,” said the CHS coach. “We also got great efforts from our girls 4x100 relay team (Nicki Abeyta, Norah Gallagher, Chloe Lopez, and Campbell Foster) and our 4x200 relay team (Nicki Abeyta, Bella Sanders, Kaylee Dowdy, and Estrella Herrera). Both teams posted some very competitive times!

“As for the Cavemen, the boys had an incredible 4x200 relay effort (Bryan King, Jaden Harper, Reenson Akwiembi, and Colton McKibben), and Tavin Marsh had another solid performance in the triple jump, winning the event for the second time in three weeks! The open 100 was great, too, as we went four, five, six (Jaden Harper, Eaven Leos, and Colton McKibben), posting some season-best times along the way,” continued Millar.

“Also, our 4x800 relay team (Rex Reynolds, Dany Hernandez, Blake Walden, and Judah Wittmayer) ran a 9:13, which is awesome. It was the first time they’d run it this year. Bryan King and Isaac Williamson also had a big day, going one, two in the 110 hurdles!”

“Presently, our coaching staff—boys’ and girls’—couldn’t be happier,” he said. “We definitely feel like we’re moving in the right direction.”

CHS Medal Recipients

Cavemen Medalists: Gold, Bryan King, 110 High Hurdles; Reenson Akwiembi, Long Jump; and Tayvin Marsh, Triple Jump; Silver, Isaac Williamson, 110 High Hurdles; Bronze Medals, Kason Perez, Javelin; Bryan King, Jaden Harper, Reenson Akwiembi, and Colton McKibben, 4x200 Relay.

Cavegirl Medalists: Gold, Cassie Bielstein, 100 Hurdles; Atria Wells, Shot Put; Silver, Nicki Abeyta, Pole Vault; Aubrey Veloz, 400 run; Bronze, Long Jump, Triple Jump, Cassie Bielstein; and 100 Dash, Campbell Foster.

The Cavemen and Cavegirls will be in Alamogordo on Saturday, March 22, to compete in the Alamogordo Invitational. The meet is scheduled to get underway at 10 a.m.

Las Cruces Invite Recaps

Top 6 Placers in each event

Cavegirls- 3-15-25

100 Meter Dash: 3 Foster, Campbell 13.54; 400 Meter Dash: 2 Veloz, Aubrey 1:07.67; 100 Meter Hurdles: 1 Bielstein, Cassie 17.67; 4x100 Meter Relay: 4 1) Abeyta, Nicki 2) Gallagher, Norah; 3) Lopez, Chloe 4) Foster, Campbell 54.83; 4x200 Meter Relay: 4 1) Abeyta, Nicki 2) Sanders, Bella; 3) Dowdy, Kaylee 4) Herrera, Estrella 1:57.59; 4x800 Meter Relay: 4th 1) Balencia, Alyssa 2) Eiffert, Shylee; 3) Aguilar, Alessandra 4) Robertson, Kaitlyn 11:39.81; High Jump: 4 Rylan Blair 4’4”; Long Jump: 3 Cassie Bielstein 15’1”; Triple Jump: 3 Cassie Bielstein 31’3”; 4 Meagan McKibben 30’6”; Pole Vault: 2 Nicki Abeyta 7’0:; 5th Isabella Marquez 6’6”

Discus: 4 Atria Wells 93’3”; Shot Put: 1 Atria Wells 37’7”; 6 Sophia Trujillo 30’11”

Team Standings:

1) Organ Mountain High School 83, 2) Alamogordo High School 73, 3) Carlsbad High School 58.5, 4) Las Cruces High School 53, 5) Centennial High School 52, 6) Gadsden High School 17,

7) Hot Springs High School 7, 8) Socorro High School

Cavemen: 3-15-25

100 Meter Dash: 4 Jaden Harper 11.45; 5 Eaven Leos 11.52; 6 Colton McKibben 11.56; 400 Meter Run: 4 Jonah Moyers 55.44; 110 Meter Hurdles: 1 Bryan King 16.76; 2 Isaac Williamson 16.91

4x200 Meter Relay: 3 1) King, Bryan 2) Harper, Jaden, 3) Akwiembi, Reenson 4) McKibben, Colton 1:34.19; 4x800 Meter Relay: 4 1) Reynolds, Rex 2) Hernandez, Dany; 3) Walden, Blake 4) Wittmayer, Judah 9:13.49; High Jump: 5 Marley Munoz 5’4”; Long Jump: 1 Reenson Akwiembi 20’5.5”; Triple Jump: 1 Tayvin Marsh 41’4”; 2 Marley Munoz 39’6”; 4. Josiah Workman 38’9”; Discus: 4 Isiaha Almodovan 117’4”; Javelin: 3 Kason Perez 166’5”

Team Standings:

1) Organ Mountain High School 74, 2) Alamogordo High School 69, 3) Carlsbad High School 60, 4) Centennial High School 49, 5) Las Cruces High School 32, 6) Gadsden High School 21, 7) Deming High School 19, 8) Mayfield High School 13, 9) Santa Teresa High School 9

9) Socorro High School 9,11) Chaparral High School.