Cavern City Aces Competes in National Championships

By Misty Cryer

With a team of five, Cavern City Aces competed in the USATF Masters Indoor National Championships at the Albuquerque Convention Center. In its second year, the local club walked away from the meet with remarkable accomplishments.

The three-day event, organized by USA Track Field, attracts athletes aged 25-plus, offering them the opportunity to train and compete at a national level.

Results for the teammates, provided by Michael Sims, founder of Cavern City Aces, show that the team brought home six gold medals for first place, one silver medal for second, and one bronze medal for third, with the following individual results.

In the M 25 category, Michael Sims placed first in three races: 800 meters, 3000 meters, and 25 miles. Shay Gregory placed first in the 200 meters and second in the 60 meters, with Riley Nesbit placing third in the 60 meters. Jason Sims placed first in the M 30 category for Shot Put, with Zachary Graham placing first in the M 35 Pole Vault.

Sims said that, with this competition, the club reached three big milestones. First, every team member made the podium finish, which Sims explained is the top three. “That is something impressive that we’re proud of. Everyone walked home with something,” he said.

Second, with 90 men’s teams on the scoreboard, Cavern City Aces was 11th out of those 90 teams, said Sims. “Being a smaller team of five people, I think that is a milestone for us, and for Carlsbad as a whole,” he said.

Third, Sims said, about six teams from New Mexico competed, with the Cavern City Aces scoring highest among them.

“I feel like this is the push the club needs to really build up the open and masters division of the club,” said Sims.

Aside from Sims, the Cavern City Aces’ competitors in this event are new to the club, with this competition being the first for most since high school.

“Shay has been wanting to race for a while, with his work schedule and my schedule, he hasn’t had the time to, so racing this weekend was a big deal for him,” said Sims.

For Riley, Sims said, he wants to run a marathon in December in Hawaii. “He’s excited about how the club will help him to get in shape and ready for that,” Sims said.

About his older brother, Jason, Sims said, he’s excited to have another hobby to do once again.

Zachary, who lives in Albuquerque but is from Carlsbad, is Shay’s friend, said Sims. “I haven’t had the chance to speak to him. From what I’ve seen, he’s been pole vaulting fairly often for the past few years, so I’m sure that doing that with a Carlsbad-based team was probably pretty cool for him,” he said.

“This concludes our indoor season,” said Sims. He said that information about the summer season will go out in May for youth, open, and master’s for anyone who wants to be part of the team this summer. For information about becoming a member, interested parties can visit Cavern City Aces on Facebook.

Kaitlyn Robertson and Natalia Butts are part-time assistant coaches who help with the club’s youth division, said Sims. “They have done everything from organizing to running practices to working on team bonding activities for the kids,” he said, adding that he just wants to give them credit for taking some things off his plate.

“I feel like, because of their help, I was able to get healthy physically and mentally for Masters Nationals and have had my best competing season since I was in college,” said Sims.