Wells, Moyers Grab Early Gold

By Don Eskins

Carlsbad High’s Cavemen and Cavegirl thinclads opened up the 2026 track and field season on Friday, February 27, at the Early Bird Invitational in Roswell.

CHS head track coach Charles Millar felt like his kids got off to a great start.

“We couldn’t have asked for better weather for our opener. It was perfect, 85 and sunny all day,” said Millar. “Overall, I was very impressed with how our kids performed. The boys, with 44 points, tied Hobbs for fourth place. The girls, with 35.5, finished sixth.”

Leading the way for CHS were Caveman Jonah Moyers and Cavegirl Atria Wells. Moyers cleared the bar at 6’2” to claim a gold medal in the high jump. Wells picked up gold medals in both the shot put and discus competition. She tossed the shot 36’7.5” and threw the discus 119’1” en route to the wins.

Moyers reigns as the 2025 defending state champion in the high jump. Wells, who won a shot put state title in 2024, closed out the 2025 season as New Mexico’s runner-up in both the shot and discus.

“Jonah and Atria both picked up right where they left off last year. Not only did they win their events, but they also hit qualifying marks for state,” said the CHS coach. “We’ve never qualified for state in three events on the first meet of the season.

“Atria qualified on her second discus throw and her first shot put attempt. She has been very impressive. Jonah looked great as well. He cleared 6’ and 6’2” pretty easily,” said Millar. “I was very excited to see him compete with the confidence he did. He’s struggled to get over 5’8” for most of the year, so seeing him start so strong is awesome.”

Overall, the Cavemen medaled in five events, the Cavegirls in four. Those picking up medals are listed below.

Cavemen Medalists: Gold: High Jump, 1st, Jonah Moyers, 6-2; 4x800 Meter Relay, 1st, Rex Reynolds, 10th; Javion Scott (10th), Judat Wittmayer (12th), Josiah Waddle (9th), 8:50.92; Bronze: 100 Meter Dash, 3rd, Bobby Castaneda, 11.26; Shot Put, 3rd, Colton McKibben, 44-3; 4x100 Meter Relay, 3rd, Damian Valencia (11th), Colton McKibben (11th), Eaven Leos (12th), Bobby Castaneda (12th), 43.63.

Cavegirl Medalists: Gold: Discus. 1st, Atria Wells, 119-1; Shot Put, 1st, Atria Wells, 36-7.5; Silver: Triple Jump, 2nd, Cassie Bielstein, 32-0.5; Bronze: Triple Jump. 3rd, Patience Renfro, 31-4.5. CHS will host the Ron Singleton Invitational on Friday, March 6. Competition is set to get underway at 1 p.m.

Cavemen Early Bird: Top 15

Boys’ 100 Meter Dash Finals: 3rd, Bobby Castaneda, 11.26

Boys’ 200 Meter Dash Finals: 11th, Bobby Castaneda, 25.29; 15th, Andrew Fuentes, 25.82

400 Meter Dash Finals: 15th, Jaedyn Lynch, 58.72

800 Meter Run Finals: 11th, Javion Scott, 2:14.65; 14th, Josiah Waddle, 2:16.73

1600 Meter Run Finals: 5th, Rex Reynolds, 4:54; 11th, Kaleb Vasquez, 5:11.83

3200 Meter Run Finals: 7th, Kaleb Vasquez, 11:29.49

110 Meter Hurdles Finals: 4th, Bryan King, 16.48; 12th, Jonah Moyers, 19.73; 15th, Logan Hufstedler, 20.72

300 Meter Hurdles Finals: 5th, Bryan King, 43.74

4x100 Meter Relay Finals: 3rd, Carlsbad High School, 43.63

4x200 Meter Relay Finals: 6th, Carlsbad High School, 1:36.62

1600 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals: 7th, Carlsbad High School, 4:27.92

4x400 Meter Relay Finals: 8th, Carlsbad High School, 3:48.06

4x800 Meter Relay Finals: 1st, Carlsbad High School, 8:50.92

High Jump Finals: 1st, Jonah Moyers, 6-2; 7th, Marley Munoz, 5-6

Long Jump Finals: 10th, Josiah Workman, 18-10; 11th, Bennett Adsero, 18-8

Triple Jump Finals: 4th, Marley Munoz, 39-7; 6th, Jake Norman, 37-11.5; 8th, Josiah Workman, 37-8.25

Javelin Finals: 6th, Lennon Ananins, 143-0; 13th, Marley Munoz, 118-11

Shot Put Finals: 3rd, Colton McKibben, 44-3; 14th, Daniel Acosta, 36-5

Cavegirls Early Bird: Top 15

100 Dash: 14th, Casey, Chaselynn, 13.97

200 Meter Dash Finals: 14th, Chloe Lopez, 30.16

800 Meter Run Finals: 12th, Jocelyn Baca, 2:53.78

1600 Meter Run Finals: 13th, Alyssa Balencia, 6:53.38

3200 Meter Run Finals: 6th, Rainelle Ruiz, 14:08.76

100 Meter Hurdles Finals: 5th, Cassie Bielstein, 17.32; 10th, Kylee Kunkel, 18.91

300 Meter Hurdles Finals: 7th, Cassie Bielstein, 55.78; 13th, Kenzington Vaughn, 58.97; 14th, Alessandra Aguilar, 1:01.26

4x100 Meter Relay Finals: 7th, Carlsbad High School, 53.36

4x200 Meter Relay Finals: 5th, Carlsbad High School, 2:04.58

1600 Meter Sprint Medley Relay Finals: 8th, Carlsbad High School, 5:16.52

4x400 Meter Relay Finals: 7th, Carlsbad High School, 5:27.01

4x800 Meter Relay Finals: 5th, Carlsbad High School, 12:14.56

Girls High Jump Finals: 8th, Patience Renfro, 4-6; 8th, Rylan Blair, 4-6

Long Jump Finals: 7th, Andrea Cortez, 14-2; 11th, Chaselynn Casey, 13-7.75

Triple Jump Finals: 2nd, Cassie Bielstein, 32-0.5; 3rd, Patience Renfro, 31-4.5

Pole Vault Finals: 4th, Aubrey Baeza, 7-0; 5th, Okalonii Negrete, 7-0

Discus Finals: 1st, Atria Wells, 119-1; 6th, Chloe Noel, 83-4.25

Javelin Finals: 7th, Faith Rivera, 73-4; 8th, Taygen Dowdy, 71-7

Shot Put Finals: 1st, Atria Wells, 36-7.5