Cross Country Teams Fare Well at Home Meet

By Nicky Romero

The Socorro High School Cross Country Teams hosted the 2nd Annual Socorro Stampede Cross Country Race on Friday.
The three-mile races were held at the tough and hilly New Mexico Tech Golf Course. The runners also had to contend with the high heat reaching into the 90's.
Varsity and junior varsity teams for both boys and girls were invited to the meet. The meet grew from five teams last year to ten teams this year. Teams from around the state participated including Belen, Los Lunas, Valencia, Grants, Estancia, Santa Fe Prep, Pecos, Cleveland, and Alamo Navajo. Santa Fe Prep and Pecos are ranked in the top ten for small schools.
The winning team for all four race divisions was Cleveland High School from Rio Rancho.
Antonio Varela from Pecos won the race. He broke his own record and set a new course record of 15:56 this year.On the girls side, Valencia's Nisa Rascon won with a course record with an 18:58, breaking the old record by nearly a minute and a half.
Socorro's team is headed by third year Coach Steven Montoya, who coaches both the boys' and the girls' teams.
Montoya was proud with Socorro's teams and individual performances.
“The Socorro boys ended up seventh overall,” said Montoya. “Sure, seven out of ten doesn't sound too great, but the competition went up for one thing. The schools that come now are solid cross country teams.”
“Last week, we were at a meet in Alamogordo at a Class 5A school and we placed fourth for the boys. And here at our home meet, we place seventh. So that goes to show you where the strength in cross country is. It's your northern schools.”
“Our number one runner yesterday was Luke Malone, a sophomore. He ran a personal best by about fifty seconds at 17:54.”
Other runners that stepped up were sophomore Sierra Cahall, who finished with a 17:58. Junior and captain Tim Abeyta, who is usually the number one runner for the Warriors, was having allergy and breathing problems. He still managed to finish fourth on his team. Senior Raul Contreras finished third with a personal best of 18:25. Senior Brandon Raymond set a personal best with a time of 19:44.
Completing the boys team is junior Raymond Chavez, sophomores Dylan Gallegos and Brenden Seibert, freshmen Richardo Flores, Jared Lam, Matthew Lassey, Jacob Lewis, Greg Stover and James Howell.
“For the girls, our freshman phenom is Dayna Guerro”, said Montoya. “Last week in Alamogordo, she won the whole thing. This week she ended in seventh. She's running real well right now, having fun, and competitive. She led us.”
DamiAna Contreras finished in the top 20 with a 21:55. Junior and first year runner Angela Ellis ran in the fourth position and is running well for the Lady Warriors.
Other girl runners are senior Michelle Mora, juniors Nikki Mortensen and Brittini Webb and Shayna Delehanty, sophomores Leah Guengerich, Cree Jones, Cassie Parker, and freshman Elijah Ware.
Socorro's next meet will be in Belen at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Homecoming Schedule
For Socorro High, it’s homecoming week.
On Thursday, the annual bonfire will be held at the school at 7 p.m.
On Friday, the homecoming parade will take place and the theme this year is called “Alice In Wonderland.”
Entry forms are available at the school, main office, central office and city hall. There is a $5 fee per vehicle/float entry and all forms are due in the high school main office by 3:30 p.m. on Friday. For more information, contact Kayla Lopez at 835-0700.

Cross Country Teams Fare Well at Home Meet