Rio Rancho Girls Slip Pasat Eldorado For 5A Title; Corbin Coombs Wins Match-ups With Charlie Vause; Cleveland Boys Win 9th Straight

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

At the 4A/5A New Mexico State Track and Field Championships held at May 16-17, it was nearly deja vu all over again. In 2024, the Rio Rancho and Eldorado girls tied for the 5A state title. Entering the last event of the day, Rio Rancho trailed Eldorado by two points. A third place finish in the girls 4x400 relay was enough to win the 5A title with 56 points. Eldorado was second, finishing with 52 points. 

In the distance events, two of the top runners battled it out with Corbin Coombs of Organ Mountain outdueling BYU-commit and Nike Cross Natonals champion Charlie Vause of Rio Rancho in the 3,200 (8:50.22), 1,600 (4;13.76) and 800 (1:55.33). Coombs, a Wake Forest signee, broke meet records in the 800 and 3,200. 

Individually, Kaselle Davis, a senior Las Cruces High was a highlight reel on the University of New Mexico track. The Indiana commit won the 200 (25.37), 400 (56.07) and high jump (5-6) and was second in the 100. 

Freshman distance runner Gianna Rahmer won the 3,200 (10:33.80) and 1,600 (4:55.17).

The Cleveland’s boys continued to be dominant, winning the program’s ninth straight 5A title. 

In the sprints, La Cueva’s Tanner Montaño won the 100 (10.77), finished third in the 200, ran on the second place 4x100 relay and set a meet record in the long jump with a mark of 24-3.25, scoring 22 points for his team. 

Also on the track, Santa Fe’s Valin Wittenburg broke a state record in the 400, clocking 46.42. 

Grant Vlaun of La Cueva set the 5A record in the pole by clearing 16-6.

4A

The 4A girls meet was highlighted by Albuquerque Academy sophomore Grace Erinle, who had one of the best all-around performances of the two days. She won the 100 in a meet  record time of 12.00, added a win in the 200 (25.21), claimed the long jump (18-11.50) and triple jump (38-3.50) titles, and was part of the winning 4x100 (47.63).

The Los Alamos girls repeated as the 4A state champions putting up 111 points as Collette Bibeault won the 300 hurdles (44.37),was second in the 100 hurdles and high jump.  

In the 100 hurdles, Artesia’s Hattie Harrison winning time of 14.77 seconds was a meet record. 

In boys 4A action, the highlight of the meet came from Portales senior Manny Chavez, who on his final javelin throw broke the meet record with 211-10, which ranked No. 3 in the country. 

St. Pius’ Bryan Thomas nearly swept the sprints, as he won the 200 (22.19), 400 (47.82) and finished second in the 100 (11.18) to teammate Hershul Olloway Jr., who won the event in 10.96. 

The Albuquerque Academy boys claimed the state title with 74.50 points as Nicholas Ponte won the 1,600 (4:24.38) and 3,200 (9:25.97). 

Grant's Laila Martinez took the 800 title in 4A with a state record time of 2:13.65.

3A-1A - May 9 and 10

The St. Michael’s girls and boys repeated as the 3A state champions. For the boys, the title was the sixth time since 2019. The team was led by Soren Annon, who captured first place in the 110 hurdles (14.87), 300 hurdles (38.60) and 200 dash (22.16). 

The St. Michael’s in 3A girls edged out Santa Fe Prep by three points for the 3A crown. The team won the 4x400 in 4:07.45 to seal the victory. 

Individually, sophomore standout Lexie Dixon of Sandia Prep, captured the 100 (12.68), ran a 3A record time of  25.77 in the 200, and took first in the  400 (58.05). Teammate Kate Henderson, a senior, swept the distance events,  winning the 800 (2:18.42), 1,600 (5:18.87) and 3,200 (11:33.39). 

The Santa Fe Prep girls time of in the 4x800 with a meet record 9:48.58.

In 2A, the Texico boys and girls swept through team titles. Laguna-Acoma junior Tagoya Pedro won the 3,200 (9:43.09) and broke meet records in the 1,600 (4:27.45) and 800 (1:54.79). Oak Grove’s Olivia Marquez did the same thing on the girls side, winning the 800 (2:25.42), 1,600 (5:27.85) and 3,200 (12:07.26). 

The 1A boys meet was headlined by Logan senior Haden Judd as he won five events, and reset three of his own state records in the process of leading his team to a state title. Judd won the 100 (10.87), 200 (22.50), 300 hurdles, pole vault (15-6),  and triple jump (41-7.50). His times in the 100, 200, as well as the jump in the pole vault were all 1A state records. 

Fort Sumner’s Aaron Torres  broke his own state record in the discus with a mark of 141-1, while Roy’s Ayden Clavel set a 1A record in the javelin (172-3). 

The Fort Sumner girls just edged out Logan by one points for the state title. Fort Sumner senior Alyssa Casaus finally broke the 1A state long jump record, after chasing it for year. Her record-winning jump was 17-6. 

Like her brother, Makinlee Judd had a phenomenal meet winning the 100 hurdles in a new state record time of 15.88 and winning the 100 dash (12.89) and pole vault (9-6). 

Team Scores 

Class 5A - Cleveland boys 73 points, Rio Rancho  girls 56 points 

Class 4A - Albuquerque Academy boys 74.50 points, Los Alamos girls 111 points 

Class 3A - St. Michael's boys 93 points, St Michael's girls 84.50 points 

Class 2A -  Texico boys 60.50 points, Texico girls 66 points

Class 1A - Logan boys 126 points, Fort Sumner girls 91 points