RSS FeedRIO RANCHO - The AAA Cross Country State Championships were off with a blast. C.J. Salvador, freshman of Laguna-Acoma High School, held a top five spot for the first half-mile.
 L-A's Augustus Cuch, eighth grader, crosses the finish line with the team's fastest time, 16:57.85. He finished 17th in a fifth-place team effort at the State Championships, held at Rio Rancho High School on Saturday.BEACON / TESHIMA |
The pair finished with the team's quickest times. Cuch, in 15th, finished with a 16:57.85, while Salvador crossed with a 17:03.9, 16th overall finish.
The third man was Ben Bautista in 33rd, with a 17:30.85 followed closely by Josh Paytiamo, 17:38.45 in 36th. Fifth man on the team was the oldest, C.J. Douma at 17:59.75 in 48th.
The team was able to cut its overall time from 1:44.58 (rounded up) to 1:25:44 at the exact course only three weeks later. The improved time was enough for a fifth place overall, losing to Santa Fe Indian School, Pojoaque Valley, Miyamura and Zuni, respectively.
The girls were led by eighth grader Lacey Natseway in 20th overall at a 20:19.20 time. Senior Sydney Sanchez followed closely in 25th with a 20:32.75.
Melissa “Missy” Saavedra added more than half a minute to her state time from last year, and slipped to a 35th overall performance. Iris Lucario, 62nd, shaved off 43 seconds from her mid-October run at the Rio Rancho Invite. Seneca Riley also stepped up her pace with a 22:34.15, 63rd place finish, cutting nearly a minute from her October race at the same course.
The girl's team placed eighth overall, slipping one spot from last year's performance.
Between the two teams' top seven runners only one is expected to be missing from the roster next year to graduation
Cuch and Salvador felt confident after the race, saying “most of the guys ahead of us were older.” Seniors from top triple A schools congratulated the two underclassmen on their tough run.
“Now we've just got to run in the off-season and get better,” said Salvador. Cuch agreed with a smile.
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