Boys cross country: Surprises won't be around every corner this year
9/2/2008
Santa Fe Indian School and St. Michael's want to go quietly into November. The problem is cross country is not a sport of surprises or sleepers.
Sure, upsets happen. Perhaps, none was bigger than a year ago, when Albuquerque Academy, undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country, ran second to Los Alamos in the Class AAAA state meet.
The Hilltoppers, though, weren't unknowns. They had their own national ranking before they put on their unforgettable performance, and then backed it up with a second at Nike Team Nationals a month later.
And while Academy and Los Alamos is the best — and last — rivalry left in the state, and each enters the season nationally ranked again, it's not like others won't be keeping track on the three other classifications, and no race appears closer than the one in Class AAA, which is home of the Braves and Horsemen.
59-84-107.
Those were the final scores for Zuni, Wingate and St. Michael's, the respective top three finishers at the 2007 state meet. Of that trio, only the Horsemen have everyone back who scored.
107-127-142.
Those were the final tallies for Pojoaque, Albuquerque Hope Christian and Santa Fe Indian School, the next three finishers. Of that trio, Pojoaque was hit the hardest by graduation, while the Braves lost no one.
"Santa Fe Indian School could surprise everybody," Allan Lockridge, Pojoaque head coach, says.
Not anymore.
Thanks, Lock.
Actually, Lockridge wasn't predicting a state championship for the Braves. He just happened to catch a glimpse of them at Saturday's scrimmage in Pojoaque, came away impressed and realized the chase for the state title is more than the expected two-way between Zuni and St. Michael's.
John Grimley likes the way Lockridge thinks.
"They pack well together and they look good," Grimley, Santa Fe Indian School head coach, says. "With this group of guys there's really no set order. There's going to be a lot of movement."
Santiago Pasquale, the team's top finisher at state as an eighth-grader, looked strong Saturday. So did Kurt Mora, who appears to be injury free. Steven Mora, Tyler Atencio and Trevor Merhege comprise the top five.
As for the sixth and seventh runners ...
"We're going to have some battles for those last two spots," Grimley says. "We have 26 boys on the roster. We've got a few to pick from."
St. Michael's is set.
And loaded.
Fred Baca was fifth overall a year ago. Trevor Serrao was seventh. Baca earned his first varsity letter as an eighth-grader and has scored in his four previous state meets. Serrao arrived as a freshman.
Both are seniors.
Both want the individual state title.
Both never looked better entering a season.
"Their training has gone exceptionally well this summer," Lenny Gurule, St. Michael's head coach, says. "I definitely think they are going to make a run for it."
Phillip Valencia has been with the varsity since eighth grade. TJ MacAllister, Ben Pacheco and Alessandro Gurule contributed to last year's third place.
Those are six reasons the Horsemen's sights are set high.
"These guys are focused in on trying to reach the top again," Gurule says. "It's definitely one of our goals. They definitely expect to move up from last year's third-place. We should be a tough team. We'll see what happens."
Ryan Fenton, a Hope Christian senior, enters the season as the individual favorite. And the Huskies will be looking to move up in the team standings.
Zuni, meanwhile, is Zuni. But in AAA, no team has gone back-to-back since 2003, the season Pojoaque Valley claimed its second straight title and third in the past four years.
St. Michael's won the 2006 title. Santa Fe Indian School's last title came in 1995, in Class A-AA.
"They're going to be tough," Gurule says of the Braves. "They have everybody back and one more year of experience. Another year of development is huge."
So is revenge, as a motivating factor.
Academy owns eight of the last 10 state titles. The other two belong to Los Alamos, including last season's.
"Our feeling is we can't really compare last season to this one coming up," Kathy Hipwood, who shares the Los Alamos head coaching duties with her husband Rob, says. "That would be setting them up with unrealistic expectations. If anything, last year has helped their motivation.
"We really want to focus on the season. Running with Academy in November, that's the priority."
Los Alamos sees itself as the underdog.
Others do, too.
Sort of.
The Chargers are ranked third nationally. The Hilltoppers start the season ranked 10th.
Gareth Gilna and Kyle Pittman are two reasons why. The other reasons are Kevin Hemphill, Andrew Vierra, Austin Jacobson, Nat Gustafson, Eli Pulliam and Ben Havemann.
Gilna and Pittman join Pat Zacharias and Ryan Clark of Academy, and Douglas Torres of Albuquerque St. Pius X as favorites for individual honors.
Zacharias ran third last year at state, losing to a pair of seniors — Ben Johnson of Academy and Kevin Burnett of St. Pius X. Johnson is now at Stanford and Burnett is at Notre Dame.
Pittman was fifth, one spot ahead of Gilna.
"This group is very motivated," Hipwood says. "We just need to keep them healthy and get them sharp at the right times."
Mario Armijo, of Pecos, needs no motivation. Armijo became the first boy in school history to capture individual honors in cross country when he won last year's Class A-AA title. He has set is sights on repeating history.
Armijo is fitter and faster. He needs to be. The pack of challengers is seven deep.
Navajo Pine teammates Thomas Martinez and Tim Chee are the closest to Armijo. Not far off the pace are Grayson Vogel, of Peñasco, and Jemez Valley's Troy Madalena.
Navajo Pine seeks its fourth straight championship. The contenders include Pecos, Jemez Valley, Peñasco, Mesa Vista and Santa Fe Preparatory, which ran sixth last season.
"I'd like to do better than that," June Dickinson, Santa Fe Prep head coach, says. "I think we possibly could. Fourth would be nice. Third would be nicer."
The Blue Griffins are led by seniors Austin Evans and Joe Carlson. Jeremy Henry and Zach Ewers also bring state experience into this season.
"The rest are younger, again," Dickinson says of her 15-runner roster. "They are all nice runners. If I can last a few more years, I think they are going to be great."
Peter Graham also is focused on the future. The Santa Fe High School head coach has eight runners, but only Jesse Armijo appears to possess the potential to reach state this season. For now, at least.
"He's on the verge of really doing something," Graham says of his junior. "If things go well, he could finish top 10 at district."
North poll
The New Mexican’s preseason top 10 individuals and top five teams from Northern New Mexico:
Individuals
1. Mario Armijo, Pecos
2. Gareth Gilna, Los Alamos
3. Fred Baca, St. Michael’s
4. Kyle Pittman, Los Alamos
5. Trevor Serrao, St. Michael’s
6. Santiago Pasquale, Santa Fe Indian School
7. Kevin Hemphill, Los Alamos
8. Kurt Mora, Santa Fe Indian School
9. Andrew Vierra, Los Alamos
10. Grayson Vogel, Peñasco
Teams
1. Los Alamos
2. St. Michael’s
3. Santa Fe Indian School
4. Pecos
5. Peñasco