Duane Sena, Armando Inbody, Mikey Bane, Brayden Allen, and Grafton Urbatsch line up at the start of the Class 4A Varsity race. Photo by Blake Wood
Junior Mikey Bane kicks in with 300 m to go. Bane finished in 12th place overall, in a time of 17:41. Photo by Blake Wood
By BLAKE WOOD
Assistant Coach
Hilltopper XC
Nearly every year over the past two decades, the State Cross Country Championship has come down to Los Alamos and Albuquerque Academy, usually separated by only a handful of points. This looks to be another of those years, as the Hilltoppers competed at the Albuquerque Academy Extravaganza on Saturday, Oct. 21.
This meet was a dry run for the State Championship, with a separate pair of races (Boys and Girls) for each classification, run on the 5k State course and in the same order and at the same times of day as will be done on Nov. 11. The Hilltopper and Charger squads are both strong this year, but on Saturday the Chargers came out on top.
The ‘Topper Boys finished in places 3-5-9-12-24 for a total of 53 points, only 2 points behind Academy’s 4-6-8-10-23 = 51 point finish. The ‘Toppers were led by Junior Duane Sena in 3rd place and a time of 16:30. He was followed by junior Benjamin Sanchez (5th, 16:53), senior Armando Inbody (9th, 17:19), junior Mikey Bane (12th, 17:41), and junior Eddie Gartz (24th, 18:14). Senior Grafton Urbatsch, junior Brayden Allen, junior Andy Enriquez, and sophomore Gus Ovaska rounded out the team.
The Hilltopper Girls have a bit steeper hill to climb at the upcoming State Championship, finishing 9 points behind the Chargers, 36-27 (the 3rd place team was far back with 155 points). Senior Anna Wetteland led the way, in 3rd place and a time of 19:41. She was followed by freshman Grace Montoya (5th, 19:45), freshman Ensley Jorgenson (6th, 20:17), junior Rebecca Beaux (8th, 20:24), and freshman Amelia Hill (14th, 21:23). Sophomore Mila Moseley, senior Lucy Kelley, junior Lena Ronning, and senior Audrey See completed the Hilltopper team.
The Hilltoppers will have a rematch with the Chargers at our Home Meet this Friday afternoon, Oct. 27, at the Los Alamos Golf Course. Racing starts with the JV competition at 3 p.m., followed by the ever-popular Elementary School Mile at 4:10 p.m., and the varsity races at 4:30 p.m. The District Championship is at Pojoaque HS on Friday, Nov. 3, and the State Championship is at Albuquerque Academy on Saturday, Nov. 11.
Freshman Ensley Jorgenson finished in 6th place overall, in a time of 20:17. Photo by Blake Wood
Senior Anna Wetteland and freshman Grace Montoya sprint for the finish. They crossed the line in 3rd and 5th places overall, in times of 19:41 and 19:45, respectively. Photo by Blake Wood
