2 weeks Ago
LOS ALAMOS — There is no right or wrong way to prepare for the final week of the cross-country regular season. The host Los Alamos Hilltoppers approached like it was a big meet, which it was for them since it was their Los Alamos Invitational on Friday at the Los Alamos County Golf Course. Santa Fe Indian School used the meet as a way of honoring its seniors for their contributions.
Santa Fe Prep gave its varsity squad a rest, letting the junior varsity compete. The goal is prepare for the most important part of the season — the district and state meets over the next two weeks. "Everybody has to find their way," Los Alamos head coach Steven Montoya said.
"We know that, at districts, some teams are going to run their hearts out because they want to get the team qualified for state. And there's five teams fighting for the three automatic qualifiers [for the state meet]." The Hilltoppers, though, put on a show for their crowd and raced their hearts out.
The result was a first-place finish for the girls team with 47 points, which was 28 better than Albuquerque Academy, while sophomore Grace Montoya won the race in 18 minutes, 34.56 seconds. "The group of varsity girls we have right now is just the best group we've ever had," sophomore Ensley Jorgenson said.
"I think that all of us want to do better for each other and our team. Every race, we always go out and give it our best." Meanwhile, the boys placed second to Rio Rancho Cleveland by a 42-65 margin in a lowest-score wins format.
But it was seven points better than Los Alamos' long-time rival, Academy, and the first time the Hilltoppers finished ahead of the Chargers this season. For Grace Montoya, it was her best time on the 5-kilometer distance run on the hilly course. Yet, she paid a price for it, as she laid on the grass for several minutes trying to regain her composure and her breath.
Much of that, she said, was a result of her pushing hard on the final hill near the south end of the golf course, before speeding back down to get about a 20-meter lead on Albuquerque Academy's Anna Hastings that held up. "I knew I had to put on a gap before the last 800 [meters] because I knew those other girls had a better kick than I did," Grace said. "So I thought the hill was the perfect time to do that.
" The sophomore daughter of the head coach led a Los Alamos five-some that had three runners in the top six and its scoring five inside the top 20. On the boys side, the Hilltoppers had three runners in the top nine and four in the top 20 that was just enough to best Academy. Cleveland, though, dominated the race with its scoring five in the top 14.
But it wasn't just about finishing high on the team or individual list. SFIS took the approach of recognizing its seniors by letting them run in this final regular-season event. Braves head coach Jarvis Morningdove said some of his seniors have been with the cross-country program since the seventh grade, while others for just one year.
He pointed to Jeremiah Lovato, who ran the course in moccasins, for his hard work. "His first race was 40 minutes," Morningdove said. "And he's gone lightyears since then.
" The other tradition is for the rest of the team, including Morningdove, to carry the seniors off the course and to their team tent as a reward for all their hard work. "For me, this is the last time I get to coach them and the last time I get to see them through here," Morningdove said. "This week we give our varsity [regulars] a rest and honor them.
They've given all that they have, so we have to give them the honor of running one race." With the regular season wrapped up for most schools, the goal now is to get ready for the biggest race of the season — next week's district meets..
