By James Yodice / Journal Staff Writer
CLASS 4A: Albuquerque Academy swept the team trophies. For the boys, it was their 16th state championship, and first since 2017.
Los Alamos had won five of the last six 4A titles, including the previous three, but the Chargers edged the Hilltoppers 50-54.
“The difference in cross country is always those No. 4 and 5 spots, those kids that hang in there for the last 90 seconds or 2 minutes of the face and fight like mad on the track,” Academy coach Adam Kedge said.
As is often the case with these two, their top five were tightly bunched.
The Chargers were led by individual runner-up Nicholas Ponte (15:34.4).
“It’s been a while for the boys,” Kedge said, adding, “Blue trophies never collect dust, not in the hearts of these kids.”
It wasn’t a long while to wait for the individual champion, Taos’ Judah Daffron, who repeated as the boys 4A winner. With a time of 15:28.8, he finished close to six seconds ahead of Ponte, and he was 34 seconds faster on this course than he was in 202. Billy Romero of Taos was third, and Taos also was third as a team.
Daffron also was the recent champ at the Los Alamos meet, where Academy also was entered.
Junior Addison Julian of Academy was the girls 4A state champion. Her winning time was 18:05.4, which was 10 seconds in front of Moriarty’s Carmen Dorsey-Spitz.
“I feel like it was just belief in myself,” Julian said, “having confidence and running gutsy, just being willing to put myself out there.”
Anna Hastings of the Chargers, also a junior and the 2023 state champion, finished third.
“She’s absolutely awesome,” Hastings said of Julian. “I see how hard she works, she is really just an awesome athlete.”
Those two powered Academy to the team win, 49-62, over Los Alamos.
“To come out here and know that we did it as a team, doing it with these girls, I am so inspired by them every single day,” Hastings said. “We did it where it matters.”
Of note, Los Alamos’ Grace Montoya, the Hilltoppers’ top runner, placed 24th Saturday and outside the top five on her own team. She was second at the Extravaganza on this same course three weeks ago, sandwiched between Hastings and Julian.
Shiprock’s girls finished third.
