By James Yodice / Journal Staff Writer
There was a fair bit of team suspense near the end of Saturday’s Class 5A/4A state track and field meet.
Consider the Rio Rancho girls, who trailed Eldorado by two points entering the meet’s final event, the 4×400-meter relay, at the University of New Mexico complex. The Rams placed third, the Eagles hadn’t qualified for the final, and Rio Rancho overtook Eldorado (these two tied for first a year ago) to win the Class 5A championship by scant four points, 56-52.
There was also the incredibly bizarre sight of Albuquerque Academy’s boys rooting FOR rival Los Alamos in the 4×4.
Artesia trailed the Chargers by 7½ points, and if the Bulldogs had placed second or better in the 4×4, Academy — which was DQ’d in this event Friday in prelims — would have fallen by a single point. So the Academy athletes and fans were rooting hard for Los Alamos to overtake Artesia (which was briefly running second) down the stretch. The Hilltoppers did exactly that, and the Bulldogs finished fourth.
Thus, the Chargers’ 74½ points earned them a blue trophy, with Artesia (71) second.
Albuquerque Academy’s gifted sophomore, Grace Erinle, who was the high-point female athlete at both her home Harper meet and also the Albuquerque metros, had another terrific meet. Pretty much a perfect 4A meet, in fact. She won the long jump Friday, then added first-place finishes Saturday in the triple jump (38-3½), plus the 100 and 200 (25.21). With her leg in the winning 4×100-meter relay, Erinle compiled a meet-best 30.5 points. Her Saturday included a state record time of 12.00 seconds in the 100.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” she said of her overall meet, smiling. “I just worked really hard for this. … It just shows my progress. I’ve come out really strong at the end.”
