Prep track and field: Magdalena, Logan capture team titles

James Yodice, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read

Jun. 18—Magdalena's boys and Logan's girls won Class 1A state track and field championships on Thursday at the University of New Mexico Track Complex.

GIRLS: The Lady Longhorns won state with 79 points. Melrose (59) edged out Gateway Christian (58) for second place.

Logan had individual event winners in Hailey Robertson (7 feet) in the pole vault, and Kaylee Williams captured first place in both the 100 (13.64 seconds) and 200 (27.91).

Melrose sophomore Paityn Nicholson set a state record in the shot put with a mark of 35-1 3/4 . She broke her own record from two years ago.

Clovis Christian sophomore Sofia De Groot had two excellent field victories Thursday. She went 16 feet, 4 inches to win the long jump, with her sister Lola, a senior, finishing second, nearly four inches behind Sofia. But Sofia's mark was not eligible for the state record because of a tailwind.

The triple jump proved to be a little more complex. Sofia De Groot won the event with a leap of 35-11 1/4 , which would have been a state record — but wasn't, due to the wind.

However, she did jump 34-6 earlier in the event with an acceptable wind, so she set the state record with a mark that was different than her winning jump. Sofia broke the state record previously established by her sister (33-4 1/2 ) in 2019. Lola De Groot was runner-up in this event on Friday.

Sofia De Groot also won the 400-meter dash on Thursday, and she ran second to Williams from Logan in the 200-meter final.

Pine Hill's Kairi Etsitty won the 3,200-meter final to begin the program and the 1,600 at the end of the day. One of her Pine Hill teammates, Maurie Daniels, set a state record in the javelin (113 feet, 9 inches).

Cimarron was the inaugural winner of the 4×800 relay.

BOYS: The Steers scored 69 points, slightly in front of second-place Logan which finished two points behind. Mountainair (54) was third.

Individual state champions for Magdalena were Joaquin Billy (43 feet, 6 1/2 inches) in the shot put, D'Shaun Vinyard in the high jump (6-2), 400-meter dash (52.20 seconds) and 200 (23.99), and Kael Stephens (40-1 1/4 ) in the triple jump.

The 4×800 relay was a new event this year; Clovis Christian won the race Thursday.

(Click here for full results.)