Alamosa hosts the High Altitude Challenge

ALAMOSA — Saturday morning the Mean Moose kicked off their track and field events on AHS field.
Alamosa’s girls picked up some big first place finishes Allyssa Romero took care of things in the 100-meter while Lilly Lavier took home first in the 200 and 400 meters. Tara Sowards and Brittany Lopez got the call in the longer distances. Both girls added ten points to their team score with first place finishes in the 800 and 1600 meter  runs respectively.  As a relay team the Lady Moose snagged first place finishes in the 100 and 200-meter races as well as the 800-meter sprint relay.
Alamosa showed some of their high altitude training with Lopez taking the 1600-meter as well. With a good spread of talent Alamosa also earned top spot in the Women’s Triple Jump as well as discus and shot put. Taylor Motz earned a 32’ mark to take first in the triple jump and Amaya Atencio took first in both throwing competitions with a 120’ 3” in discus and 34’ 10” in the shot put.
Alamosa’s boys did just as well facing steep competition. Brayan Flores placed first in the 200-meter dash and second in the 100 meter. Chad Jackson ran a 2:01:28 to place first in the 800 meter while in the 1600 meter Josh Lopez’s 4:56:77 earned him a first as well.  The relay team took two second places in the 100 and 200-meter relays. Ian Jackson also took top placing in the 300-meter hurdles finishing second with a time of 42.98.
Centauri had no shortage of podium toppers either. On the boys’ side for the Falcon’s, Jayden Gomez took the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.47. The relay team also snagged gold in three of the four relay races they participated in. Taj Cornum took a first place finish in the Men’s Long Jump and third in the Men’s Triple Jump. The lady Falcons were able to walk away with a few second place finishes taking third in the 100, 400 and 800 meter relays. Ember Canty earned a second place finish for her 300-meter hurdle in 50.55 seconds while Caroline Van Berkum placed second in Womens Discus with a throw of 106’.
The Del Norte Tigers also snagged their share of events in the spring heat. Del Norte’s girls took two firsts in the 400 and 800 meter relay races. Kaeci and Keila Madrid swept the placing’s for the women’s Pole Vault with Kaeci Madrid’s 8’ vault earning the gold.  For the boys Isaac Peerman would take the top placing in the Pole Vault as well with a height of 7’ 4” while the boys were able to place third in the 800-meter relay.
From Center it was Camille Ruggles and Malyka Medina earning the big finishes. Medina scored with second place finishes in the women’s long jump and 100 meter dash. Ruggles showed what made her a regional champion in cross-country taking gold in the 3200 meter and fourth in the 800 meter. Fidel Villa got top placing for the Viking boys with a fourth place finish in the men’s long jump.
The Sanford boys stayed busy on Saturday taking high placing in a few events. Brady Lenz got first place finish for his 43’ 2” triple jump and a second place finish for his 19’ 4.5” long jump.
The Palmgrens were everywhere for Sangre de Cristo. Dillon Palmgren was able to get a third and a fourth for the T-Birds in the men’s 100 and 300-meter hurdles respectively. Avery Palmgren took home three third place finishes one for the 100-meter dash, the 300-meter hurdles and the long jump.
Monte Vista worked hard on Saturday to take home some top five placing on the relay races. Adrian Naranjo jumped a 38’5” to take first in the men’s triple jump while Cedric Perea added a third and a fourth to the Pirates’ tally in the discus and shot put respectively.
For those interested in another big valley track meet be sure to head to Monte Vista on May 12 for the Last Chance Meet hosted by Monte Vista High School.