Lyas Eidenbenz is cheered on by his teammates in the opening leg of the 4×400 m relay. Eidenbenz, Haiden Jorgenson, Grafton Urbatsch and Melaki Gutierrez won this event in a new LAHS School Record of 3:21.0. Photo by Blake Wood

Ella Miranda runs a leg of the winning (and State Qualifying) 4×800 m relay. Photo by Blake Wood

By BLAKE WOOD
Assistant Coach
LAHS Track & Field

Wow! The Hilltopper Boys Track & Field athletes broke three LAHS school records on their way to upsetting 5A powerhouse Sue Cleveland High School at the Cleveland Relays on Friday afternoon and evening!

First the team of Julian Singell, Alex Pasulka, Daniel Kim and Melaki Gutierrez set a new LAHS school record of 41.80 seconds in the 4×100 m relay. Then the team of Haiden Jorgenson, Pasulka, Kim and Gutierrez broke the 4×200 m relay school record with a time of 1:27.23. Finally, the team of Lyas Eidenbenz, Jorgenson, Grafton Urbatsch, and Gutierrez broke the 4×400 m relay school record with a time of 3:21.0. All were event wins and all were State Qualifying marks.

The Cleveland Relays have an unusual format: in addition to the usual relays, the other events are scored in “relays” of three athletes in the same event at the same time. There are also “elite” races at 100, 200, 400, and 800 m, in which one athlete from each team competes.

In addition to the school record performances above, the Hilltoppers Boys won the 4×800 m relay (Eddie Gartz, Gus Ovaska, William Gartz, Esteban Wright), 1600 m medley relay (Akim Leija, Grafton Urbatsch, Jens Wald-Hopkins, Alex Pasulka), 110 m hurdle relay (Julian Singell, Daniel Kim, JJ Diaz), pole vault relay (Jayden Ramirez, Aiden Manzanares, Seth Javernick) and long jump relay (Melaki Gutierrez, Haiden Jorgenson, Rocco Quintana).

Additional State Qualifying performances included Rocco Quintana (3rd, 400 m), Julian Singell and Daniel Kim (1st and 2nd, 110 m hurdles), Jayden Ramirez (1st, pole vault), Melaki Gutierrez and Haiden Jorgenson (3rd and 4th, long jump), and Matt Brousseau (4th, shot put).

The defending 4A State Champion Hilltopper Boys narrowly beat the defending 5A State Champion and meet host Cleveland, 131-127.

The Hilltopper Girls (also defending 4A State Champions) handily beat 2nd place Cleveland, 132-98, by winning the 4×100 m relay (Angelina Passalaqua, Meredith Brown, Syana Sanchez, Jaiya Daniels, State Qualifying), 4×200 m relay (Evangelina Gutierrez, Brown, Sanchez, Anna Wetteland, State Qualifying), 4×800 m relay (Ensley Jorgenson, Rebecca Beaux, Ella Miranda, Grace Montoya, State Qualifying), 1600 m relay (Montoya, Jorgenson, Beaux), 100 m hurdle relay (Dani Trellue, Raina Passalaqua, Maya Graves), high jump relay (Colette Bibeault, Graves, R. Passalaqua), pole vault relay (Bibeault, Trellue, Siena Rolfe), and long jump relay (Jenna Montoya, R. Passalaqua, Trellue).  In addition, Jaiya Daniels won the elite 200 m in a State Qualifying time of 24.95, and Anna Wetteland took 2nd in the elite 800 m in a State Qualifying time of 2:21.42.

Additional State Qualifying performances included Dani Trellue and Raina Passalaqua (1st and 4th, 100 m hurdles), Colette Bibeault (1st, 300 m hurdles), Bibeault, Maya Graves and R. Passalaqua (1st and 2nd tie, high jump), and Bibeault, Trellue and Siena Rolfe (1st tie and 3rd, pole vault).

Next up: many Hilltoppers will compete at the Marilyn Sepulveda Meet of Champions, an invitational-only competition at UNM on Monday, April 15.

Jayden Ramirez won the pole vault with a State Qualifying jump of 12′. Photo by Blake Wood

Bibeault won the 300 m hurdles (46.66 s), high jump (5′ 2″) and pole vault (10′ 6″), all with State Qualifying marks. Photo by Blake Wood

Jaiya Daniels won the elite 200 m in a State Qualifying time of 24.95 seconds. Photo by Blake Wood

Benjamin Sanchez, right, and Gus Ovaska went 1-3 in the 1600 in times of 4:36.7 and 4:41.6, respectively. Photo by Blake Wood