Gus Ovaska enters the stadium with Cole Luscher close behind in the Boys Championship Varsity race. Photo by Blake Wood
Ensley Jorgenson takes a turn at high speed on her way to a 2nd place overall finish in the Girls Championship Varsity race, in an excellent time of 18:49. Photo by Blake Wood
By BLAKE WOOD
Assistant Coach
LAHS Track and Field
Assistant Coach
LAHS Track and Field
It was a beautiful day for cross country racing on Saturday, and the Hilltopper Girls teams made the most of it, sweeping wins in all three (Championship Varsity, JV, and C-Team) races. Actually, it was all FOUR races, if you count that the Los Alamos Middle School girls also won their race by a large margin!
Once again, Ensley Jorgenson lead the varsity harriers with her 18:49 time and 2nd place overall finish. The Rio Rancho HS course is 5k of big hills and sandy footing, so a sub-19 minute finish is very fast. In fact, it was the 16th fastest time ever run by a girl (and 4th fastest ever ‘Topper time) on this course, which is impressive given that the State Championship was run there for many years!
Following Ensley was the duo of Grace Montoya and Elisabeth McNiff, finishing in 5th and 7th places and 19:46 and 19:49, respectively. Emmeline Keller-Moore (13th, 20:22) and Mila Moseley (17th, 20:30) rounded out the scoring quintet, with Elizabeth Buck (41st) and Abigail Swigert (51st) completing the team. The Hilltopper’s score of 37 points put them comfortably ahead of Cleveland’s 80 points and the other 14 scoring teams.
Although they were still missing one of their varsity runners, the Hilltopper Boys finished 8th of 23 teams, with all six ‘Toppers finishing in the top half of the field. The pack time of only 38 seconds was impressive for the scoring quintet of Gus Ovaska (46th, 17:47), Cole Luscher (50th, 17:50), William Hudlemeyer (51st, 17:51), Emmitt Tibbetts (61st, 18:03), and Kaj Maupin (71st, 18:25). Close behind was Oliver Mosby (78th, 18:32).
In the JV Girls race, Hilltopper Amelia Hill lead from the gun to win in a time of 21:35. She was followed by Cara Gauss (3rd, 22:08), Caterina Mereghetti (6th, 22:37), Esther Gellis (7th, 22:38), and Emma Justus (19th, 22:42) for the team win with only 31 points. Adrien Heidlage and Nora Bigger rounded out the team.
The JV Boys had the best team finish of the Hilltopper Boys teams, placing 4th of 21 teams. They were led by the duo of Hiro Mertes and Sam Prada, in 14th and 15th places and 18:55 and 18:56, respectively. Following them were Tyven Beaux (17th, 19:11), William Anderson (23rd, 19:38), and Ethan Martinez (33rd, 20:02). Justin Crane completed the team.
The C-Team Girls were led by the pair of Gianna Rolfe and Rebekah Scott in 2nd and 3rd places and 22:50 and 22:53, respectively. The scorers included Ana Saenz (4th), Grace Evans (5th), and Anya Seet (9th), producing an admirably low score of 23 points for the win over nine other teams.
Caleb Smidt paced the C-Team Boys to a 5th place team finish with his 21st place individual finish in 20:39. The scorers included Milo Naes (26th), Joseph Snyder (28th), Gabe Mamula (34th), and Eric Brown (45th).
The Hilltopper Varsity and JV teams next travel to the Pat Amato Meet near Denver on Friday, Oct. 3.
Sam Prada descends one of many steep hills in the Boys JV race, followed by teammate Hiro Mertes. Hiro and Sam placed 14th and 15th, respectively. Photo by Blake Wood
Amelia Hill leads 120 competitors in the Girls JV race, on her way to an individual win. Photo by Blake Wood