LAHS Track & Field Completes 2026 Regular Season In Fine Fashion At Larry Baca Memorial Invitational

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on May 6, 2026
- 9:33 am

Riley Fensin ran both the 100 m hurdles and 300 m hurdles. Photo by Blake Wood

Tevi Funaki threw the discus 133’9″ to qualify for the State Championship. Photo by Blake Wood

By BLAKE WOOD
Assistant Coach
LAHS Track and Field

The LAHS Track & Field teams completed their regular season in fine fashion at the Larry Baca Memorial Invitational (aka Home Meet) at Sullivan Field in Los Alamos on Saturday, May 2. The Hilltopper Girls won the meet with score of 134-45 over 4A rival Artesia. The Boys were second to Artesia, 97-129. There were 14 teams competing.

New State Qualifying marks were posted by:

100m: Rylee Gramer (11.05) and Chris Teague (11.22).
200m: Jacob Hilderbrand (22.50).
Discus: Tevi Funaki (133’9”).
800m: Abigail Swigert (2:27.93) and Emmeline Keller-Moore (2:27.99).
1600m medley relay: new participants Chloe Coffey and Grace Montoya.
Triple Jump: Raina Passalacqua (16′ 3-3/4″).

Event Champions included:

Elisabeth McNiff in the 800m and 1600m.
Raina Passalacqua in the 100m hurdles.
Iris Purtzer in the high jump.
Arianna Galvez in the pole vault.
Sarah Martis in the discus.
The 4x100m relay team of Evangelina Gutierrez, Chloe Coffey, Raina Passalacqua, and Jayden Burns. Jens Wald-Hopkins in the 100m, 200m, and 400m – an impressive triple win!
Oliver Mosby in the 3200m.
Kaj Maupin in the 800m.

LAHS Track & Field Top-10 All-Time Hilltopper Performances:

Jens Wald-Hopkins moves to #2 all-time in both the 200m (21.47) and 400m (48.16).
Evangelina Gutierrez posted the #7 all-time mark in the 100 (12.25).
Arianna Galvez moved up to #6 all-time in the pole vault (10′)
The 4x100m relay team of Evangelina, Chloe, Raina, and Jayden posted the #7 all-time mark (48.34). This was also a new Home Meet record.
The 4x400m relay team of 8th graders Maliyah Vigil, Ayla Hawkley, Reese Hill, and Zoe Romero broke the LA Middle School record with a time of 4:21.22.

Additional special performances included:

Oliver Mosby breaking the 5-minute barrier in the 1600m for the first time – a huge milestone for any distance runner.
Catelynn Romero broke the 90′ mark in Discus (93’7”) for the first time.
Maia Warren took 12 seconds off of her time in the 800.
Elisabeth McNiff, Ensley Jorgenson, Abigail Swigert, Emmeline Keller-Moore, and Caterina Mereghetti finished 1-5 in the 800m, with the first four of them posting State Qualifying times.
Elisabeth McNiff’s 800m and 1600m wins were the 5th and 8th best-ever times by athletes from any school, respectively, run at the Home Meet.
Jayden Burns posted the 3rd best-ever 400m time at the Home Meet.
Evangelina Gutierrez’s 100m time was the 3rd best-ever at the Home Meet.
Riley Fensin had a nearly 2 second PR in the 300m hurdles.
Maliyah Vigil and Lauren Evenhus had big PRs in the 200m.

We are now in Championship Season! The Hilltoppers host the 4A District 2 Championship at Sullivan Field on Friday, May 8, with Espanola Valley, Moriarty, Taos, and Pojoaque Valley High Schools. The State Championship will be held Friday and Saturday, May 15-16 at UNM in Albuquerque.

Aamon Atchley clears 10′ in the pole vault. Photo by Blake Wood