Dani Trellue placed 3rd in the pole vault with a leap of 11′.  This puts her #3 on the LAHS all-time list in that event. Photo by Blake Wood

Jaydon Dudley, shown here throwing the discus a season-best 118′ 3″, placed 2nd in the shot put with a throw of 49′ 8-1/2″. Photo by Blake Wood

By BLAKE WOOD
Assistant Coach
LAHS Track & Field

The Richard Harper Invitational, held last Friday and Saturday at Albuquerque Academy, was in some ways a dry run for the State Championship in three weeks – a two-day meet in which most athletes competed in multiple events, many of which had prelims on Friday and finals on Saturday.  However, it was probably more competitive than State, since all school-size classes competed against each other, and athletes had to have met minimum performance standards to participate.

The Hilltopper Track & Field teams had a lot to be proud of.  The Girls placed a close 2nd to Class 4A rival Albuquerque Academy, 95.5 to 97.5, although they would have won handily if you took out the Class 5A schools (as will be the case at the State Championship).

Colette Bibeault continued her winning ways, breaking her own LAHS School Record in the 100 m hurdles in a new Harper Meet Record of 14.65 seconds.  She also placed 2nd in the 300 m hurdles and pole vault, and was part of the winning 4×400 m relay team and 2nd place 4×100 m relay team.

A number of performances made it onto the LAHS all-time top-10 list, including Sarah Martis in the discus (120′ 9-1/2″, #5), Dani Trellue in the pole vault (11′, #3), Ensley Jorgenson in the 1600 m (5:15.77, #9), Colette Bibeault in the 300 m hurdles (44.38 – the #2 time after her own school record), the 4×100 m relay team of Colette Bibeault, Allie Holland, Chloe Coffey, and Evangelina Gutierrez (48.74, #6), the 4×200 m relay team of Chloe Coffey, Allie Holland, Jayden Burns, and Evangelina Gutierrez (1:43.54, #5), and the 4×400 m relay team of Jayden Burns, Jenna Montoya, Chloe Coffey, and Colette Bibeault (4:01.75, #4).

In addition to Colette Bibeault’s 100 m hurdles and the 4×400 m relay team, individual winners included Allie Holland in the long jump (17′ 9-1/2″) and Sara Martis in the discus.

The ‘Topper Girls set a dozen new or bettered State Qualifying marks, including three new qualifiers:  Emmeline Keller-Moore in both the 800 (2:28.85) and 3200 (12:07.26), and Ensley Jorgenson in the 1600 (5:15.77).

The Hilltopper Boys qualified their fifth and final relay event for the State Championship, the 1600 medley relay, with the team of Chris Teague, Carlo Baca, Pat Montoya, and Andy Enriquez in a time of 3:45.01.  The 4×400 m relay team of Esteban Wright, Rylee Gramer, Jacob Hilderbrand, and Jens Wald-Hopkins ran a season-best time of 3:24.37 – currently the #1 time in Class 4A.

Other performance highlights included Jaydon Dudley’s 2nd place shot put of 49′ 8-1/2″, Aiden Manzanares placing 3rd in the pole vault with a leap of 13′, JJ Diaz’s 5th place finish in the 300 m hurdles in a time of 41.32 seconds, and Jens Wald-Hopkins 5th place finish in the 200 m in a time of 22.74 seconds.

The Hilltoppers will host their Home Meet, the Larry Baca Invite, events begin at 10 a.m. next Saturday at Sullivan Field.

Allie Holland completes the handoff to Jayden Burns in the 4×200 m relay.  With teammates Chloe Coffey and Evangelina Gutierrez, the Hilltoppers placed 2nd in a time of 1:43.54, the #5 performance on the LAHS all-time list.  Allie also won the long jump with a leap of 17′ 9-1/2″. Photo by Blake Wood

Freshman Jacob Hilderbrand cleared 5′ 8″ in the high jump, as well as being part of the 4×400 m relay team that posted a time of 3:24.37, currently the best-in-Class 4A. Photo by Blake Wood

Sarah Martis, shown here putting the shot, posted a #5 LAHS all-time throw of 120′ 9-1/2″ in the discus. Photo by Blake Wood

Emmeline Keller-Moore, shown here running in the 4×800 m relay, qualified to run in the State Championship in both the 800 and 3200 m, in times of 2:28 and 12:07, respectively. Photo by Blake Wood