The Artesia High School track teams’ attendance Thursday at the Roswell City Meet may have been impromptu, but it produced some solid results.
The Lady Bulldogs and Bulldogs made the short trek to the Alien City after having their intended Artesia Special Qualifier cancelled due to scheduling conflicts and proceeded to deliver a one-two punch, respectively.
In addition to winning the meet, the Artesia girls also picked up one new state qualification and four re-qualifications, while Bulldog junior Kale Mauritsen requalified in four events for the boys.
Lady ‘Dog freshman Sadi Butler earned her first qualification of the season in the 100-meter hurdles with a first-place time of 16.03. The time was also a few tenths of a second behind the school record in the event, which is currently held by her mother, Jessica Arenivas, a teacher at Park Junior High.
Coming in second in the 100 hurdles with a requalifying time of 16.62 was sophomore Elliot Harrison. Harrison also requalified in the high jump with a second-place height of 5’, while juniors Paityn Houghtaling and Rylee Peak requalified in the javelin and discus respectively.
Houghtaling’s first-place throw of 117’3” was a personal best, and Peak also topped the field with a throw of 104’7.5”
Mauritsen, meanwhile, bettered his previous qualifying mark in the boys’ pole vault by one foot with a first-place, 14-foot vault Thursday. The junior also bettered his time in the 110 hurdles with a first-place 15.32 and requalified with top finishes in the 300 hurdles (40.15) and long jump (21’2”), as well.
Bulldog senior Joe Willingham was just .12 of a second away from qualification in the 110 hurdles in Roswell with a third-place time of 16.32, and the girls’ 400-meter relay team was just over a second off the mark with a first-place 52.72.
Willingham topped the field in the triple jump with a leap of 41’3.5”, as did Eliazar Granillos in the 1600 run (5:03.05), Issac Lopez in the 800 run (2:09.53), and the 1600-meter relay team (3:34.88).
On the girls’ side, the Lady Bulldogs swept the top three in the pole vault (Kristin Bruton, 1st, 8’; Madilyn Moon, 2nd, 7’6”; and Emma Gallegos, 3rd, 6’6”), the shot put (Nevaeh Hernandez, 1st, 32’; Barbie Lucero, 2nd, 31’2”; and Brecklie Gray, 3rd, 29’11”), and the 3200-meter run (Michaela Phipps, 1st, 12:50.98; Joslyn Madrid, 2nd, 14:38.27; and Kimberlee Bennett, 3rd, 14:57.33).
The Artesia girls locked up the top two placements in the 800-meter run (Lexi Montgomery, 1st, 2:48.65; and Yamile Renteria, 2nd, 2:57.49), the 300 hurdles (Harrison, 1st, 51.08; and Butler, 2nd, 51.11), the triple jump (Stacia Martinez, 1st, 30’10.25”; and Camerin Molina, 2nd, 30’8.5”), and the 200-meter dash (Riley Wortley, 1st, 29.54; and Martinez, 2nd, 29.63), and also got a top finish from the 1600-meter relay team (4:40.69).
The Artesia tracksters will next head to the George Love Relays in Portales Friday before traveling to the Ruidoso Invitational April 13 and hosting the Artesia Invite April 20.
