Both the Bulldog and Lady Bulldog track and field teams took third place Friday at the Ralph Bowyer Relays in Carlsbad, with the ‘Dogs tacking three new state qualifications onto an already-growing list.
The Artesia boys came up just half a point short of second-place Carlsbad at the meet, which the Hobbs Eagles topped overall. The girls were three points behind the Lady Eagles, while host Carlsbad won going away.
Re-qualifying at Friday’s meet for the ‘Dogs were Denver Williams in the pole vault and Marcus Bramwell in the shot put. Williams’ matched his original qualifying mark, earned at last week’s season-opening Roswell/Goddard Early Bird, of 12 feet. Bramwell qualified in Roswell with a mark of 47’9.5” and posted a 46’2.25” put Friday.
Nathaniel Zarazua also qualified for the state meet last weekend in the shot put with a 46’10.5” throw.
The Bulldogs got their first running events of the season qualified Friday in Carlsbad, as Kale Mauritsen met the exact qualifying standard in the 300-meter hurdles (41.90) and Chase Thompson motored to a first-place finish in the 110 hurdles (16.08).
Andrew Veloz, meanwhile, added a third field event to the ‘Dogs’ tally with a qualification in the discus (133’3”).
The boys in orange were on the verge in several other events on the night.
Chandler Youtsey missed the mark in the 300 hurdles by just .06 of a second and was .21 off in the 110 hurdles. The 400- and 800-meter relay teams were .53 and .47 of a second away from qualifications respectively, while Codey Scott came .91 away in the 200-meter dash and Eliazar Granillo .80 in the 3200-meter run.
Granillo narrowly missed qualification in that event at last week’s meet, as well.
For the Lady Bulldogs, Elliot Harrison finished .91 of a second off the standard in the 300-meter hurdles.
Joining Harrison in earning first-place points for the Artesia girls was Lauren Robson in the 800-meter run.
It was a solid week overall for the AHS runners, who bounced back from a bit of disappointment at the Early Bird, where difficulties with the timing system prevented any marks from being officially recognized by the NMAA.
“We’re doing really well as a team,” first-year Artesia head track coach Matt Conn said last week. “We have a lot of talent in different areas, and we’ll be excited to have our basketball players out.
“Overall in my first year as a head coach, it’s a blessing to have this group of kids to work with, as well as to still have Rex (Henderson) on staff. He’s been very helpful in transitioning in, and everybody’s just doing their job really well right now.”
The AHS squads will next head to Lovington March 17 for the Wildcat Relays.
