Academy girls (close), Cleveland boys (not close) take Harper titles

The difference Saturday afternoon between an outright team championship for the Albuquerque Academy girls track and field team, and a first-place tie with Los Alamos, was this:

0.08 seconds.

The Richard A. Harper Memorial meet at Academy was in doubt — at least for the girls — until the final lap of the final race of the meet, the 1,600-meter relay.

The Chargers had to finish no worse than fourth, or tied for fourth, if they wanted to win the Harper meet outright. A fifth-place finish, combined with a Los Alamos win, would have left the two rivals sharing first place.

A sensational anchor leg by Academy sophomore Callie Hile provided the clinching margin.

Her superb final 400 gave the Chargers a time of 4 minutes, 11.11 seconds. Academy placed fourth in the race. Santa Fe, in fifth place, had a time of 4:11.19.

And the Chargers needed Hile’s effort, because Los Alamos won the race.

Hence, Academy scored 97.5 points in the elite two-day Harper meet. The Hilltoppers scored 95.5 points in what proved to be a thrilling finish to this high-profile event.

Cleveland’s typically deep and dynamic boys, who have won state in eight straight seasons (not including 2020 when there was no track season due to the pandemic) claimed the Harper title with 95.5 points. La Cueva, led by high-point athlete Tanner Montaño, was runner-up with 69 points.

Montaño, a junior, was outstanding during the two days. He won the long jump Friday, and added titles in the 100 and 200 on Saturday. He also anchored the 400- and 800-meter relay teams to victories, coming from behind in both, particularly the 4x200. He scored 26 points on his own.

Arguably his most impressive showing was the anchor leg in the 4x200, when he had to make up a giant deficit, probably 15 meters or so (Montaño estimated it as 20 to 25), and he let out a scream as he hit the finish line with his stirring close.

“Coming out of the curve, I was, uh, I don’t know,” Montaño said. “I just kept running, crossed the line first.”

Montaño soared 23 feet, 10 inches on Friday in the long jump, the field event that has the longest standing state record — 24 3¼, established in 1970. Montaño said he believes that record is attainable.

His time in the 100 Saturday was 10.75 seconds, with Cleveland’s Juan Muñoz second. Montaño crossed in 21.95 seconds in the 200. Amin Cooper of Albuquerque High was runner-up in the 200, and a close third in the 100.

“There’s so much competition out there, you can feel the tension, how serious the race is,” Montaño said after winning the 100. “But 10.75 after doing four events (Friday), I’m really pleased with it.”

Academy’s Grace Erinle scored 23 points for girls high point honors. She won the triple jump Friday and the open 200 on Saturday, placed third in Friday’s long jump, and picked up five more points in relays, including the anchor leg in the Chargers’ winning 800-meter relay squad.

For the boys, possibly the most impressive individual race performance Saturday was authored by Albuquerque High hurdler Kaden Andrus.

He was brilliant in the 110-meter high hurdles final, destroying the field by nearly a second and a half. He ran an even 14 seconds, while Cody Clovis of Santa Fe crossed in 15.38 seconds. Andrus broke the meet record.

“I felt my start was a whole lot better than yesterday (in the prelims) or just any start I’ve had this season,” Andrus said. His previous personal best in this event was 14.07 seconds. “I kept clipping the hurdles with my butt and my hamstring, but other than that it felt pretty good.”

Clovis came back to win the 300 hurdles, narrowly over Hope Christian’s Breylon Williams (38.70-38.72); and his Demons teammate, 400-meter specialist Valin Wittenburg, had no issues in winning the final at that distance Saturday. He ran a blistering 47.65 seconds in prelims on Friday, but coasted home in the final in 49.61 seconds.

Rio Rancho’s Cody Sullivan (4:15.43) and Eldorado’s Gianna Rahmer (4:53.25) placed first in the open 1,600. Anna Hastings of Academy, as she did Friday in the 3,200, was runner-up to Rahmer in the 1,600.

The two girls hurdles finals Saturday provided fireworks. In fact, Cleveland’s Morgan James and Los Alamos’ Colette Bibeault both finished the two races, the 100 high hurdles and 300 intermediate hurdles, in exactly the same amount of combined time.

Bibeault took the high hurdles, 14.65-14.67. James later won the intermediate hurdles, 44.36-44.38.

“She definitely pushes me a lot,” James said of Bibeault. “She’s a great competitor and I love competing against her. … I’m a competitive person, and I think feeling her on me helped me keep going, because no one wants to lose.”

Other metro-area athletes with victories Saturday: Sandia Prep’s Lexi Dixon (58.29) in the 400, and Emilliano Morrison of Eldorado in the discus (138-7). Academy’s boys broke a meet record in the 3,200-meter relay (8:02.92). Isabella Files of Rio Grande was runner-up in the discus, coming off her victory Friday in the shot put.

The Albuquerque Metro Championships are Thursday and Friday at Nusenda Community Stadium.