Melton, Rahmer, Vlaun shine bright at Sepulveda meet

In a month, they’ll be back at the University of New Mexico Track and Field Complex, chasing something bigger.

But the Marilyn Sepulveda Meet of Champions was fertile ground for several of the state’s top athletes on Monday.

“This is basically replicating state,” Santa Fe High sprinter Bryce Melton said.

Melton, now fully healthy, swept the boys’ 100- and 200-meter dash finals. Eldorado’s Gianna Rahmer broke a record, impressively, in the 1,600 on a near perfect weather day at UNM.

Melton was hindered by a bum hamstring last spring and skipped football season last fall for that very reason. He won the 100 in 10.64 seconds. He had just posted a speedy 10.43 — one of the fastest times in the nation this year — at the Cleveland meet last Friday, a mark that is lower than the current overall state record of 10.5.

“I have a new appreciation for all these things that you didn’t know you had, and it all going away because of an injury,” Melton said.

Asked if setting a state record — which can be set only at the state meet — was in his sights, Melton said, “I think it’s super doable. I’m in a good spot right now.”

Rahmer did what Rahmer does, and that is blow away a field. The Eldorado freshman broke a 23-year-old meet record in the 1,600 on Monday.

She finished in 4 minutes, 55.20 seconds. That is roughly 6½ seconds faster than the 5:01.67 established by the great Felicia Guliford of Gallup in 2002. Kate Henderson of Sandia Prep ran second on Monday.

“I didn’t even know what the records are,” Rahmer said. “(But) it felt really good to run a fast 16 today.”

She missed setting a personal record in this event by only a second.

“I’m getting really excited for the rest of the season,” Rahmer said.

La Cueva’s Grant Vlaun went 16 feet to win the pole vault Monday; he was coming off a 16-6 at Cleveland’s meet last week, a mark that is believed to be the best by an Albuquerque athlete in 17 years.

“I wanted to get a PR (personal record), just build off last week, but it is what it is, I’m happy with what I got today,” Vlaun said.

He has his eyes set on the long-standing overall pole vault state record, which is 17-1½, a mark set 34 years ago.

“I think it’s in me,” he said.

A Bears teammate, Troy Dixon, was the javelin champion Monday (166-2).

Grace Erinle of Albuquerque Academy, like Melton, was a double champion.

The defending Class 4A state champion in the 100-meter dash won that event in a very narrow finish. Her time was 12.47 seconds, just in front of Belen’s Sophia Cox (12.50).

“I was a little nervous competing in running for the first time at Sepulveda,” Erinle said. “I was definitely intimidated by the other girls. I saw all their times, it messed with my head a little but. But it all worked out in the end.”

From the 100, she went straight to the long jump pit where her winning mark of 18 feet, 6 inches was by five inches her best of the season.

“It was just pure adrenaline off the 100,” Erinle said of her long jump performance. “That competitive spirit I have really pushed me.”

Isabella Files of Rio Grande was another of the metro-area event winners Monday. She had a big throw of 39-3 on her second attempt in the finals of the girls shot put, and earned an impressive victory.

“It means a lot, considering that I just started throwing again my freshman year,” the senior said. “I’ve come a very long way.”

Files placed third in the 5A shot put last spring. She has broken the Rio Grande school record in this event twice now in the last two seasons. The 39-3 was, by several feet, her top mark of this season.

“I’ve been doing a lot of extra workouts outside of practice, so that has helped me,” Files said.

Santa Fe’s Valin Wittenburg set a meet record in the 400, finishing in 46.58 seconds, breaking the mark previously established in 2018.

Other metro-area winners Monday on the girls side included Albuquerque High’s Anayjah Garza in the 200 (25.44), Atrisco Heritage’s Mel Macias in the javelin (123-1), La Cueva’s Cienna Mazotti in the high jump (5-2) and Moriarty’s Carmen Dorsey-Spitz in the 3,200 (10:37.76). Cleveland’s Morgan James won the 300-meter intermediate hurdles (45.01) and was runner-up in the 100 high hurdles to Los Alamos’ Colette Bibeault, who also won the pole vault (12-6).

Kaden Andrus of Albuquerque High was the boys’ champ in the 110-meter high hurdles (14.28), Eldorado’s Emiliano Morrison took first in the discus (152-10) and West Mesa’s Marcos Perea-Ochoa won the long jump (a big jump of 23-11½).