Metro soccer begins Saturday; Cleveland hosts opening XC meet

Aside from the opening Saturday of the prep football regular season, there is additional and important prep activity on the schedule.

The first of the Albuquerque Metro Championships — soccer — begins on Saturday at the APS Complex on the West Side.

There are 16 games on tap Saturday in this tournament that runs 14 days.

Pool play games will continue Saturday and run through next weekend, with 16 teams in each gender. The top four pool-play winners advance to the semifinals, which are Wednesday, Sept. 3.

The championship games are Friday, Sept. 5.

The 16 boys teams in the field are: Albuquerque High, Atrisco Heritage, Cibola, Eldorado, Highland, La Cueva, Rio Grande, Valley, Volcano Vista, Sandia, West Mesa, Cleveland, Rio Rancho, Albuquerque Academy, St. Pius and Sandia Prep.

The field is slightly different for the girls. The 16 in the metro field are: AHS, Atrisco Heritage, Cibola, Eldorado, La Cueva, Manzano, Rio Grande, Sandia, Volcano Vista, Cleveland, Rio Rancho, Hope Christian, Los Alamos, Academy, St. Pius and Sandia Prep.

CROSS COUNTRY: Cleveland High School’s annual season-opening invitational meet usually draws an attractive field of teams, and this year’s meet, which is Saturday morning, follows suit.

The boys varsity race is up first at 8 a.m., followed by the girls at 8:30.

Some of the top teams entered besides the host Storm are Albuquerque Academy, Rio Rancho, La Cueva, Volcano Vista, Durango (Colorado), El Paso Americas and Eldorado with standout sophomore Gianna Rahmer.