eNewMexican

St. Michael’s brings home two state track titles

By James Barron jbarron@sfnewmexican.com

ALBUQUERQUE — It was a celebratory ice water bath for two — two state titles, that is.

The boys and girls of the St. Michael’s track and field team eagerly waited to surprise head coach Joey Fernandez with a Gatorade tub of ice water Saturday afternoon at Great Friends of UNM Track Complex. They circled Fernandez on the south end of the track after the boys team received its state championship trophy and doused him and his backpack.

It was the best feeling for Fernandez and his teams, which returned home with matching state championship trophies. The boys team rallied behind unlikely javelin heroes Lucas Coriz and Devin Flores to overtake Albuquerque Sandia Prep by an 85-82 count to repeat as state champions. The boys won the 2019 title and were the reigning champions since the coronavirus pandemic erased the 2020 track season.

The girls team was in control almost from the start of the meet, as it routed Albuquerque Cottonwood Classical Preparatory, 101-80. This was the first time the school swept both events.

“This is a great moment in St. Mike’s track,” Fernandez said. “I’m just proud of these kids today. There were a lot of ups and downs, but we ended up competing in those last events. It was hot, it drained us, but we came through.”

And no two competitors came through more when it mattered the most than Coriz and Flores. The duo finished first (Flores) and second (Coriz) in the javelin, even though Flores was seeded fifth and Coriz next-to-last.

Flores made his winning throw of 147 feet, 7 inches, with his final preliminary throw besting his teammate, who uncorked a season-best 145-8 on this second throw in the prelims. Neither of them had come close to the 140foot range until the state meet.

They credited a week’s worth of work with guest coach and St. Michael’s alum Miguel Carrillo.

“With me, it about not trying to muscle it up, and just technique and form that really helped us out a lot,” Coriz said.

Their finish gave St. Michael’s 12 unexpected points, which helped turn a 64-54 deficit entering the medley relay into a 79-74 lead heading into the 1,600 relay

to end the meet.

The Horsemen finished third, with Sandia Prep taking second behind Santa Fe Prep in the relay to secure the state title. A host of St. Michael’s coaches, athletes, parents and fans began celebrating as Ryan Kuhn crossed the finish line.

Kuhn made his own mark on the Horsemen comeback, anchoring the 800 portion of a winning medley relay team that was seeded sixth out of seven teams. He was handed a 20-meter lead and maintained most of that lead until the final 20 meters. He suffered cramps and West Las Vegas’ Jarred Baca almost caught him at the line.

St. Michael’s won by 0.16 seconds, with a time of 3:49.67 — 13 seconds faster than its best time. The Horsemen also won the 400 relay and took second in the 800 relay, losing to the Sundevils by 0.02 seconds.

On a day when exceeding expectations was called for, Lucas Montoya did his part with the medley team and finishing second in the high jump with a height of 5-10.

There were also expected performances, like Daymon Lujan sweeping the 110 and 300 hurdle events. He pulled off the 110 win a half-hour after running in the 400 relay. Lujan said he never left the track, despite temperatures that cracked 100 degrees, but he felt the adrenaline rush of the relay win helped him overcome any fatigue from the heat.

“Coming out and getting and 400 relay going, that got my sprint legs under me,” Lujan said. “It helped me with the hurdles, especially since I didn’t get any warmups on the hurdles.”

He wasn’t alone in carrying a heavy workload. Rising freshman Raylee Hunt ran the 300 hurdles and the 800 for the Lady Horsemen within 20 minutes of each other, and she produced a first and a third in that span.

While Hunt wanted to come away with a win in the distance races — she was third in 3,200 and second in the 1,600 — getting a state title lifted a big weight off of her shoulders.

“It felt really good to win the 300 hurdles, but that 800 might have been the hardest thing I’ve done in my life,” Hunt said.

Fernandez said those kinds of sacrifices were key in producing dual state titles.

“We asked her to do a lot today, and she came through,” Fernandez said. “Yeah, it wasn’t how she wanted it, but she doesn’t understand how important it was, as a team player, to do what she did today.”

Fellow teammate Jacque Gorman did her part for the team, as well. She collected wins in the 100 hurdles and the triple jump, while also nabbing third in the pole vault and the 300. She also was a part of the fifth-place medley relay, while the Lady Horsemen scored a win in the 400 relay, and seconds in the 800 and 1,600 relays.

Not to be lost in the championship shu±e were the Blue Griffins of Santa Fe Prep. They saw the boys team take third in the team standings with 60 points, plus the blossoming of a track star in Isabel Voinescu. She earned the high-point honor on the girls side, thanks to wins in the long jump and 100 as well as a second in the triple jump and third in the 200.

However, it was a grueling morning schedule, as Voinescu bounced from the long jump to the triple jump to the 100 in the first 2½ hours of the meet.

Voinescu experienced the effect of the heat last week in winning the Class 1A-4A singles title, and said it was not easy to prepare for triple-digit temperatures.

“I had a 30-second break between the triple and the 100, so I am tired,” Voinescu said. “My legs kinda of gave out [in the triple jump].”

The boys rode their middle-distance runners to wins in the newly created 3,200 relay and the 1,600 relay, while also finishing third in the medley race.

They also got a win from Finn Coles in the high jump, as he tied the school record when he cleared 6-4. It was Coles’ first year on the track team, and he said he didn’t really get much practice time until the final few weeks of the season because of commitments to basketball, both with Prep and a club team.

“I kinda started late in the season because I just came out of basketball,” Coles said. “I only had a couple of practices, but I have a great jump coach, and he’s helped a lot.”

Meanwhile, Las Vegas Robertson girls brought home a pair of wins in the 3,200 and medley relays. The 3,200 win was especially impressive because Robertson charged out to the lead at the start, only to fall back to fourth after the first exchange.

The Lady Cardinals rallied, and recent graduate Maya Luu put the finishing touches on the comeback by holding off Cottonwood Classical for the win.

“I was like, ‘Cottonwood, damn, they’re fast,’ ” Luu said. “When we caught them, I was like, ‘We got it.’ ”

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2021-06-20T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-20T07:00:00.0000000Z

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