District titles for Eagles, Tigers harriers

ALBUQUERQUE — Belen and Los Lunas will be sending full boys’ and girls’ teams Saturday to the State Cross Country Championship at Albuquerque Academy.

At their respective district meets, the Belen girls and the Los Lunas boys captured team and individual titles.

Last Saturday in Grants at the District 5-4A meet, Lisette Sanchez (20:16) was the first runner across the line to lead BHS to the girls’ title. Also for BHS, Avery Carter (22:16) was sixth, Sara Martinez (22:25), seventh, and Gabriela Jaramillo (22:52), 10th. The top 10 runners earn All-District honors.

For the boys, the Eagles finished third behind St. Pius and Grants to also qualify as a team for the state championships. Julian Juardo (19:32) led BHS with a ninth-place finish, while Kyle Glodt (19:39) was 11th.

Belen’s Fernando Sisneros was voted District Coach of the Year.

Valencia, which also competes in District 5-4A, entered two boys and two girls in the meet. No Jaguars qualified for the state championship.

At the District 5-5A meet at West Mesa High School, Los Lunas won the boys’ title, extending the decades-long string of at least one LLHS team winning a district championship under coach Larry Padilla.

Six of the top 10 runners were Tigers, with Isaac Gonzales (16:22) taking first place, followed by James Kilcullen (16:44) in second. Other LLHS competitors were closely bunched, Grady Garcia (17:10.18) in fourth, Eloy Urtiaga (17:11.17), sixth, James Martinez (17:22), eighth, and in 10th Lucas Bland (17:26).

Los Lunas had 21 points, while Albuquerque High was runner-up with 40 points.

The roles were reversed on the girls’ side, with AHS first with 22 points, followed by LLHS with 47 points.

The Bulldogs’ Ruby Romero (20:09) was the individual champion. Ainsley McKay (21:13) led the way for LLHS in fourth place, with teammates Mya Fragua (22:36) eighth, Sol Romero (23:39) 11th and Isabella Bueno (23:53) 12th.