Rams and Storm dominate XC District Championship

ALBUQUERQUE (Nov. 1, 2024) — The rivalries were on full display on Friday afternoon as District 5A-1 ran its District Championship meet at Ventana Ranch Park, hosted by Volcano Vista.

The RRPS teams dominated the course.

For the boys, Rams cross country star Charlie Vause finished in first, with teammate Cody Sullivan hot on his tail. Sullivan finished six seconds after Vause, but a full 18 seconds ahead of the third places finisher, Mateo Herrera, also from RRHS.

Vince Madalena was the first boys Storm runner to cross the line, grabbing the fourth-place finish.

In all, the CHS and RRHS boys snagged eight of the top ten places. As expected, that was good enough for the top two places. RRHS finished in first and CHS in second.

On the girls side, the story really wasn’t all that different. Rio Rancho and Cleveland dominated. They took eight of the top ten spots and the teams finished in first and second. There were a few exciting differences, however.

The first non-RRHS/non-CHS runner made the medal stand. Volcano Vista’s Carysa Marquez took the silver, wedged between Rio Rancho’s Mariah Galbraith (1st place) and Abigail Beam (3rd place).

Cleveland’s Shahad Akasha was the first girls Storm runner across the line, finishing in fourth place. CHS runners occupied five of the top 10 places.

Additionally, the Storm and the Rams finished in first and second with the same exact score: 35. The tiebreaker gave the win to CHS, and the Storm girls got the gold.

The rest of Class 5A will join 5A-1 for the NMAA Cross Country State Championship at Albuquerque Academy on Nov. 9. The girls race at 12:40 p.m. and the boys run at 1:25 p.m.

For more information visit nmact.org.

DISTRICT 5A-1

Championship ResultsBoys — Individual

Place Name, School, Time

1 Charlie Vause, RRHS, 15:12:00.00

2 Cody Sullivan, RRHS, 15:19:00.00

3 Mateo Herrera, RRHS, 15:37:00.00

4 Vince Madalena, CHS, 15:46:00.00

5 Lucas Espinosa, CHS, 15:47:00.00

6 Alejandro Casaus, RRHS, 16:04:00.00

7 Talen Riley, Volcano Vista, 16:14:12.00

8 Antwon Shendo, CHS, 16:14:56.00

9 Xavier Martinez, RRHS, 16:37:00.00

10 Darian Penn, Piedra Vista, 16:44:53.00

Other runners...

14 Lucas Pena, CHS, 16:52:00.00 14

15 Derek Abate, CHS, 16:53:00.00 15

16 Johnathan Sanchez, CHS, 16:54:00.00 16

18 Patrick Miranda, CHS, 16:57:00.00 18

19 Isaiah Galbraith, RRHS, 17:03:00.00 19

20 Gabriel Koger, RRHS, 17:04:38.00 20

21 Nuhkon Shendo-Smith, CHS, 17:04:59.00

22 Matthias Parsons, RRHS, 17:07:00.00

23 Isaac Deleon, RRHS, 17:09:00.00

24 Jonah Cortez, CHS, 17:30:00.00

Boys – Team

Place Team Points

1 Rio Rancho 21

2 Cleveland 46

3 Volcano Vista 91

4 Cibola 122

5 Piedra Vista 124

6 Farmington 144

Girls – Individual

Place Name, School, Time

1 Mariah Galbraith, RRHS, 18:56:00.00

2 Carysa Marquez, Volcano Vista, 19:08:00.00

3 Abigail Beam, RRHS, 19:24:00.00

4 Shahad Akasha, CHS, 19:41:00.00

5 Ana Zarate-Aguilar, RRHS, 20:0.00

6 Micah David, CHS, 20:05:00.00

7 Sarah Romero, CHS, 20:13:00.00

8 Naomi St. Clair, CHS, 20:14:00.00

9 Zarah Abrams, Volcano Vista, 20:15:00.00

10 Marisel Yepa, CHS, 20:24:00.00

Other runners...

12 Brooke Chisholm, RRHS, 20:34:00.00

13 Sophia Yepa, CHS, 20:40:00.00

14 Caitlynn Parsons, RRHS, 20:48:00.00

16 Meg Mauermann, CHS, 20:55:10.00

20 Jamie Hansana, RRHS, 21:18:00.00

22 Chloe Ledesma, CHS, 21:31:00.00

23 Lauren Buford, RRHS, 21:34:00.00

27 Erin Winters, CHS, 22:02:10.00

29 Danika Marquez, RRHS, 22:03:00.00

Girls – Team

Place Team Points

1 Cleveland 35 (13)

2 Rio Rancho 35 (20)

3 Volcano Vista 57

4 Farmington 138

5 Cibola 149

6 Piedra Vista 150