2025 Academy Extravaganza: Cleveland teams take first, Lucas duo cooks

ALBUQUERQUE —The Academy Extravaganza cross-country meet came Oct. 18, with the Cleveland High School boys and girls sweeping first place in 5A.

Rio Rancho High School had quite a bit of success as well, with the Ram boys finishing in second place. As for the girls, it was a fourth-place team finish behind a strong performance from sophomore standout Mariah Galbraith, who was the individual runner-up.

Cleveland High School boys

First place, 49 points

The Storm were led by the tandem of Lucas-and-Lucas who placed in the top three in the individual race.

La Cueva's Nikko Mihan took first place (15:22.80), and right behind him was Cleveland's Lucas Espinosa, who recorded a 15:36.77 time.

In an absolute dogfight, Cleveland's Lucas Pena edged Rio Rancho runner Alejandro Casaus. The Storm senior finished with a time of 15:51.75 while Casaus finished in 15.51.84.

“Of course, me and Lucas, we see each other at practice. So, our game plan was to go out in the front and stay up the whole time. I fell off a little bit but was able to catch back up,” Pena said.

Rounding out the top five for Cleveland: Espinosa (15:36.77), Pena (15:51.75), Derek Abate (16:15.89), Patrick Miranda (16:45.17), and Antonio Pacheco (16:59.48).

Cleveland High School girls

First place, 63 points

Having a career day for the Storm was junior Alina Trujillo-Sando, who secured a top-three spot with a 19:25.22 time. The mark at Academy was also a new personal record for Trujillo-Sando.

Thirty seconds after Trujillo-Sando finished, a cluster of Storm runners came charging to secure the first-place team finish.

Senior Naomi St. Clair took 11th place (19:59.28), junior Meg Mauermann took 12th place (20:00.79), senior Erin Winters took 18th place (20:25.19), and freshman Micah David took 21st place (20:33.05).

“This is 100% my favorite course. The atmosphere of the meet, I like that the course is hard but not too hard. I just love running it,” Mauermann said. “I think my game plan was just to get out where I wanted to be and just stay focused on racing with who I am supposed to race with.”

As the season begins to wind down, expect the Storm and the Eldorado Eagles to really swing for the rights to the blue trophy at state. Eldorado's Gianna Rahmer was the individual winner of the girls' 5A race and is the reigning Gatorade Cross Country Player of the Year.

Rio Rancho High School boys

Second place, 73 points

The Rio Rancho boys looked strong on the Academy course. Ram standout Alejandro Casaus was the top dog, and finished just a hair behind third-place winner, Lucas Pena. Casaus ran a 15:51.84.

“I went out hard the first mile, then I kind of let him [Pena] get away from me. Probably should have stuck with him, but we still have three weeks until state. They’re not handing out medals now,” Casaus said.

Casaus will be one of the contenders to win the individual cross-country state title as he finished with a blazing time of 15:26.20 at Desert Twilight Sept. 26.

After Casaus, the Rams cluster began to trickle in at the mid 16-minute mark, beginning with senior Isaiah Galbraith, who finished in 11th place (16:27.68).

The next three Rams to finish the point count included senior Matthias Parsons (13th place, 16:30.97), junior Isaac Deleon (21st place, 17:04.44), and junior Gabe Koger (17:07.84).

“We will win state. This is a fluke,” Casaus confidently said.

Rio Rancho High School girls

Fourth place, 115 points

Continuing her stellar season for the Rams was sophomore Mariah Galbraith who finished in second place with a time of 18:41.91.

“I kind of got stuck in ‘no man’s land’ for a long time, but after two miles, I got into my rhythm,” said Galbraith, who also mentioned that she prefers to compete with someone nearby her. “I’m trying to run for time. I’m trying to get that sub-18, but it’s hard without someone there.”

Galbraith's current personal record is an 18:14.20 that she achieved at the Desert Twilight meet Sept. 26.

Another Ram having a nice day was junior Valentina Martinez, who finished in the top 10 with a sub-20 time of 19:56.02.

Rounding out the top five for the Rams was senior Caitlynn Parsons who finished in 14th place (20:12.57); sophomore Alex Vause, who finished in 41st place (21:32.49); and sophomore Aurelia Rivera, who fished in 55th place (22:03.17).

Next up

Rio Rancho High School will set their sights on the APS Invite Oct. 25. The meet is being hosted at Highland high school.

Cleveland High School will travel to Los Alamos Oct. 24 for the Los Alamos Invite, which is being hosted by Los Alamos High School.

DAlbuquerque Academy will host the 2025 NMAA Cross Country state championships Nov. 8.