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Cleveland boys dominate at district meet

Cleveland Track
The Cleveland Boys track and field team won in 11 events.
District Champs
By the time the points were finalized, almost everyone in attendance was gone. However, before leaving, a couple of distance runners posed with the trophy.
Daniel Zuniga
Daniel Zuniga Observer correspondent
Published Modified

RIO RANCHO — The Cleveland Storm boys track and field team continued its track dominance by securing the 5A District 1 title May 10 at Rio Rancho High School, scoring 176 points.

Besides almost doubling second place Rio Rancho High School’s total points (94 points), the Storm also came in first place in 11 different events.

The 4x400 meter relay team took first with a time of 3:19.52. The team consisted of speedsters Angel Gallegos, Juan Munoz, Collin Joyner and Michael Haynes, aka the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. All four boys sported colorful bandanas during the race, paying homage to TMNT.

“It was a group decision that we made in the beginning of the year … We started calling our coach, 'Master Splinter;’ it’s just a fun little thing that we had going on,” Munoz said, who was the “Raphael” of the group wearing a red bandana. Munoz also competed in the 100-meter dash and in the 4x100-meter relay.

Cleveland also took the triple crown in the throwing events (javelin, discus, and shot put).

Junior Moses Sparks took first in the shot put (49 feet), and discus (145 feet seven inches) while sophomore Giovanni Mollica took first in the javelin (183 feet four inches).

In the discus, Cleveland swept the first through third place. Joining Sparks on the podium were second-place winner senior Gabriel "Sharkey" Marquez (132 feet, 9 inches) and third-place winner junior Damion Lopez (131 feet, 8 inches). Marquez came in second place in the shot put with a throw of 48 feet, 1 inch, and sophomore Cylus Romero took second in the javelin with a throw of 163 feet, 7 inches.

Back on the track, senior Julian Ortega found a lot of success, ending as a double champion in the 400-meter dash (49.84 seconds) and in the 200-meter dash (21.80 seconds).

And when the hurdles came up, it was time for junior Collin Joyner to cook. Joyner won the 110-meter hurdles (15.57 seconds) and the 300-meter hurdles (40.41 seconds).

For the second week in a row, junior Lucas Espinosa was the victor of the mile run, finishing in 4:29.34.

Last week, it looked like jumper Tahi Gonzales might have suffered an injury in the long jump. This week, Gonzales took the cake in the same event, winning with a leap of 22 feet.

The Cleveland Storm will take the next few days to prepare for the 2025 NMAA State Championships May 16 at the University of New Mexico. Cleveland is looking to win its ninth straight state championship.

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