Espinosa breaks record; Rams boys take Cleveland Invitational

RIO RANCHO — Records broken? Try records shattered.

At the 2025 Macen Holderman Memorial Cleveland Invitational Saturday, Cleveland’s Lucas Espinosa and Eldorado’s Gianna Rahmer set new course records, both eclipsing the past times by 15 seconds or more.

Espinosa reclaimed the course honors from the Storms’ rival, topping a 2024 15:23 time by Rio Rancho’s then-senior Cody Sullivan with a 15:05 finish.

“(I am) ecstatic,” Espinosa said. “I got the course record back for my school, on my home turf. First meet of the season, it feels pretty good.”

Many teams in attendance were using the season-opening meet as a measuring stick for the upcoming season, but Espinosa had a specific goal in mind for his performance.

“I was trying to get that course record,” Espinosa said. “Our cross-town rivals got it from us on our own course, and I didn’t want that to stand, so that was the goal from the beginning.”

Despite Espinosa’s act of revenge, it would be the Rams with the final laugh in the 2025 clash, placing first on the boys’ side while the Storm finished in third.

A handful of Rams put up competitive times to secure the win, including a fourth-place finish from junior Alejandro Casaus.

The host school would be able to nudge its rival on the podium on the girls’ side, with the Storm taking second ahead of Rio Rancho’s third-place finish. Ram Mariah Galbraith’s fourth-place finish would be trumped by six Storm runners finishing in the top 20.

“Storm coach (Kenny) Henry puts on a good event, and so we’re appreciative,” Rio Rancho head coach Phil Keller said in the lead-up to the meet. “It’s early, it’s quick. I think it shows, more than anything, which team, which program, which athletes, put in the summer work.”

Keller has been vocal about this year being a “changing of the guard,” with the Rams graduating several runners last season. But in the season opener, the Rams showed they still mean business.

Speaking of business, it was business as usual for Rahmer and the Eldorado Eagles. Rahmer, just a sophomore, won her third Cleveland Invitational with a time of 17:37, breaking her own course record from 2024 (18:02).

Eldorado would finish sixth overall as a team, with Durango High School from Colorado taking the top spot. The out-of-state talent gave Rahmer some company for most of the race before she pulled away.

Head Coach Chokri Dhaouadi states that even with Rahmer’s dominance, it’s about focusing on the enjoyment of the sport for the young runner.

“She’s still young, 16 years old,” Dhaouadi said. “So usually I tell her to go out and have fun, just enjoy the race.”

Unfortunately for her opponents, going out and having fun means smashing records and taking first place.

“I just keep pushing myself to be better than I was in the last race, but I don’t feel that much pressure,” Rahmer said. “As I talk to my coach and all my people around me, there’s more to me than just a runner. So running races is super fun, but pushing myself is the fun part.”

Eagles, Rams, Storm, you name it. Based on the season opener, it’ll be a rollercoaster of a cross-country season, with the next big meet set for the Lobo Invite on Sept. 13.

“This is almost like a pre-state race,” Espinosa said. “A lot of the guys who are going to be at state have raced here, and it’s just a great confidence booster for the beginning of the season.”