Rams clean up in the mile run and field events at home meet

RIO RANCHO — Rio Rancho High School played host to the 2025 Rio Rancho Invitational Track Meet, which was attended by 17 high schools, April 12. The RRHS girls team found a groove in field events while the boys dominated the 1,600-meter run.

BoysIf we learned one thing from cross-country season, the Rams have elite distance runners. On the sunny morning, the Rams took first through third in the 1,600-meter run. Senior Cody Sullivan led the way with a time of 4:21.56 time, followed by senior Mateo Herrera (4:29.31), and sophomore Alejandro Casaus (4:30.27).

The Rams also finished first in the 4x800 meter relay race. The team featured Sullivan, Herrera, Casaus and senior Xavier Martinez. The “core four” finished with a time of 8:26.10.

RRHS did not secure any other first-place finishes. However, they were able to snag a handful of second-place finishes in the 100-meter dash, the long jump, the 4x200 meter relay, and the 4x400 meter relay.

Senior Zachai Bradford looked unreal in the 100-meter dash, finishing with a blazing time of 11.04. The time earned him second place as Albuquerque High School’s Amin Cooper took first in 10.86 seconds.

In the long jump, Marcus Briggs posted a leap of 21 feet, 4.5 inches. The mark would have taken first in the Storm Relays, which took place the day before. However, at the Rio Rancho Invitational, West Mesa High School’s Marcos Perea-Ochoa took the cake with a 22-foot, 9-inch leap.

GirlsSenior Abigail Beam kicked off the day with a 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:54.17, earning second place.

The Rams’ squad found a ton of success in the field events and finished first in three: the long jump, the discus and the shot put.

In the long jump, freshman Aaliyna Gallegos proved yet again to be one of the cornerstones for RRHS track; she won the long jump with a 17 feet, 4.5 inches.

The RRHS throwers performed phenomenal in all three events and almost took the triple crown: Sophomore Sarah Martinez came in first in the discus with a throw of 112 feet, 3 inches; freshman Anni Presser took first in the shot put with a mark of 33 feet, 11.5 inches; and senior Aubrey Pino took second in the javelin throw (101 feet). Pino was just a couple feet shy of first place.

The Rams competed in just about every event, taking second place in nine events: javelin, 400-meter dash, 800-meter run, 1,600-meter run, 3,200-meter run, 100-meter hurdles, 4x200 meter relay, 4x400 meter relay, and the sprint medley relay.

Freshman sprinter Sophia Smith competed in all three individual sprint races (100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter), and found success in the 400-meter with a 1:01.25 time, which earned her second place.

Official team scores were not available as of press time.