Storm girls take third at Districts while crowning four district champions

PHOTOS: Track and Field District Championships

May 20, 2025

RIO RANCHO — The Cleveland High School girls track and field placed third in the 5A District 1 championship track meet at Rio Rancho High School May 10.

The Storm scored 97.5 points, which was within five points from second-place Volcano Vista, who scored 102 points.

It was a battle all day, and the Storm girls fired on all cylinders.

"The performance of the team today ... amazing," freshman sprinter Samaya Fashola said. "We're always ready."

In the end, they won four events: the high jump, the 300-meter hurdles, the 400-meter dash and the 4x400 meter relay.

Senior Emma Wild took care of business in the high jump, winning the event with a 10-foot mark.

In the 300-meter hurdles, senior Malia Hunter-Garcia won a "down-to-the-wire" race in which the top three girls finished in 49 seconds. It would come down to tenths of a second, and Hunter-Garcia was able to win first place with a time of 49.16.

Hunter-Garcia also had a nice showing in the 100-meter hurdles, taking second place (16.87).

"Came into this meet seeded fourth in the 100 [meters], and I came in second. Then, I came in seeded third in the 300 [meters], and I got first,” Hunter-Garcia said. "Left it all on the track."

In the 400-meter dash, freshman Karissa Williams showed some grit and won a tough matchup against Volcano Vista's Maile Tanner. Williams finished with a time of 1:02.28, making her the new district champion.

The Storm 4x400 meter relay team found itself neck-and-neck against the Volcano Vista. However, a final push by the Storm propelled the Cleveland girls to victory in a time of 4:13.11. The relay team consisted of senior Carley Tyler, junior Zaraya Smith, junior Logyn Vogel and Fashola.

Also having nice days for the Storm squad was sophomore Meg Mauermann, who came in fourth place in the 3,200-meter run (12:56.97); senior Sarah Romero, who came in fourth place in the 800-meter run; and senior Mariana Delgado-Ortega, who was second in the discus with a 105-foot, 3 1/2-inch throw. Delgado-Ortega will be in the mix for a state title in the discus.

The Storm squad will get a few days rest before traveling to the University of New Mexico for the 2025 NMAA State Championships May 16.

"We're hungry; we want to win," Hunter-Garcia said.