By Eric Butler
MaxPreps.com
Track & Field: It’s Great to be a Cibola Cougar
It was a pretty good week to be a supporter of Cibola athletics, particularly in the areas of softball and track and field.
The Cougar softball team continued to roll on with an undefeated record. Cibola (16-0) recorded its ninth shutout of the year by beating Valley 8-0 on Tuesday and then, on Friday, opened District 1-5A play by blasting West Mesa 11-1.
That Cibola is a favorite for a state title in softball isn't unexpected, since the Cougars are top-ranked and the defending Class 5A champs.
However, both of the school's track squads may just have put themselves in a similar position with big wins on Saturday.
At the APS Invitational, Cibola's boys and girls came out on top of fields resembling the perennial contenders at the state meet. In addition to the Albuquerque Public Schools contingent, the events were populated by the likes of Alamogordo (2007 boys state champ), La Cueva (2007 girls champion), Clovis, Rio Rancho and Academy.
The boys team, at Wilson Stadium, racked up 85 points – almost 30 points better than second-place Highland (56 points). Rio Rancho was third with 54.
Senior Daniel Gooris set a school record, clearing 16-feet, 6-inches, in the pole vault and also won the long jump. Sophomore Matt Valenzuela took first in the 400-meter run while teammates Corey Roybal and Micah Huitron were victorious in, respectively, the shot put and high jump.
Also in the high jump, Brandon Simpson finished second in his first meet of the season. Simpson was also third in the triple-jump to pile some more points to the Cougars' total.
"It was definitely a good day for us," Cibola boys coach Kenny Henry said. "I think it gives us some confidence. But we know it's a long season and a lot of things could happen. We've got to count our blessings now and keep working hard."
At Milne Stadium, the Cibola girls also had a fairly convincing team victory. The Cougars accumulated 74 points to beat out second-place Clovis (52 points) and third-place La Cueva (45).
Cibola won both the 4x100 and 4x200 relay races and had individual victories in three events. Shayla Flores had the day's best javelin throw while Amber Menke was first in the triple-jump.
Ninth-grader Amber Battle also had her first win of her high school career by beating the field in the 200-meter sprint.
Besides Battle's 26-flat time in that race, other Cougars to get state qualifying marks included Jennifer Tate in the 100, Tori French in the 100-hurdles, Gabby Ellison in the 3,200 and Danielle Gutierrez in the 400.
"Going into this, knowing that Clovis and Alamogordo and La Cueva and Rio Rancho were going to be there, it really opened up our eyes that we could really compete with them," Cibola girls coach Scott Carleton said.
