Las Cruces runner aims for future

WINDOW ROCK

A Diné Las Cruces runner runs himself into a brighter horizon, despite hardships.

Matthew Hill of Las Cruces, New Mexico, finished 20th out of 3,442 runners at the 38th annual Gold Coast Marathon held on July 2-3 in Queensland, Australia, with a time of 19.34 in the Suncorp Bank 5.7K Challenge.

“It was hard at the start — people were getting trampled on,” said Hill in a phone interview with the Times.

Hill, a 2016 graduate of Onate High School in Las Cruces, finished 7th place overall in the District 3-6A meet with a time of 17.46 in his senior year and earned All-District accolades. He helped the Onate’s cross-country team to 4th place at state — the highest Onate High School has gotten since it was founded in 1988.
Hill also has three bronze metals for individual and team running.

Finishing 20 out of 3,442 runners, Hill said running this marathon was pretty exciting as he and his teammates ran and competed against runners trying out for the U.S. Olympic running team.

“That was amazing … some of them we beat, but some of them were just too fast,” said Hill.

With the Gold Coast Marathon in the books, Hill will start to concentrate on his scholarship to Western New Mexico University in Silver City, New Mexico, this fall.

With an outstanding career in cross-country and track at Onate High School, Hill caught the attention of a few college coaches interested in his running ability.

“I got a call, they were interested in me,” said Hill, who received a call from Western New Mexico Head Cross Country Coach Macario Campos.

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