LA’s Tagoya Pedro captures first Academy Extravaganza championship

ALBUQUERQUE

As one of New Mexico’s most decorated runners, Laguna Acoma senior Tagoya Pedro nailed his first championship win at the Albuquerque Academy Extravaganza.

Pedro won the 1A-2A boys race in 15:42.36 on Saturday morning as he beat a pair of runners from Pecos in senior Brandyn Encinias (15:57.60) and Carlos Ragland (16:18.43).

“I just wanted to see how fast I can go out, you know, just putting the foot on the gas, and just seeing how that works out,” Pedro said of race strategy. “I definitely need to make some changes because I feel like I work better starting out a little slower and then work my way up.

“But it was definitely a good experience, you know, just trying something new,” he added. “But I executed, and I just had fun out there.”

With 10 state crowns (nine in track) to his credit, Pedro said winning the Extravaganza was one of the last races he wanted to win as he finished second and third the previous two seasons.

“I was aiming to go faster, but I’m happy to win this meet,” Pedro said. “It’s a learning experience and, yeah, I want to go back to training to get my times down.”

As a team, LA finished second behind meet winner Pecos. The Panthers finished with a low total of 42 points, and they were paced by the 2-3 finish from Encinias and Ragland.

The Hawks, meanwhile, tallied 92 points with junior Carter Patricio adding a sixth-place finish for LA.

“We’re going to use this as motivation to get closer together and get faster as a team,” Pedro said of their team finish.

In the 1A-2A girls race, Jemez Valley sophomore Trista Chavez and Laguna Acoma junior Mia Smith took second and third, respectively, as the two runners finished behind meet winner Olivia Marquez of Oak Grove Classical Academy.

Marquez won the race in 19:47.95 with Chavez clocking in at 20:22.49 and Smith at 20:44.49.

“I feel good about my finish,” said Chavez, who placed fifth at state last year. “I just tried to keep up with the top girl (Marquez) and I got second. But I’m happy that I beat by PR by over a minute.”

Smith was equally pleased with her finish despite nursing a calf injury.

“Overall, I did OK with my running,” Smith said. “I did pretty good for the first half of the race but I’m coming off an injury. I was good until probably the second mile.”

Smith said her injury is something to consider for the upcoming state meet, which is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 8 at Academy.

“I’m hoping that it feels a lot better by then because I know that I can go faster,” she said.

LA will close out the regular season at the Grants Pirates Plunder Invitational on Saturday. Next week, they will compete in the state qualifying meet, which is hosted by Ramah High School on Friday, Oct. 31.

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