Surprise, surprise: LA harrier wins Class A-2A state crown

ALBUQUERQUE – Laguna Acoma’s Tagoya Pedro wasn’t part of the conversation to win the Class A-2A boys state title.

He was in contention to give the prohibitive favorite a challenge, but the junior harrier blew his peers out of the water on Saturday afternoon at the New Mexico State Cross Country Championships in Albuquerque.

“This means so much to me,” said Pedro, who finished second at the state meet the past two years. “I’ve been working at this for so long. I feel like every bit of training I put into this has come into play, especially for this meet.”

Pedro crossed the finish line in 15:50.8, which was 11th best overall among the four boys race during the all-day state meet on Saturday. The LA harrier won easily as Pecos junior Brandyn Encinias (16:01.8) and Oak Grove’s Joshua Marquez (16:04.7) trailed a distant second and third.

In that same race, Rehoboth Christian sophomore Jonah Jones turned in a top performance of ninth-place, which earned him a podium appearance.

Marquez, who beat Pedro during the Academy Extravaganza meet four weeks ago, was the prohibitive favorite to win this year’s state crown.

But Pedro ran an exceptional race as he drew inspiration from his late coach Daniel Otero. The longtime LA coach, who retired after the 2021 season, passed away early last week.

“This win was for him,” Tagoya said of Otero. “He’s really helped me to get where I am today. My other coach (Lacey Natseway) has also helped me, and I feel like their coaching has played in a big role with the way I’m running.”

As he neared the finish line, Pedro admitted that he was surprised with how fast he was running.

“When I saw that it was still 15 (minutes) I really pushed it,” he said. “I pushed through the pain as much as I could.”

Behind his finish, Tagoya helped the Laguna Acoma boys to a third-place finish in the team standings as the Hawks racked up 101 points. State champs Pecos finished with 41 points while Oak Grove took second with 61.

“My team has worked really hard this year,” Pedro said. “I feel bad that this was the seniors last race. We’re losing three seniors and they tried their hardest. They finished strong, and we showed out with our third-place finish.”

The LA scoring members included sophomore Carter Patricio (12th), senior Xavier Lorenzo (23rd), freshman Demarcus Davis (24th) and senior Sheldon Cheromiah (49th).

2A girls

The Rehoboth Christian Lady Lynx edged district rival Laguna Acoma for the third-place trophy.

Rehoboth amassed 106 points to LA’s 113 as the Lynx were paced by the junior Marvah Toddy’s 13th-place finish as she missed the podium by three spots.

Rehoboth also received a 17th- and 18th-place effort from freshman Abigail Becksvoort and junior Faith Vincent. Freshman Deiyanera Franklin came in next at 30th while eighth grader Leigh House completed the team score with a 38th finish.

In that strong finish, the Lynx posted a gap time of 1:25.7 between Toddy and House.

“We ran the best we possibly could,” Rehoboth coach Autumn Newell said. “They pretty much did what I expected them to do, and I’m really happy with their pack time.”

LA, meanwhile, was powered by the 2-3 finish from senior Rayann Concho and sophomore Mia Smith.

Concho was clocked in at 19:41.9 as she lost the state title to Oak Grove’s Olivia Marquez, who finished the race in 19:25.6

“I was trying to pace off of her as much as I could,” Concho said of Marquez. “When we got on the track she was a good 150 meters ahead of me, and I just tried to push all the way through.”

This was Concho’s first state medal as she opted not to run her junior season after transferring from Santa Fe Indian School back to her hometown.

“I used this year as my comeback year, knowing that I took a break last year,” Concho said.

For Smith, she earned another third-place finish at the state meet as she toured the 5K course in 20:29.2.

“This is exciting,” Smith said of her bronze medal. “Overall, I think I had a great season, and finishing third is not too bad.”

With it being her sophomore year, Smith is looking forward to next season.

“It feels great to place in the top 3, but I know that I can finish higher,” Smith said. “I just have to push it a little more next year.”

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