Gallup shot putter hits new PR

GALLUP

Meet host Gallup got a second place finish in the shot put event from senior Sheridan Sandoval at the Route 66 Classic track meet last Saturday.

Sandoval hit a new personal record with a 39-feet, two-inch effort on his last attempt.

“My teammates were helping me out,” Sandoval said. “I was trying to push 40 (feet) and they were encouraging me.”

According to Gallup coach Andrew Rodriguez, Sandoval has been flirting with that distance in practice and it’s a matter of him hitting that mark at a scheduled meet.

“We’re excited that he PRd,” Rodriquez said. “He gets that 40 mark in practice and I know for as hard as he’s been working it’s going to come so we’re pretty excited about that.”

With his second place finish, Sandoval earned five points for the Bengals as they finished in third place with 52 points during the 17-team meet held at Public Schools Stadium in Gallup.

Valencia High of Los Lunas finished in first place with 100 points while Zuni came in a distant second with 69 points.

The T-Birds got a pair of first place finishes from Ryan Bowejaty in the 800-meter run while Aaron Alejo took top honors in the triple jump ahead of teammate Matthew Tsabetsaye.
The girls team, meanwhile, finished with 17 points headed by a second place finish from senior Kiana Etsate.

“I think overall both teams did real well today,” Zuni coach Chris Carroll said. “We’re closer to home so we had a lot more fans in the stands. The kids got the chance to run in front of their parents and family members and that was the difference on how they were going to perform.”

Like their counterpart, Valencia took home the team title as the Lady Jaguars earned 16 points in the 100 hurdles and finished with 74 points overall.

Albuquerque Cottonwood Classic finished in second with 45 points, which was four points better than third place Miyamura. Gallup finished a close fourth with 39 points while Crownpoint racked up 38 points.

The Lady Patriots were paced by sophomore Juliana Salaz and Ariel Josufat. Salaz won the 300 hurdles while Josufat picked up the first place ribbon in the 100-meter dash.

Gallup, meanwhile, dominated the long distance race with junior Deedra Cadman winning both the 800- and 1600-meter run. The Bengals also got a first place finish from senior Wynona Martin in the 3200-meter run.

Crownpoint earned 23 points in the throwing events with senior Chenoah Belen claiming both the discus and shot put titles. The Lady Eagles also got a second place finish from senior Kitana Kenneth in the discus event.

Wingate senior Keziah Pine picked up the other throwing event with a first place finish in the javelin.

“With the kids that we had today they competed well,” Wingate coach Tony Notah said, while noting that he was missing most of athletes for last Saturday’s meet due to spring break.

Wingate was not the only team to experience that as Rehoboth had half of their squad on scheduled choir trip.

Rehoboth coach Don Donkersloot said they were focused on hitting personal goals.

“We really did well with that,” he said.

The Lady Lynx turned in a second place performance in the 1600 medley relay that earned them 10 of their 22 points.

Other top area performances included: Miyamura’s Lawrence Kinsel (high jump), Navajo Pine’s Terrance Lee (3200-meter), Miyamura’s Kyran Morgan (400-meter) and Miyamura’s Nile Thomas (1600-meter).

“I’m doing decent but I feel that I could do better,” Thomas said of his performance, while adding that the ultimate goal is to hit his peak at the end of the season.
“I feel like I’m making that progression,” he said.

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