Clovis boys take fourth at state cross country
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Sunday, Nov 9 2008, 12:04 am
By Eric Butler, Freedom New Mexico Correspondent
RIO RANCHO — Caitlin Waters, there’s little doubt, is quite a natural when it comes to running the half-mile — which she’s won twice at the state level.
Cross country, however, is something Waters has had to work at.
On Saturday, the Clovis senior placed fifth in her final Class 5A state cross country race and she and her coach, Mike Hankins, couldn’t have been more pleased.
“I think it went pretty good,” Waters said. “My goal was to reach the top 10, so I was pretty proud of myself.”
Waters tracked down Rio Rancho sophomore Tamara Lemention in the final 30 yards to reach the top five.
“You come in here, hoping for her sake, that she’s in the top 10,” Hankins said. “The top five would be awesome.
“That’s a heck of a field she ran in. It’s an unbelievable field, and there’s a lot of colleges that would like to take all five.”
Waters’ finish helped the Clovis girls to a 12th-place result in the team standings.
The Clovis boys, meanwhile, finished fourth behind Cibola, Sandia and Eldorado. The Wildcats’ best individual placing was by junior Jarin Morgan, who was 15th.
Senior Izzy Miranda was expected to lead the Cats’ charge, but other Clovis teammates also finished ahead of Miranda in the end. Seth Zarate was 25th overall, while Justin Netcher took 28th.
Miranda, exhausted and helped out of the Rio Rancho football stadium by Netcher and Carlsbad’s Coty Gooch, finished the course in 32nd place.
Only a few minutes earlier, Miranda was in fourth place halfway through the race.






