The Bantam girls defended last year’s title with a win over Taylor Ranch in this year’s New Mexico state championships. They went on to to take second place at the Region 10 Championships, one point behind the Sojourners from Colorado. The second place finish qualifies them to compete at the National Junior Olympic cross-country championships in Mechanicsville, Va. on December 13th.
This year’s squad includes :
- Talia Paytiamo
- Alyssa Valencia
- Jazamine Kie
- Raina Victorino
- Makala Garcia
Qualifying for the boys in the Youth division were Chloe Felipe who placed 6th, and C.J. Salvador and T.J. Lukee Jr. who placed 11th and 16th respectively. The team had a write up in the Cibola County Beacon. See below
Title: Young Acoma runners on way to nationals
Date: Nov. 17, 2008
Mark Teshima
Beacon staff writer
Cibola County Beacon
LAGUNA-ACOMA – On cold Saturday mornings, while their friends were home watching cartoons, the Bantam girls of the Acoma Running Club were covering plenty of miles. And the season of hard work paid off on Nov. 15 during Regional X Cross County Championships at Albuquerque Academy. The Bantam girls defended last year’s title with a win over Taylor Ranch in last week’s New Mexico state championships, to qualify for the regional race.
The championships of Region Ten X were hosted last year in Utah were the Acoma girls took second. With a few returning runners to this year’s team the three-kilometer race was very close, Acoma placing second, one point behind the Sojourners from Colorado.
“I’m real proud of the girls, they surprise us at every meet,’ said ARC President Theo Victorino.
Veterans of the squad Talia Paytiamo and Alyssa Valencia took places 17 and 18 respectively. The rest of the squad placed well with Jazamine Kie, Raina Victorino and Makala Garcia all with an impressive one-minute pack time. The five combined for a 43 point, second-place finish. They beat out more than 20 teams that were in attendance in this year’s event. Other runners competing for the Acoma squad were Majuana Sarracino and Deja Lorenzo and Jayda Lucario.
This finish qualifies them to move up to the National Junior Olympic cross-country championships Mechanicsville, Va.
“My main focus is that running can inspire the kids. Running can take you anywhere you want to go,” said Myron Salvador, an eight-year coach of the program.
The club also produced three individual runners competing at the national level, including coach’s son C.J. Salvador who placed 11th in the Youth level.
T.J. Lukee Jr., and Chloe Felipe ran well in their divisions at 16th and sixth respectively.
The teams lack funds at this time to make the trip to Virginia. Hopefully, after a meeting on Nov. 18 and a few fundraisers, the running team can represent Acoma on a national level.
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Tags: bantum girls, region x results
On Saturday the Acoma Running Club will join more than 3,000 athletes in Mechanicsville, Virginia to compete at Pole Green Park in the 2008 USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships. Pole Green Park is a 232-acre park in Hanover County. The Weather is expected to be rainy later in the week, but should clear up by Saturday. The course at Pole Green Park is made up of grass (70%) and gravel trail (30%). Along portions of the grass and the gravel trail there are natural boundaries with the woods. With rolling terrain and a challenging hill, Pole Green Park has proven to be an outstanding site for Virginia cross country meets.