Nanaeto, Garcia log Bobcats’ bests in N.M.

Lopping a whopping 22.4 seconds off his initial seeding time in the 3,200-meter run, sophomore Elco Garcia, Jr., clocked ten minutes, 43.57 seconds for a fourth-place finish – earning three of the Ignacio boys’ seven total team points at the April 20-21, 2018, B&B Aztec (N.M.) Invitational.

Only San Juan Basin League standout Simon Kearns of 2A Mancos, 5A Kirtland (N.M.) Central’s Anesio Villegas and 5A Gallup (N.M.) Miyamura’s Ty McCray were faster across the Fred Cook Memorial Stadium finish line, with McCray winning the Day 2 spectacle in 9:58.88, followed by Villegas (10:35.38) and Kearns (10:42.11).

Against an expanded field of entrants in the 1,600 on Day 1, Garcia managed 11th place with his 4:53.81 effort. Less than a second ahead, 4A Durango teammates Logan Moore (4:53.19) and Paul Knight (4:53.40) placed ninth and tenth, respectively, with fellow Demon Marcus Flint (4:47.13) placing sixth and snatching up the last team point up for grabs in the event.

Sharing honors with Garcia for highest individual placing at the meet, Jonas Nanaeto earned three team points via a fourth-place jaunt, timed at 2:03.33 – or 5.2 seconds faster than his seeding time – in the 800 meters on Day 2, but was unable to earn a spot in the finals of the 400, having finished 16th (54.50) in the Day 1 preliminaries.

Earning one team point on Day 1, Natoni Cundiff finished sixth in the discus with a best throw of 128 feet even, but found goings more difficult in the shot put on Day 2 and finished 11th with a best of 39’1”.

Randall Doyebi earned a share of 12th place in the high jump, clearing the bar set five feet, two inches high, while Jason Foutz cleared 8’0” in the pole vault and finished tied for 16th. He would finish 32nd in the 800 (2:35.39), and Parker Smithson took 36th in the long jump (14’1.5”).

The ’Cats will next compete at the April 27-28 at the Bloomfield, N.M., Invitational, then quickly prepare for the SJBL Championships on Tuesday, May 1.

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