NMMI Sports Press
The Institute’s high school track and field teams will send seven Colts and six Lady Colts to the Class 3A State Track & Field Championships in Albuquerque this weekend, with junior Sawyer Hull competing in five events.
Hull qualified for the 110 and 300 meter hurdles with first-place finishes at the District 4 meet in Ruidoso on Friday, as well as making the cut for pole vault by finishing second.
He was already qualified for high jump and javelin off the strength of his performances in earlier meets that exceeded the state qualifying standards for Class 3A.
Hull easily topped the high jump standard of 5-foot-8 with several 6-foot jumps and a 6-foot-2 mark at the Roswell Last Chance meet on April 18. He will look to improve on his sixth-place finish from the 2023 state meet.
The junior from Connecticut met the standard for javelin of 136 feet, but improved his mark significantly, also at the Last Chance, to 154 feet, 2.5 inches.
Cohen Tomasits qualified for the 100 and 200 meter dashes and the long jump by taking first in each event at district, but also qualified for the 100 by time with an 11.49, beating the standard by two tenths of a second.
The 4x800 relay team of Jake Hayes, Jonas Pope, Conner DiPour and Cale Taylor qualified for state with a second-place finish at district behind the host Warriors. Taiyo Kiyonaga will serve as an alternate.
On the Lady Colts side, Sabrina Tanner won the pole vault by default as the only District 4 competitor and will compete at state on Friday at 2:30 p.m.
The sprint medley team of Anastasia Ament, Jaylah Clay, Siany McGhan and Isabella Moya took first at district to qualify for the state meet, with Yasmeen Marrufo serving as an alternate.
Assistant track coach Chantale Riddle said she’s eager to see how the cadets perform at state.
“With classes and graduation over these kids made the choice to stay here and compete for their school,” she said. “They have committed themselves and improved throughout the season to get here, with a couple of boys qualifying by time or distance, which is rare.”
State track starts Friday morning at the University of New Mexico track and soccer complex. A complete schedule for the two-day event, click here.