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Thursday, May 15, 2008

High-Jumper Leads Bears

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
      David Ortiz never considered himself to be a track and field guy. Basketball, that was his game.
       But the Estancia High senior was the bright spot for the Bears on Friday, when he won the gold medal in the Class 2A boys high jump during the small-school state championships at the University of New Mexico's track stadium.
       Ortiz, who has been known for his levitating slam dunks and soaring blocks as a sharpshooting hoops guard, cleared the bar at 6 feet.
       “I felt good early,” Ortiz said. “I got over the bar pretty easily in the beginning. I didn't miss until about six feet. I think that's why I won, because there were a couple of other guys (Capitan's Craig Barton and Santa Rosa's Jake Meairs) who made it to 6 feet, too. But it feels good.”
       Indeed, Ortiz did edge Barton and Meairs due to fewer misses. He also was fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 41 feet.
       Ortiz's high-jump effort was the only top-three finish for Estancia. In comparison, the Bears had won the 2007 state title, their second straight, with eight gold medals.
       This year, EHS wound up in eighth place, well behind its projected fourth-place finish based on pre-meet seedings. The Bears scored 26 points during the meet's two days, Friday and Saturday.
       “I'm pleased with all the kids,” said EHS coach Troy Coburn. “We didn't score as much as we had hoped. But that's the state track meet for you. I really am pleased with all the kids. And it might be a rebuilding year again next year. But we have a lot of good eighth-graders coming up. I don't think they lost a junior-high meet all year.”
       Tucumcari earned its first state title since 1983 by accumulating 66 points. Clayton was second with 58, and Cloudcroft took third with 44½.
       Wayne Ferguson, 12th-year coach of the victorious Rattlers, said it was good to finally win after being dominated by Estancia in recent years.
       “It feels great,” he said. “We finally got the monkey off our back.”
       Bears senior Derek Straubing had a good meet. He was fourth in the triple with a personal-record distance of 41 feet, ¼ inch, and he was fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.55 seconds.
       “It felt pretty good, especially since it was at state,” Straubing said. “I was proud to score points for my team.”
       In addition, sophomore Derek Georgia was fourth in the 110 hurdles (16.64) and was fifth in the 300 hurdles (43.92). Estancia also placed fifth in the 800 and 1,600 relays.
       Coburn was grateful to his staff for helping him through his rookie season as a head coach. His assistant coaches were Mike Draper (throws), Roger Kennedy (jumps), and Tommy Negrete (pole vault).
       Estancia girls
       The Lady Bears, in a turnabout from recent years, fared better than their male teammates this year. They placed fifth at the state meet with 33 points while Cloudcroft won the title with 66.
       But Estancia was predicted to place fourth and had a chance for a third-place trophy. There were some surprises Friday that affected the outcome.
       “Oh yeah,” Bears first-year coach Laci Lockwood said Friday. “We DQ'd (were disqualified) in the 4-by-(100 relay). We false started. And Brittany (Falconer) took fourth.”
       Falconer, who earned the state title in the pole vault with a clearance of 8-6 last year and who had set a school record of 9-6 earlier this season, could only manage 8 feet for fourth at the 2008 state meet.
       “I just felt like I was being rushed and stuff,” said an upset Falconer, who is a junior. “I psyched myself out, I guess. ”
       Estancia junior Kaiya Coburn, Troy's daughter, led the team with a second-place finish in the 100 hurdles (17.01) and a third in the 300 hurdles (51.14). Sophomore Sabrina Lee was the bronze-medalist in the 800 run (2 minutes, 27.92 seconds) and freshman Erin Thomas was third in the 200 dash (27.39).
       Coburn, who injured her right quad during the Bears' first practice back in February, didn't compete in the 300 until the District 8-2A meet a week before state.
       “It's been a tough year,” she said. “I didn't get to practice much. But now I'm looking forward to next year.”
       The Estancia quartet of Robin Jones, Adrienne Montoya, Lee and Thomas acquired the silver medal in the 1,600 relay with a time of 4:22.27.
       East Mountain
       The Timberwolves boys and girls both failed to score at the Class 2A state meet.
       Sophomore Matt Broomfield came just short of the scoring cutoff with seventh-place finishes in the boys and 800 and 1,600 runs. Sophomore Elora Overbey was 12th in the shot put for the EMHS girls.
   

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