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METRO TRACK AND FIELD

Erinle leads Academy girls to title, Cleveland boys win comfortably

Eldorado star Rahmer makes her return following injury recovery

Anna Hastings, from Albuquerque Academy, won the 1600 meter race during the Metro Track and Field Championships on Friday.
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It was bound to happen, and it happened Friday: the sight of Gianna Rahmer not winning a race here in the metro area.

No one has taken her down in a cross country race in her three seasons at Eldorado — not in a race staged in New Mexico, anyway. Nobody on the track has finished ahead of Rahmer at a local meet, until senior Anna Hastings of Albuquerque Academy beat Rahmer head-to-head in the 1,600-meter final early Friday evening at the Albuquerque Metro Track and Field Championships at Nusenda Community Stadium.

The Brown-bound Hastings, who has been enjoying a terrific spring season, captured the title with a run covering 5 minutes, 3.38 seconds. Rahmer (5:14.11) was the runner-up in her first individual outdoor race in the metro area this spring. She hadn’t run outdoors locally since the Class 5A state cross country championships the first week of November.

“I felt really fit going into this season, and had some really great races early on and that gave me a lot of confidence,” said Hastings. “I think the biggest thing this year is my mentality. (Having decided on a college) took some of the pressure off, so I’m more focused on having a lot of run and leading with joy, rather than focusing on the pressure.”

Rahmer has been dealing with both hip and back injuries, which has kept her largely out of action.

Anna Hastings, left, from Albuquerque Academy, and Gianna Rahmer, right, from Eldorado, catch their breath and finishing 1st and 2nd, in that otder, in the 1600 meter race during the Metro Track and Field Championships, in Albuquerque, Friday, May 1, 2026.

She ran a 3,200 at Clovis’ meet a few weeks ago and did a 1,600 at the St. Michael’s meet in Santa Fe last weekend that got her qualified for metros. She didn’t win either of those races; as she has been coming back slowly. This was the first time she joined Eldorado’s program as an eighth-grader that the now-sophomore didn’t win a race in her back yard.

“She’s an amazing runner,” a smiling Rahmer said of Hastings. “Watching her this season has been so incredibly fun. If it was gonna be anybody, I’m glad it was her.”

The lack of activity, Rahmer said, has been frustrating.

“Having that taken away from me for a couple of weeks is very hard, but it is so much fun to be back,” she said. She is now qualified for state in the 1,600, but she is not yet qualified for state in the 3,200, her best event. She’ll have to try and do that at Eldorado’s district meet next week.

“I think that’s the hardest thing to learn, how to slowly ease back into it. Because I felt like I can just get right back into it and be back where I was, and I understand that’s now quite how it works.

“But I have a very big fire under me right now.”

Hastings is expected to make as much noise at state in Class 4A as Rahmer is in 5A, and now she has this particular feather of knocking off Rahmer.

“It’s just really nice to have her back out here,” Hastings said.

Academy won the girls metro crown, scoring 103½ points. Cleveland (74) and Rio Rancho (57½) also were top-three.

Cleveland’s boys, with 98 points, rolled to another major title. Eldorado edged La Cueva for second place by about the slimmest margin possible at a track meet. The Eagles scored 68.33 points, La Cueva an even 68.

Grace Erinle, from Albuquerque Academy, is congratulated by other runners after winning the 100 meter dash during the Metro Track and Field Championships, in Albuquerque, Friday, May 1, 2026.

Grace Erinle of Academy and Rebecca Neal of Highland both were triple champions at metros and had a great duel for high point athlete.

Erinle added titles in the triple jump (36-9 1/2) and the 100 (12.50 seconds) on Friday to her victory in the long jump on Thursday, and she also was a force on the 4x100 and 4x200 sprint relays for the Chargers.

Neal won the discus Friday (with a mark of 102-08) after taking first in the high jump and the javelin on Thursday. She also placed third Friday in the 100-meter high hurdles.

Erinle edged Neal 26-25 for high point honors.

La Cueva’s Tony Trujillo (6-4) won the high jump for the second straight meet, following the elite Harper meet last weekend. The Bears continue to be a force in nearly every one of the seven field events.

“We call ourselves the ‘Flight Crew,’ “ Trujillo said. “It’s just a good group of guys, we just have our own thing, and we have really good team chemistry, too.”

The extremely smooth-running Amin Cooper of Albuquerque, whose speed looks as effortless as anyone, captured the 400-meter title in 48.74 seconds. Isreal Nickols of Atrisco Heritage ran second to Cooper, and Nickols also was the runner-up in the open 100.

Tony Trujillo, from La Cueva High School, clears 6'4" to win the high jump competition during the Metro Track and Field Championships, in Albuquerque, Friday, May 1, 2026.

That proved to be by far the strangest event of the meet, as only three runners – Sandia’s Chigekwu Nwagbo, who won the race (10.98), Nickols and Manzano’s Evan Ostrander competed. There were a large number of scratches, including St. Pius’ Hershul Olloway Jr., the top seed, and La Cueva’s Tanner Montano.

Actually, the 100 WAS the strangest event until the boys’ 200 final much later in the program, which featured just two runners competing as everyone else scratched for the race which started at about 8:30 p.m. when the wind chill on the West Side was in the mid-40s.

Academy’s boys swept the two distance races Friday, with Nicholas Ponte winning the 1,600 (4:28.76) and teammate Elliot Hickey later finishing first in the 800 (2:00.92).

Adelyn Harper of Albuquerque High (2:22.86) won a competitive girls’ 800-meter final, crossing the line just .21 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

Cleveland senior Morgan James, as she did a week ago, won both hurdles finals, in times of 14.79 seconds (100 high) and 43.28 seconds (300 intermediate).

Collin Joyner, second from right, from Cleveland High School, finished 1st, and Raymundo Lujan, from Eldorado, second from left, came in 2nd, during the 110 meter hurdles competition during the Metro Track and Field Championships, in Albuquerque, Friday, May 1, 2026.

Collin Joyner of Cleveland was the boys’ 110-meter high hurdles winner (15.03); Joyner did not compete in the 300 this week, and Eldorado’s Raymundo Lujan was the metro champ in 41.25 seconds. The versatile Lujan also ran second to Joyner in the 100 hurdles, and in the final field event of the meet, Lujan capped his outstanding meet by claiming the triple jump title with a winning mark of 44 feet, 5 inches.

Lujan with 24 points, was the high point boys athlete at metros. He also was third on Thursday night in the long jump.

Other girls’ event winners Friday were Eldorado’s Kaili Roosild in the pole vault (11-0), and Sandia’s Gianna Archuleta, who won both the 400 (59.57) just ahead of AHS’ Harper and later the 200 (26.08).

Other boys’ event winners Friday were Academy’s Isaac Romero in the discus (146-11), and Eldorado’s Michel Passetto in the two-person 200 (22.38).

James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at .