Senior wins girls' race; Horizon boy takes gold

by kristyk | September 23, 2007 at 05:53 am

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Jackie Campos made the long trip from Santa Teresa to far East El Paso on Saturday, but she made quick work of El Paso's top runners at the county's largest high school cross country meet.

A two-time New Mexico Class 4A 3,200-meter champ, Campos led from start to finish in winning the varsity girls race in 12 minutes, 53 seconds at the Socorro Student Activities Complex.

The junior won by a 50-meter margin, showing little fatigue following the race on the unusually warm morning.

"It was long, but it went by fast," said Campos, who placed fifth here last season. "I just tried to stay with the top runners, and if not, just go ahead and try to keep the same pace and not let anyone catch up to me."

Few came even close, as Campos gradually out-distanced the field to win her fourth consecutive meet of the season.

Next in line was Alamogordo's Myla Kilchrist (13:14), followed by El Pasoan Vivian Contreras of Riverside (13:17) --Êlast year's fourth-place state finisher in 4A -- Mayfield's Mia Herrera (13:19) and Las Cruces' Sheila Salopek (13:31).

It is always a pleasure to watch Jackie Campos run. She has competed against Mia in both track and cross country. It was no surprise to see her cross that finish line first.

There were 164 girls in the Varsity Girls race. My daughter, Mia Herrera, came in fourth. It wasn't as good as her coach expected, but she was happy with her race.