Warriors chalk up extra mileage

By Nat Holland El Defensor Chieftain Reporter

The Socorro boys cross country team finished ninth out of 10 teams at a meet in Belen on Saturday, Sept. 20.

Ellen Aster placed 24th individually in varsity girls with a time of 22:14, exactly three minutes behind the frontrunner.

"We were definitely the smallest school there," said coach Steven Montoya.

The rest of the schools at the Belen meet were all Class 4A and 5A, most of the from the Albuquerque metro area.

Despite being a tough course, much of it on a ditch bank with soft sand, three Socorro runners ran a personal best on the course.

Times will continue to improve as runners continue to push their limits in practice. Two runners on Monday opted for a longer 7-mile run to put in their highest mileage ever for "extra credit."

When the runners asked what they get for completing the extra-credit run — "They get better," Montoya answered.

This Saturday, Sept. 27, the team heads to Cloudcroft to face competition from smaller schools, including four of the five other teams in District 3-3A.

"It's going to be a challenging course at altitude," Montoya said.

To prepare for Cloudcroft and other hilly and sandy courses such as Rio Rancho, the team will include runs in Box Canyon and in the Quebradas.

The team, which currently competes with Sarracino track uniforms, will be holding a fundraiser during Socorro's homecoming football game on Friday, Oct. 3.

Socorro cross country team makes its debut in Alamogordo

Runners ready for their second meet in Belen

Nat Holland El Defensor Chieftain Reporter,nholland@dchieftain.com

Socorro's new cross country team opened their season with a meet on Saturday, Sept. 6.

"It was really tough competition," said runner Tim Abeyta. "It was mostly 5A schools. We were the smallest one there. I think we all ran our personal best, but we're going to have to do better at the next meet."

"It was a pretty intense meet. We kind of new what was going on, but it was our first one," said Nikki Mortensen.

Mortensen finished 15th individually in a field of about 60 girls in the open division — Socorro's best finisher.

"I think she's a lot faster than she gives herself credit for," coach Steve Montoya said of Mortensen.

"I think we had an excellent first race. I think the kids were nervous not knowing what to expect, but I think they all had a lot of fun. Everyone commented that practices were harder than the races," Montoya said. "What I was really proud of was how our kids supported each other and even the kids from other teams."

Practices may be getting even harder, though, as the team moves from being beginning runners to being competitive.

"Our mileage isn't half what the competitive schools are running," Montoya said.

Socorro runners were logging about 30 miles a week, compared to 60 miles the more competitive schools log.

Socorro runs in its second meet today (Saturday) in Belen.

It has enough boys for a full boys team and a few girls that will compete individually, including Ellen Aster, a competitive runner who will make her season debut in Belen.

Coach Montoya is a socorro native and an experienced triathlete who returned to Socorro two years ago and currently teaches at Sarracino Middle School.

Whatever Emma wants....Emma gets....this weekend!


The fun started Friday night at the Warrior Football Game. Emma has found some friends who she enjoys running all around with in front of the bleachers. They race, play tag, and pretend they are cheerleaders!





Then we got up on saturday and spent the day at the State Fair. Emma really was looking forward to the Ferris Wheel. Steven had been wanting to take her on it! I remember thinking back when my mom would hate the Ferris Wheel...but I guess it was because we would always make it swing!! Emma also got her face painted and got an airbrushed tatoo on her leg. It was a fun day...just watching Emma go on rides for the first time .
























The evening continued on with the Lobo Football game. We met our friends there for a tailgate party....Brisket, Ribs, Potatoes...yummy! We had great seats and Emma enjoyed eating every kind of candy or dessert there was to buy! After the game we went back and took the food out again; deciding who was going to bring what for the next game.

Friday night we went to the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque and watched a country concert featuring Blake Shelton and Gary Allen. Mike and mArlene were able to go with us and we had a great time together. This video is one of our favorite Gary Allen songs, it's called Life Ain't Always Beautiful. Hope you enjoy it.

CROSS COUNTRY

Cross country season has officially started and I will have no more free Saturday's until the middle of November.  We had our first race over the weekend in Alamogordo.  I was glad that Lindsey went with us as it was one way we could feel close to Tom.  It was difficult at times but we figure by us starting this team it is a way of honoring him and making relationships with kids that go beyond the classroom.  

The meet was well run and took place at the soccer complex.  The run was mostly on grass with no hills and lots of ninety degree turns.  The weather was great and both the individual boys and girls meet records were broken.    Our kids were really nervous but they did a great job in their warm up, stretches, and strides.  The boys were really unsure about pace and afraid to get caught up in the opening sprint so I think they went out really conservative which seems not to be the norm for this sport.  I don't have any proof on this but I am sure they all negative split their races and passed many people during the second half of the race.  When they finished they agreed that it was easier than they had anticipated and they all had fun.  Officially we were the last place boys varsity team.  It sounds discouraging but in reality we have only been a team for 3 weeks and I ran three 8th graders, two freshmen, and one junior in a varsity meet.  They would have been much more competitive in the JV meet but oh well, live and learn.  

On the girls side, I only brought one freshmen and she ran the JV meet.  She was really nervous and was unsure if she would even run but she did and ended up being the 15th girl and received a ribbon for her effort.  She too started conservatively and ran down many girls in the second half of the run.  She surprised herself and is a much better runner than she gives herself credit for.  All in all it was a very successful meet and our next race is in two weeks in much closer, Belen. 

Here you can find an article about the team that the local newspaper ran this weekend.  On the right, click on the download our latest edition.  It is in a featured sports section and not the actual sports section.

http://www.dchieftain.com/

A 3-Day weekend is better than 2!

There were lot's of things going on over the Labor Day weekend and plenty of stuff to update with. Friday was our high school's first football game of the season. It was a home game and had a barbeque dinner preceeding it. The food was good and the game was a blowout win for us. We were up by more than 50 points by halftime! Needless to say that lots of freshman got some playing time in the second half. In a small town like Socorro, football is a big deal and everyone comes out to support the team.

This weekend was also our county fair and on Saturday we were on our main street watching the parade while Emma collected a bunch of candy. Afterward we went up to the fairgrounds and let Emma see all of the livestock and we had a great lunch. Things like fairs have become one of my favorite places to eat! I love getting fresh roasted corn, fresh squeezed lemonade, turkey legs, brisket, and fry bread. I was just about done with a navajo taco when I remembered I was going to run a race on Sunday and I shouldn't be eating fried food like that. Oh well, I'm Mexican and I'm pretty sure my engine works just fine on grease:)

The race I did on Sunday was a half marathon in Albuquerque. I finished ok and I was glad I did it but my times are not where they used to be just a few years ago. It's tough not being able to race as fast as I used to but I also suppose that priorities have changed and I'm still in pretty good shape overall. My time was 1:42 which means I averaged 7:47 per mile. I feel like I had a good 8 miles of hard running in me but I really struggled from miles 9 through 13. I ended up 31st overall and 7th in my age group. Next up is a triathlon at the end of the month.

Since we were in Albuqueruqe we took advantage of it and visited the zoo. The Rio Grande Zoo is one of the best zoo's I've been to. They have even added many new exhiibits just from last year. Emma and Lindsey even got to feed the giraffe's. I wish we had pictures but we had forgotten the camera.

And on Monday, Lindsey and I both used it to get a little ahead on things. Lindsey with her masters degree and I with classroom stuff. Well, I hope you all enjoyed the weekend as much as we did. Have a great (short) week and thanks for looking.

Steven

We haven't posted anything for a while now but life does keep moving and we're always working on something new and different.  The biggest thing is that school has started and that means back to work for Lindsey and I.  We just finished our 2nd week of school and things seem to be going good so far.  I am teaching 3 math classes and 2 engineering classes and I am liking all of my classes and schedule.  The school itself feels a little different too for the better and we're liking it.  One thing that Lindsey and I had wanted to do since we moved here last year was to start a cross country team at the high school.  We got moved in right before school started and it never really happened last year.  This year however we were able to get our district to fund a team and we have been practicing since this past week.  We are behind every other school in the state but we got it started and we can only get better and bigger.  I am really excited and busy with practice, getting a schedule together and possibly doing some fundraising.  

This is also the first school year that Emma gets to go to pre-school.  She goes 2 days a week for half a day and she is really having a blast.  She has made some new friends and looks forward to going.  On the first day Lindsey and I had a hard time leaving her and it was a very special time we shared together.  The second time we took her she ran up the sidewalk and waved bye to us as if we were just going to drop her off.  She's having fun and we're having fun watching her grow.

And Emma is not the only one going to school, besides teaching, Lindsey is starting her Master's Degree in Technology.  She started this weekend and it sounds like she likes it so I'm glad and proud of her for starting.  I know she will do a great job and I know she probably already knows just as much as any professor she will have.  I look forward to celebrating with her when she's finished.

And I'm still trying to get in some training myself.  I have been running with the kids on the XC team but I am having a hard time getting to the pool and biking more than twice a week.  I have an Olympic distance triathlon in late September and a half-ironman triathlon in late October.  Those are the only 2 things I have registered for but I think I will jump into some running races here and there.  Our friend Misha is doing a half marathon next weekend in Albuquerque and I'm thinking about jumping in and just doing it.

Well thanks for checking in on the Montoya's and I truly hope you're all doing well and happy. Here are several pictures of Emma after picking some stuff from our garden and on her first day of school.