Mesa Vista Tops First Standalone 1A Cross Country State Meet

One hundred and eleven runners laced up their spikes for the return of the Class 1A state cross country championship on Saturday. The event took place at Albuquerque Academy, marking the first time in 13 years that the state’s smallest schools competed in their own separate race. For the previous 13 years, these athletes had to compete in the Class 2A division. Between 1979 and 2012, some of these schools were even grouped with Class 3A teams.

Mesa Vista emerged as the top boys team in the new division. Senior Ezequiel Nevarez won the individual boys race for the Trojans. The school had previously struggled in combined classifications. In the 2025 season, the Mesa Vista boys finished fourth in the combined 1A and 2A meet with 170 points. They trailed the state champion, Pecos, by 124 points. Had the teams competed in a combined class this year, Mesa Vista would have likely placed fifth with approximately 134 points. Under those old rules, the Trojans would not have secured a trophy.

Peñasco also celebrated strong results in the standalone event. The school brought home a runner up trophy for its boys team. Additionally, the Peñasco girls team claimed the division title. These victories represent a shift for the state’s smallest schools, which often found themselves outmatched in larger weight classes. The new format allows these schools to compete against peers of similar size. This change was driven by years of lobbying from local coaches who felt the previous system disadvantaged small programs.

Ben Sandoval Jr., a coach at Mesa Vista, has pushed for a separate Class 1A division for six years. Sandoval noted that when he coached at Legacy Academy, his team finished second in the girls division in 2021. That year, Legacy competed in Class 1A while its rival, the Academy for Technology and the Classics, was in Class 2A. Sandoval said the group finally received a hearing from the New Mexico Activities Association. He described the new setup as a victory for the small school community. Patricia Chavez, the athletic director and head coach at Pine Hill, was also part of the lobbying effort.

The New Mexico Activities Association adjusted the scoring rules to accommodate the smaller rosters. In the past, teams needed more runners to accumulate points for a team standing. For the 1A division, only three runners are now required to score for the team total. This modification proved effective for participation. Ten girls teams and 11 boys teams earned official team scores in Saturday’s meet. The lower barrier to entry encouraged more schools to field teams. The total of 111 participants in the 2026 meet exceeded the 89 runners who competed in the 2012 trial run of the division.

Individual champions emerged in a competitive field. Allison Petrini of Des Moines won the 1A girls race. She defeated Cambrie Gonzales, an eighth grader from the Panthers, in a close finish. Petrini’s win marks the first state cross country championship in the history of her school. In a combined 1A and 2A race, Petrini would have placed sixth. Sandoval compared the growth potential of the sport to powerlifting. He noted that powerlifting started as a niche activity in New Mexico but has grown into one of the state’s more popular sports. He believes that as the 1A division expands, teams will eventually field four or five scoring runners.

The last time a Class 1A school stood on a podium in this meet was in 2022. The Peñasco girls team won consecutive titles in 2021 and 2022. Historically, only Peñasco and Mesa Vista have won titles in the combined 1A and 2A classifications. The new standalone race provides a clearer path to recognition for these schools. Chavez stated that the goal is to give athletes a distinct memory of their achievement. She explained that in a combined race, observers might focus on the athlete’s time relative to larger schools. In a standalone 1A race, the focus remains on the specific championship won by the smaller division.