Organ Mountain runners sweep team standings at Silver

The Organ Mountain High School cross country program got off to a strong start this season, sweeping the team standings at the Silver City Invitational on Aug. 21 at the Fort Bayard Historic Park.

The Knights took first place in both the boys and girls varsity competitions and had the top individual runner in both divisions.

In boys varsity, Organ Mountain swept the top four individual places. Brett Bybee was the overall race winner with a time of 17 minutes, 7 seconds over 3.1 miles. Teammates Andrew Parks, Jeron Wisner and Jonathan Torres took the next three spots, respectively.

Rounding out the top 10 finishers in boys varsity were: Colten Rogers, Silver City, fifth place; Ben Widner, Las Cruces, sixth place; Alex Pineda, Centennial, seventh place; Dax Rios, Centennial, eighth place; Eaven Rogers, Centennial, ninth place; and Corbin Coombs, Organ Mountain, 10^th place.

In the girls’ varsity, Organ Mountain was led by Josslyn Ochoa, who was the overall girls winner with a time of 22:56. Also for Organ Mountain, Makalia Hill was third and Morgan Laws was sixth.

“We were very excited to start the cross country season with some normalcy,” said Organ Mountain cross country coach David Nunez. “We enjoyed the Silver City meet and the course they put together. We were super proud of all that competed and the efforts they gave.  Our goal is to continue to develop as a program and be there come District and State.”

The rest of the girls top 10 were: Lindsey Greene, Silver City, second; Valeria Marmolejo, Las Cruces, fourth; Lauren Armendariz, Silver City, fifth; Natalie McCall, Centennial, seventh; Layla Lazario, Mayfield, eighth; Jada Dean, Centennial, ninth; and Claire Ewing, Centennial, 10^th.