Cadol takes first place at Fort Stanton meet

Abby Cadol, Sky Sessions and Anastasia Zagrai, left to right, run at the Fort Stanton meet.
Beth Cadol | Submitted

Socorro cross country is off to a hot start with Abby Cadol’s first place in the girl’s varsity race, pacing a second-place team finish for the Lady Warriors at the Fort Stanton cross country course on August 26.

Best of all for Socorro, most of its runners were besting last year’s times on the course by two and three minutes.

“I don’t know how to explain it other than I think the earlier start to the school year just gave us a few more miles,” Socorro head cross country coach Beth Cadol said. “We have more experience on the team, but even the newcomers ran faster than I expected.”

There were rewarding experiences all around, with Cadol enjoying the moment as a mother and coach and seeing her runners enjoy themselves.

“It was super fun to see them get the reward for all the work that they’ve put in. Because especially in July, when school started, it was hot and kind of miserable. It’s still hot, but it is showing that the workouts put in with our running is working,” Cadol said.

The weather has dictated the Warriors’ running schedule, and Cadol switched things up to keep her athletes ready.

“The first week of school, we tried a couple of before-school practices. They were optional, and they were about half attended. About half the kids came to the before-school practices — it just didn’t seem feasible for the long term,” Cadol said.

This year’s long-term includes two significant events on the Warriors’ home course with the Socorro Stampede and the District 3-3A meet. That can play into Socorro’s advantage, but there can be some setbacks, as Cadol explains.

“It’s the advantage in the sense that we have hometown support. We know the course in and out. It’s a bit of a disadvantage because we know the course in and out,” Cadol said. Another downside is that I will be uniquely occupied with hosting the meet, and I can’t focus 100 percent on coaching. But they’ll be ready by then.”

Girls Varsity

• Abby Cadol, 26:10; 6. Anastasia Zagrai, 28:11; Sky Sessions, 30:05.34; Kathleen Johnson, 30:05.72; Emma Savedra, 30:49; Estella Candelaria 32:34; Niki Planck 32:57.

Boys Varsity

Matthew Schofield, 27:12; Daniel Bowles, 27:48; Rylan Timmons, 30:04; Liam Demorest, 30:54; Gilbert Armijo, 32:05.

Boys JV 

Drizzten Chavis, 30:56; Andrew Moellenbrock, 40:08; Vicente Sanchez, 43:50.

Girls JV

6. Kailyn Woods, 37:42; 8. Lyzz, Moellenbrock, 40:18; 10. Addisyn Fassett, 49:45; Abagail Watkins, 53:51.

Girls Middle School 

5. Makenzie Smith., 3:30; 7. Maddi Lee, 14:21; 10. Aria Jacobs 14:49; Zayn Hoke, 25:28.

Boys Middle School 

Timur Aitbayev, 12:28; Riley Sewell, 13:36; Sebastian Aafloy, 15:19.