Local

The Los Alamos Nukes rugby club came back from a halftime deficit to knock off Las Cruces at home Saturday.
The Nukes trailed by 3 points at the break, but outscored Las Cruces 17-5 in the second half to win 29-20 at Sullivan Field.
Las Cruces is a relative newcomer to U19 rugby, but Nukes coach Demetrio Cardiel said his team had to overcome more than the halftime deficit.
“Those guys are huge,” Cardiel said. “They have this guy who was 6-foot-4 and 340 pounds and a bunch of other kids who were nearly that size.”
After figuring out how to deal with Las Cruces’ size, Los Alamos was able to take advantage of its opponent’s lack of experience.
Mateo Cardieo scored three tries in the game for the Nukes, while Caleb Johnson tacked on a pair of tries and Diego Cardiel made a pair of conversions.
Los Alamos is hoping to build on its win when it hosts Santa Fe at 7 p.m. April 3. Admission to the Nukes’ home games is free.
“We just played great defense,” coach Cardiel said. “We were able to tackle their big galoots. We played with a lot of passion and played some good rugby.”

The Los Alamos Hilltopper girls varsity tennis team finished second at last weekend’s Mayfield/Las Cruces Invitational tournament.
Los Alamos was one of seven teams taking part in the tournament, co-hosted by the reigning Class 5A champ, the Mayfield Trojans.
The team tournament consisted of three singles flights and two doubles flights. Los Alamos rotated four players into the No. flight in the tournament, going 4-2 in those contests.
The Hilltoppers met the Trojans in the fifth round of the tournament, losing a close 3-2 decision. In that round, Los Alamos swept the doubles matches, with Colleen Fitzsimmons/Susanna Lucido taking its No. 1 doubles contest and Hannah Cunningham/Sidra Hsieh-Ratliff winning in the No. 2 doubles flight.
Los Alamos swept opponents Alamogordo 5-0, Las Cruces 4-0, Gadsden 5-0 and earned a 3-1 victory over Oñate, all Class 5A schools.
Gillian Hsieh-Ratliff, Sidra Hsieh-Ratliff, Madeline Margevicius and Fitzsimmons were all straight-set winners at No. 1 singles for the Hilltoppers last weekend, while Lucido and Nasim Andrews earned straight-sets wins playing at No. 2 singles.

The Los Alamos Hilltopper girls track and field team held off Rio Rancho for a runner-up finish at the Buddy Robertson Invitational Saturday at Milne Stadium.
Despite being short-handed Saturday, the Hilltoppers grabbed 83.5 points, a point better than Rio Rancho, a Class 5A school. Eldorado won the girls competition with 93 points.
On the boys side, Los Alamos finished in third place behind Rio Rancho and Highland. Los Alamos was the only Class 4A entry on the boys side and one of just two 4A teams on the girls side.
The weather conditions were tough Saturday, with gusting wind and cold temperatures throughout the day.
Nevertheless, the Hilltoppers persevered.
For the second week in a row, the Hilltopper boys went 1-2-3 in the 3200 meters, this time with an entirely new lineup. Orion Staples was the winner of the event, finishing in 10:24.96, just a little over one second ahead of Mike Walker, while Daniel Romero was third.
Nick Hill, Los Alamos’ top finisher in the 3200 last week, was the top finisher in the 1600 Saturday, while Sean Reardon won the 800 meter competition. Skyler McCall earned his first win of the season in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 10 inches.

Unlike longtime member Stan Kosiewicz, the Atomic City Roadrunners’ running club doesn’t mind keeping count how long it’s been around.
The Atomic City Roadrunners, a local running club, will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year. It officially kicks off its 40th season April 2.
The Roadrunners host the Pace Race, which is a weekly 1- or 3-mile race at various spots around Los Alamos County, held during daylight-savings-time hours.
The Pace Races are every Tuesday night and winners aren’t judged by who crosses the finish line first but who can most closely predict their actual finish time.
The club’s president – a title he’s not completely comfortable with even though he’s been the contact person for 10 years – is longtime member Ted Williams. Williams, who is one of the longest-tenured competitors in the club, said he still has a lot of fun even after all this time.
“We have people in their 80s doing this and we have little kids in strollers,” Williams said. “I never tire of it. I never get bored. I’m very enthusiastic about it and I hope to do this for a long time.”
The Roadrunners started their weekly events in 1974. The Pace Race was set for Tuesdays, which happened to be a convenient time for the most number of people.