Local

It took awhile to get it straightened out, but in the end, one of the top runners in northern New Mexico was the big winner at last weekend’s Firecracker 5K.
The Firecracker 5K, an annual event hosted by the Family YMCA of Los Alamos, hosted the run on Independence Day. About 220 participants took part in this year’s race, making it one of the biggest in the run’s history.
Santistevan, the two-time prep cross country champion in Class 3A, finished the race in a time of 17 minutes, 39 seconds to earn a solid victory over three time defending champion Ryan Fenton.
Following Friday’s race, it had initially been reported that Fenton, who finished in a time of 17:55 had won. However, after further review, it was discovered that Santistevan was actually the big winner.
His win snapped an impressive win streak for Fenton at the Firecracker 5K, who actually improved on his finish time from 2013 by two seconds, but it wasn’t enough to top Santistevan.
On the women’s side, Nikol Strother of Los Alamos took top honors.
It was a decisive win for Strother, who was nearly 45 seconds better than runner-up Leanne Smith for the women’s title. Only Strother and Smith broke the 22-minute mark at the Firecracker race.

The seventh annual Jim Thorpe Native American National Championships and open community run is scheduled for Saturday in Albuquerque.

The national championship race is open to Native American tribe members from the United States and Canada. The community race is open to anyone interested in participating.
Racing starts at 8:15 a.m. at the Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute, 9169 Coors Road NW in Albuquerque.
Other community events include a 12-and-under competitive race and a 1-mile fun run/walk.
Price for participation is $20 through Thursday, $25 through race day. Interested participants can register on active.com.
For more information, call 505-710-3323 or email sportswarriorsTC@aol.com.

Mariela Saenz was the top predictor in this week’s Pace Race.
Saenz finished with a prediction error of just 13 seconds to win Tuesday’s night’s competition.
The Pace Race was run in the Quemazon and Pipeline Road areas on steep 1, 3 and 3.2-mile courses. All times were adjusted to the longest course.
Saenz topped Meera Nadige for the best prediction – Nadige was 22 seconds of — and Linda Vance, who was 23 seconds off.
The fastest finisher on the 1-mile course was Patricia Burnside, who finished in 9 minutes, 30 seconds. Rao Garimella (10:39) was the fastest finishing male on the short course.
On the 3-mile course Zach Medin (37:27) had the best time and Ted Romero (28:08) and Roxana Candia (34:50) had the top finishes.
The next Pace Race will be Tuesday starting at Bandelier National Monument’s Ponderosa campground. Race time is 6 p.m.
For more information, call 672-1639 or visit atomicrunners.com on the Internet.
 

There aren’t many programs out there that have been a lot more successful than the girls cross country program at Los Alamos High School.
A big part of that has been the coaching of Rob and Kathy Hipwood.
And now, the two coaches have the hardware to prove it.
The husband-and-wife duo were named the 2014 National High School Athletic Coaches Association Coaches of the Year in girls cross country. The Hipwoods were honored in a ceremony last week in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
In 20 years of leading Los Alamos’ girls and boys programs, they have garnered 15 state girls titles. Since 2000, Los Alamos has won 11 titles, including five consecutive titles not once but twice.
While winning titles is certainly the icing on the cake, that’s hardly why the Hipwoods do what they do.
“It feels really good, getting an award for what we’ve dedicated our lives to for the past 20 years,” Kathy Hipwood said.
The Hipwoods were among eight coaches nominated nationally.
Coaches from New Mexico did very well this year, grabbing 11 total nominations. In boys cross country, Allan Lockridge of Pojoaque Valley earned a nomination, as did his boss, athletic director Matt Martinez, who was up for AD of the Year.