Farmington relay team wins state title after early jitters

At the UNM Track-Soccer Complex in Albuquerque during the New Mexico Activities Association’s May 15-16 Class 4A-5A championships, Farmington’s boys 1600-meter sprint medley relay turned a nervous start into a state title.

The quartet of senior Dayton Bizzell, junior Daniel Austin and sophomores Canton Cahoon and Cache Webb won the Class 5A final in 3:32.24, edging Rio Rancho Cleveland High School at 3:35.01 and Las Cruces Organ Mountain High School at 3:35.17. In a race where clean handoffs matter as much as speed, Farmington stayed organized long enough to separate itself from the field.

Bizzell set the tone on the opening leg. He said he was nervous, but he got out well, caught the runners in front of him and handed off cleanly. That mattered in a relay built on sequence and trust. If the first exchange falters, the rest of the race is spent chasing damage. Farmington avoided that trap, and the rest of the lineup kept the momentum intact.

Austin, Cahoon and Webb did not need to produce a dramatic comeback because Bizzell had already put Farmington in position. Their job was to keep the pace steady and the baton secure, and that is what the Scorpions did on the way to the finish. The result was not only a fast time, but a composed one, the kind of performance that usually decides state championships.

The relay victory also fit into a broader team showing for Farmington. The program left the state meet with eight medals, a sign that the boys track team was not riding on one isolated performance but on a deeper group of contenders who handled a high-pressure meet in Albuquerque.

That depth echoed last year’s state meet, when Farmington also collected eight medals, including two golds and two silvers. This year’s relay title added another state championship to that pattern and showed how Farmington keeps building results one exchange, one leg and one calm finish at a time.