Rio Rancho girls win third straight Class 5A track title

Rio Rancho’s girls turned the Class 5A state meet into another Sandoval County showcase, scoring 81 points at the UNM Track-Soccer Complex to beat Cleveland’s 56 and Eldorado’s 50 and claim a third straight championship.

The Rams did it the way championship track teams usually do it: with depth. Sophomore Mariah Galbraith delivered crucial points by finishing second in both the 1,600 and 3,200 meters, chasing Eldorado sophomore Gianna Rahmer in both races. That kind of across-the-board scoring mattered in a meet where no single performance could carry a team alone, and it separated Rio Rancho from rivals that had strong individual runners but not the same overall balance.

The result added another layer to what has become one of the county’s defining athletic runs. Rio Rancho’s girls have now won three consecutive Class 5A titles, while Cleveland’s boys extended an even more remarkable streak by taking their 10th straight championship with 90 points, 21 ahead of La Cueva. Cleveland coach Kenny Henry said the program’s consistency has been built one season at a time. “We take it year by year and every team is a little different,” he said, adding that the current seniors, juniors and sophomores were in elementary school the last time another team won the blue trophy in Class 5A.

That kind of continuity points to more than good weekends in May. Rio Rancho’s run reflects a program culture that has kept athletes moving through the system and peaking when it matters most, while Cleveland’s decade of dominance on the boys side has become part of the identity of a school and a city that expect to contend every spring. In a state where championships are often decided by a handful of points, back-to-back-to-back titles are rare proof of sustained coaching, development and buy-in from athletes and families.

The rivalry also gives Sandoval County a clear center of gravity in New Mexico track. Albuquerque Academy swept the Class 4A team titles, but the biggest Class 5A story again belonged to Rio Rancho and Cleveland, two flagship programs that have turned the state meet into a measuring stick for each other. Galbraith’s runner-up finishes, Rahmer’s continued presence at the top of the girls distance races and Cleveland’s hurdles sweep by Collin Joyner all underscored how often the county’s best programs meet at the top of the standings, not just on the track.