Los Lunas boys 4x400 relay sets school record with last-minute lineup change
A two-hour lineup scramble did not slow Los Lunas. Alexjandro Bachicha stepped in for Joaquin Trujillo, and the Tigers still set a school-record 4x400 at Albuquerque Academy.
A last-minute scramble turned into a school record for Los Lunas.
When Joaquin Trujillo could not run the boys 4x400 relay at the Richard Harper Invitational, Alexjandro Bachicha was told only two hours before race time that he would fill the opening. By the end of the 1,600-meter relay Saturday at Albuquerque Academy in Albuquerque, Daniel Medina, Bachicha, Tegan Gallegos and Tayson Gaxiola had delivered a school-record performance anyway.
The finish mattered because the Tigers did more than survive an injury setback. They absorbed a late change, kept the baton moving cleanly and held their intensity through four legs of pressure racing. Gaxiola, the anchor, said Bachicha answered the call with one of the best second legs he had seen, a sign that the relay’s strength came from trust as much as speed.
That trust has been building all season. At the March 8 Tiger Invitational, boys coach Joseph Baca said Los Lunas looked stronger than in past years and said the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams "could be really special" and should reach the state finals. Baca also said hurdler Angel Aguilar had already qualified for state in the 110 hurdles, another marker of depth in a program that has started to spread quality across multiple events.
The 4x400 record also fits a larger pattern for the Tigers. In 2025, Los Lunas’ boys 4x800 relay of James Kilcullen, Nathan Williams, James Martinez and Brady Garcia set a school record at the New Mexico Class 5A state track and field championships, finishing fourth in 8:11.57. That result, paired with Saturday’s 4x400 run, shows the relay program is not depending on one standout group. It is producing multiple combinations that can compete under championship pressure.
For Los Lunas, the message is clear heading into district and state meets: depth can cover an injury, and adaptability can still produce a record. In a sport where four runners have to move as one, the Tigers showed they have more than one way to win.
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