4-25-2024 8:31am

Come Out to the Bob Sepulveda Track and Field Invitational Friday at 3 pm

Chris Edwards Editor

Come on out Friday afternoon beginning at 3 pm Alamogordo and let’s cheer on the students who compete in track and field for the The Bob Sepulveda Invitational which is a State-Qualifying meet. The running events are finals only. One relay from each school will be allowed. Alamogordo High School kept with the tradition of running the medley relay at the Rolla Buck Invitational and the 4 x 800 at the Bob Sepulveda Invitational. All sprint events will have 4 entries and all other field events 3 entries. The field events will begin promptly beginning at 3 pm.

Field Events:

Shot Put, Discus, Javelin- 3 prelims - 3 finals
Long Jump, Triple Jump- 3 prelims - 3 finals
Pole Vault starting height: Determined by entries
High Jump starting height: Determined by entries

Scratch lines for horizontal jumps and throws will be determined by entries and NMAA and National Federation rules will apply.

The schedule

3:00 P.M.

Boys triple Jump followed by boys long jump

Girls long Jump followed by girls triple jump

Boys javelin followed by girls javelin

Girls discus followed by boys discus

3:30 P.M.

Boys pole vault followed by girls pole vault

4:30 P.M.

Girls high jump followed by boys high jump

5:30 P.M.

Girls shot followed by boys shot

RUNNING EVENTS

3:00 P.M.

4 x 800 Meter Relay
3200 Meter Run
400 Meter Relay
100 Meter Hurdles
110 Meter Hurdles
100 Meter Dash
800 Meter Run
800 Meter Relay
400 Meter Dash
300 Meter Hurdles
200 Meter Dash
1600 Meter Run
1600 Meter Relay

After the results are announced for each event, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place Medals will be available for pick-up in the press box.

The Bob Sepulveda Invitational is named in honor of Coach Bob Sepulveda who during his tenure at Alamogordo High School ran the track and field program and was head junior varsity football coach from 1964 to 1996. During Coach Sepulveda tenure the Alamogordo Boys Track and Field team dominated the state with 5 back to back state title championships.

Coach Bob Sepulveda worked closely with the many community organizations such as Lyons, the Century Club, Rotary and others to build Southern New Mexico’s first rubberized track surface that at the time was state of the art and compared to those at universities.

During his tenure as a coach he faced a variety of tough issues; the launch of national high school interscholastic sports standards, integration and the civil rights fights of the 60s, feminism of the 70’s, Title IX implementation and girls interscholastic championships, the politics around high school sports and more.

Coach Sepulveda was one of those rare individuals that for over 4 decades bridged economics, race, feminism, political unrest and UNITED the business community, educational community, political leaders and parents around one goal - student success.

Coach Bob Sepulveda, New Mexico Coach of the Year for boy's track; 1982, 1991 and 1996. Received the NHSACA Region 8 Coach of the Year in 1982, 1991 and 1996, Section 6 Coach of the Year in 1991 and 1996. Along with his wife Marilyn, both, received the New Mexico High School Coaches Association Level IV Coaching Milestone ring in 1989. He and his wife Marilyn were inducted into the Alamogordo Tiger Hall of Fame in 1988

Coach Sepulveda as head coach won 19 District Championships, 5 State Championships, 1 second place finish and 5 third place finishes. His teams won 170 Invitational Track meets. He has had 102 athletes win a first place medal at the State Track Meet. Multiple athletes went on to college with academic and athletic scholarships under his leadership.

In more recent times, people know of Coach Sepulveda because the Tiger Football Field Track bears his name.

His accomplishments and those of his student athletes was read into the Congressional Record by Congresswoman Yvette Herrell during her tenure and the Otero County Commission recognized him for his years of leadership as a community consensus builder in 2022.

Bob Sepulveda competed in the Senior Olympics last year winning 5 gold medals. He will be competing again this year at age 88 along with his son and a team of athletes representing Alamogordo with an eye in the Seniors National Olympics Championship for 2024.

Come on out to the Tiger Stadium at 3 pm on Friday and let’s cheer on the many student athletes from around the state and say hello to Coach Bob Sepulveda who will also be on hand. See you at Tiger stadium at 3 pm Friday!

Alamogordo alumni Greg Stevens said of Coach Sepulveda, “the kid who was never going to play in 1984 till Coach Bob stood up for me, led Alamogordo the very next year to a 12 and 1 state runner up in football, All State 1985, All Conference 1990, Tiger Hall of Fame 1999. Until a couple of years ago the records stood for most passing yard season, total offense season, most passing yards in a game, career passing yards, wins, career total offense, TD passes single season and career. In addition to being a great track and field coach Bob, trained us to be well rounded and to excel in life. He remains close friend today. “