King of Speed Competition Heating Up

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The battle for the ‘King of Speed' crown is beginning to heat up with the New Mexico state track and field championships a month away.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Monday, three New Mexico football players emerged as legitimate contenders for the title with strong performances at the Sepulveda Meet of Champions held at the University of New Mexico track &amp; field complex in Albuquerque.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2025 Santa Fe wide receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='615514' first='Bryce' last='Melton']</strong> won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.84 seconds. He edged 2024 Los Alamos WR/DB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='590222' first='Melaki' last='Gutierrez']</strong> (10.91) by 7/100ths of a second for the title with 2026 La Cueva WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='402251' first='Tanner' last='Montano']</strong> (10.99) finishing third.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gutierrez, though, won the 200 in 21.80 seconds with Melton finishing one-tenth of a second behind (21.90) for second place just ahead of Montano (21.90), who recorded the same time but was listed in third place. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As a sophomore in 2022, Melton saw his first varsity action for the Demons, catching 8 passes for 154 yards and 1 TD. Santa Fe head coach Andrew Martinez told Prep Redzone New Mexico that he expects Melton to be a much-improved player as a junior this coming fall. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Montano, arguably the fastest player in the rising sophomore class, should see his first varsity action this season for the Bears, who reached the 2022 Class 6A state championship game but will rely on a new core of offensive players this coming season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last Thursday, Montano ran a personal best 10.77 seconds in the 100 meters to win the event at the Cleveland High's Storm Relays over Gutierrez and Melton.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gutierrez's fastest time in the 100 this spring is 10.85 seconds. He has been offered by Eastern New Mexico and Ottawa University Arizona. He had 29 receptions for 502 yards and 5 TD last season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The spring track season is still in the early stages, so expect plenty of battles between Gutierrez, Melton and Montano before the state track &amp; field meet at UNM next month. The championships for Classes 4A-5A will take place May 12-13.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Who will win the King of Speed crown for 2023? Right now, it's too close to call.       </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/tannermontano7/status/1645497248527130655","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/tannermontano7/status/1645497248527130655 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/MelakiGutierrez/status/1645875352940744708","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/MelakiGutierrez/status/1645875352940744708 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/MelakiGutierrez/status/1616872947251294208","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/MelakiGutierrez/status/1616872947251294208 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed -->