Hope’s Kuykendall is nationally ranked
Cibola G Wilson gets offer from Wash. St.
The boys that line up against him every week don’t need to be told about his talents, but Hope Christian’s Rendon Kuykendall rates as one of the top 20 runners in the country.
So says the latest DyeStat.com rankings which were released late last week.
Kuykendall, the two-time defending state champion in Class 4A, is ranked 20th on the national list. He had been unranked in the rankings prior to this latest release.
And perhaps even more notably, Kuykendall is ranked as the No. 5 junior in the country.
Last weekend, the Huskies standout also finished in third place at the Nike Southwest regional championships in Tempe, Arizona.
According to Hope Christian coach Shane Cleveland, the last New Mexican to place in the top five at that meet was Cleveland’s Luis Martinez in 2012.
Kuykendall, who competed unattached, posted a time of 15 minutes, 1.06 seconds in Tempe, finishing 14 seconds behind the top two runners, who both were from Utah.
Earlier this month, he posted the fastest winning time of any of the five New Mexico state champions.
AND SO IT BEGINS: Local prep basketball fans won’t get the chance to see Marcus Wilson in any high school games this upcoming season, but he’s already received his first Division I scholarship offer from Washington State.
Wilson, who was a standout receiver for the Cougars during the fall, also is a 6-foot-3 combo guard.
But he has chosen to play this winter for A.B.C. Prep, a new local academy. As a result, he cannot participate in high school basketball at Cibola, where he would be a sophomore this upcoming season.
Wilson said A.B.C. Prep would give him a fuller understanding of his potential to play at the next level.
TICKETS: A reminder to anyone who wants to attend any of the four high school football state championship games on Saturday: you won’t be able to just walk up to the stadium box office and purchase a ticket on the day of the game.
Fans can only purchase tickets online, at GoFan. You can find the link at the New Mexico Activities Association website, nmact.org.
Tickets are $10 for adults, and $5 for military, seniors (65 and over) and students in K-12.
Cleveland, Los Lunas, Lovington and Robertson are hosting state finals on Saturday afternoon, all at 1 p.m.
For fans in the metro area who hope to see either the Rio RanchoCleveland game, or the ArtesiaLos Lunas game, the venue in Los Lunas in particular is not large, so seats will go quickly.
THIS AND THAT: Volcano Vista High School is looking for a new head softball coach after the recent resignation of J.J. Garcia. The Hawks are accepting applications for the position through Dec. 1, athletic director Ron McMath said. … The high school All-Star football games will be in Roswell on Dec. 4, with the small schools at 11 a.m., and the larger schools at 2 p.m.