Mostly good news for realigned Northern schools
Now that the dust has settled in the latest round of classification and alignment in prep athletics for the next two school years, we can finally hunker down and see who benefited from this brave, new world.
The NMAA made a handful of adjustments to its plan, and a couple of those changes impacted Northern schools — probably for the better.
The winners
Santa Fe High football: OK, Demons faithful. The football team is out of 6A, so now what? Well, expect them to win — and soon (hey, no pressure, Andrew Martinez). With a district that includes Capital, Del Norte and Los Alamos, it screams “readymade” for competing right off the bat. Soon, we won’t be talking about that 33-game losing streak. Just don’t start talking about the 2020 alignment. Enjoy these two years.
District 2-4A: Thanks to Bernalillo exchanging places with Moriarty, 2-4A in girls basketball and volleyball got a lot better. Española should be the team to beat in boys basketball, but the girls side will have three legitimately good programs in the Lady Sundevils, Moriarty and Pojoaque Valley. If the Española school district is wise and retains Damon Salazar as head coach, the volleyball district will be
equally tough.
Santa Fe Indian School (just not in football):
In all honesty, SFIS would have been fine in 4A in all non-football sports, but getting the chance to be in 2-3A with the Las Vegas schools, Santa Fe Prep and St. Michael’s is just as good, especially in volleyball. You will have the two-time state runner-up in the Lady Cardinals, a 4A semifinalist in the Lady Horsemen and two teams that made it to the quarterfinals (SFIS in 4A, Prep in 3A).
And we are not going to touch on football. No way.
A wash
The mostly Santa Fe basketball district
in 2A: You can pretty much pencil McCurdy or Monte del Sol as district boys champions for the next couple of years, and Tierra Encantada and McCurdy on the other side. But don’t expect more than one or two playoff teams from this district, and the girls basketball district just doesn’t inspire any excitement. Consider yourselves lucky this school didn’t move into your district.
Pecos: Yes, the Panthers wanted to move into the Santa Fe district to avoid a lot of travelling over the next two years. It didn’t happen, but it will be a good thing overall, given how strong the district is in just about every sport. Although, the wrestling program basically has half of the state in its district, thanks to Cobre’s and Socorro’s inclusion, which makes for even more travel when it comes to district meets.
On the flip side, blowing out Tierra Encantada and Academy for Technology and the Classics in boys basketball wouldn’t be good for anybody.
Loser
The Pecos-Mora rivalry: How could we not make this happen, NMAA? If any district rivalry needs to be restored (more so than the Grants-Bernalillo grudge match), it is this one. It’s a rivalry of grudging respect, sprinkled with a hint of dislike. And it’s just darn fun to cover, especially when both basketball teams are good.