TOP ATHLETES OF 2017-18
KENDRA DURAN
Las Vegas Robertson Softball It would be difficult to tell the history of Lady Cardinals softball without mentioning the contributions of this celebrated senior. She batted .429 with 10 home runs and 26 RBIs, scoring a team-high 42 runs in the process. Her primary position was ace of the pitching staff. She won 16 games, striking out 162 of the 344 batters she faced. In five years on varsity, Robertson won 109 games — 58 games as a pitcher — and collected a school-record 36 home runs, 138 RBIs and 132 hits.
BRANDELYN FULGENZI
Las Vegas Robertson Tennis Unbeaten in 35 singles matches and 15 tries at doubles, this Lady Cardinals senior established herself as one of the most dominant players the state has seen in years. She won her first 13 singles matches without dropping a single game and finished her final year in Robertson red without losing a set. Fulgenzi steamrolled her way through the singles draw at state for 1A-4A, winning her second singles title and fifth (two doubles) overall.
RICHARD ARMIJO
Las Vegas Robertson Big-school baseball A big factor in the Cardinals’ run to a district championship was the man in the middle. The team’s starting shortstop and one of its top pitchers, this senior helped the ‘Birds win 23 games and reach the Class 4A quarterfinals. A slap hitter whose team-high 48 hits included five doubles, three triples and a home run, he was a difficult out. He struck out just eight times in 107 plate appearances while batting .511 with an on-base percentag pushing .600.
FAITH POWELL
Taos Big-school track and field There might be a person or two who can run faster than this Lady Tigers junior, but no one can jump higher or farther. She dominated the jumping events at the 4A state meet, winning the long jump by nearly a foot and a half, the triple jump by 13 1/2 inches and then capped it with a win in the high jump at 5-4. Her leaping ability makes others stop and watch when her name is called. She routinely drew crowds during the state meet thanks to a style that makes it look almost easy.
CORA CANNEDY
Taos Big-school cross country The senior led a young group of Lady Tigers to the Class 4A title, giving her four blue championship trophies and one runner-up in her career. She finished second to freshman phenom Ella Katz in the state meet, but was consistently one of the Lady Tigers’ top runners. She won the Taos Invitational (Sept. 16) and the Capital City invite in consecutive weeks, took fourth in the championship division of the Rio Rancho Jamboree on Oct. 14 and second at the Los Alamos invite a week later.
ROSE MOON
Santa Fe Waldorf Small-school volleyball Moon’s hitting prowess is known throughout the state, but the junior showed off her versatility by taking over the setter position for a couple of District 1-1A matches. She had 23 assists in a four-game win over Walatowa on Oct. 13, then recorded 15 assists Oct. 18 in a sweep of New Mexico School for the Deaf. Otherwise, she was a force on the outside, recording 398 kills, second-best in the state. She led the state with 86 aces, as Waldorf reached the Class 1A semifinals for the second time in the past four years.
BRANDELYN FULGENZI
Las Vegas Robertson Big-school volleyball A jill-of-all-trades, but the master of the spike. The Lady Cardinals’ senior almost never left the court, which demonstrated her versatility on a team that reached the Class 4A championship match. Fulgenzi’s forte was at the net, where she recorded 16 kills per match and her 387 kills were best in 4A.
CARISA PADILLA
St. Michael’s Golf Every team needs an anchor, a go-to person to serve as the cornerstone for something bigger and better. This sophomore was all those things and more the past two years with the Lady Horsemen. She led the team, which barely had enough girls to field a roster for the postseason, to a second straight 1A-4A state title in May. Her short putt on the final hole on the tournament’s last day nailed down a seven-stroke team victory.
JAVIER VIGIL
Pojoaque Valley Wrestling Eight isn’t enough. Not even close. With one year left to add onto his prep résumé, this Elks junior has his sights set on a fourth state championship next February. He picked up his third — and the family’s eighth after brother Jose’s five in a row between 2013-17 — with an undefeated run to the 170pound title in 1A-4A. It was his second straight season without a loss and was the fourth time in as many years that he has reached the state finals, the first coming at 106 pounds as an eighthgrader at Capital.
ARTHUR STEINKAMP
Los Alamos Soccer Steinkamp, a junior forward, was the answer man for the Hilltoppers. His 26 goals scored was second most in Class 5A and fourth most in the state for the 2017 season. Steinkamp tallied a hat trick in a 4-0 win over Taos on Sept. 5 and four goals in a 6-0 win over Roswell Goddard at the Albuquerque Academy Invitational on Sept. 8. He shined in the Class 5A State Tournament, scoring three of Los Alamos’ four goals in helping the Hilltoppers reach the semifinals.
CHRISTIAN FERNANDEZ
Española Valley Big-school basketball He was the best player on 5A’s best team, leading the Sundevils to the brink of a state title with the kind of play that made him a standout player since middle school. Gifted with speed and lateral quickness, the 5-foot-9 senior point guard was more of a facilitator than a pure scorer, a perfect fit on a team that emphasized balanced scoring and tempo of play. A solid shooter, he was clutch at the free-throw line and embraced the pressure of the big stage, the kind of pressure everyone who plays basketball for the Sunto devils comes understand.
CARLY GONZALES
Peñasco Small-school cross country Gonzales helped the Lady Panthers to a secondstraight Class 1A/2A title Nov. 4 and captured her second individual state championship in three years at the state meet. It was her fifth individual title of the year: Gonzales won the District 5-2A meet, the small-school division of the Rio Rancho Jamboree, the Northern New Mexico Challenge and the Bosque Invitational. She also was a part of a district tournament championship volleyball squad, which won that title on the same day Peñasco won its state cross country crown.
ARJAY ORTIZ
Las Vegas Robertson Big-school football The opposing team’s game plan was simple: Stop the Cardinals’ senior quarterbac Actually doing it, though, w another matter. Ortiz threw for 1,767 yards and 19 touch downs as he led Robertson to its third straight Class 4A championship game. He als was the team’s leading rush with 1,864 yards and ran fo 11 touchdowns, to boot. As i that wasn’t enough, the Ne Mexico Highlands Universit bound player had a team-be 100 tackles and nine interce tions on the defensive end.
ANNA SWANSON
Santa Fe Prep Soccer Only a freshman, Swanson was a scoring machine that helped Prep to its first district title in 12 years. She scored a state-best 49 goals in 2017 and averaged a hat trick per match as Prep went 15-1-1 and reached the Class 1A/4A semifinals. Twice she scored six goals (against East Mountain on Aug. 31 and Pojoaque Valley on Oct. 7) and she had a pair of five-goal performances. She will be a force for years to come for the Blue Griffins.
MARIO ARCHETA
Pecos Small-school Decades Pecos the back-to-back state champion still from will basketball now, people in be talking about led by this guy, an All-State 6-foot drive to combo the bast, shoot from guard who could the perimeter a defend like no one’s business. led the Panthers in scoring (5.8), assists (2.7) and blocked shot (0.7) but his biggest contribution may have been his side of plau both on the court and the locker room. A confidence, coachable player who never let his emotions get the be of him, he embodied the Pos way with hustle and an unnakble work ethic, traits he learned while leading the tear through its greatest two-year stretch ever.
ANTHONY PAUL MARTINEZ
Escalante Small-school football Martinez, a senior, wasn’t the biggest (5-foot-2) or the fastest player on the field, but he played bigger and faster than he appeared. Martinez was a dual threat, running for 294 yards and collecting 455 yards in the air as Escalante reached the Class 2A championship game. In Escalante’s signature win of the season — a 39-6 win over Class 6A’s Santa Fe High on Oct. 13 — he had a 69-yard touchdown run and a 35-yard catch for a TD.
HAYDEN COLFAX
Santa Fe Prep Small-school track and field Two firsts, a team state title and five trips to the podium. Not a bad weekend at the state track meet for this Prep junior. Colfax manhandled the field in the 100-meter hurdles, winning by more than half a second to capture one of her two individual state titles. The other came in the triple jump, when she went three inches farther than an else.
ALONZO ARAGON
Mora Small-school baseball It’s said that the best baseball players get a hit only three out of 10 times at the plate. For this Rangers senior, make that seven out of 10. His ridiculous .709 batting average was a huge factor in Mora’s run to a small-school state championship in May. Aragon finished with 56 hits, 27 of which went for extra bases, good for a crazy 1.944 OPS. He also drove in a team-high 44 with 38 runs scored and struck out just three times in 85 trips to the plate.
DEVEN THOMPSON
New Mexico School for the Deaf Small-school track and field Standing 6-foot-10, Thompson, a junior, won the state title in the shot put and discus by using his enormous leverage to go farther than everyone else. His toss of more than 46 feet in the shot put was half a dozen feet beyond anyone i t field.
MIGUEL COCA
West Las Vegas Big-school cross country Coca headed the “Big Three” running trio that included J.J. Esquibel and Mikah Paiz for much of the regular season. The group’s biggest contribution was sweeping the top three spots in the Class 4A state championship on Nov. 4 to lead the Dons to a thirdplace finish. Coca dominated the race, winning in a time of 16 minutes, 20.05 seconds, one of four races he won during the season. Coca showed his strength on the same Rio Rancho High School course three weeks earlier by winning the large-school division race at the Rio Rancho Jamboree on Oct. 14.
JOSH DEHERRERA
Pecos Small-school cross country DeHerrera was one of many talented runners who led the Panthers to their third straight Class 3A team title, but he always seemed to be near the front of the pack. He finished second at the 3A state meet on Nov. 4, as Pecos placed five runners in the top nine to run away with the blue trophy. DeHerrera was the steady No. 1 runner for the Panthers, leading their charge in the District 2-3A championship and also winning the home Ron Valdez emorial Invitational eet Se t. 23.
CARLY GONZALES
Peñasco Small-school basketball Just moments after her team was beaten in the 2A state championship game in The Pit, this Lady Panthers sophomore admitted she never liked running all that much. Strange, because it’s her ability to get from Point A to Point B in no time that makes her such a dangerous player for one of the best teams in the state. A guard who has the ability to beat opponents off the dribble, she did most of her work by getting a step on drives to the basket or creating space for an open look anywhere inside of 20 feet. With two years of eligibility remaining, she demonstrated time and again she’s a talent worth watching.
JOSH FAMBRO
Taos Golf It was pushing 90 degrees the day this Tigers junior clinched the individual 1A-4A state championship, yet he was decked out in his traditional golf attire: Slacks and a pressed polo. As nice as he looked, he played even better. Josh parlayed a first-round lead at the state tournament into a three-stroke victory in the final round to become the first Taos golfer to win an NMAA champio
GABE GREGORY AND NICO FULGENZI
Las Vegas Robertson Tennis Behold, the latest chapter in the story that is the Fulgenzi tennis factory. An eighthgrader who has for years been the projected male heir to the family’s tennis dynasty, Fulgenzi paired with Gregory, a junior, to form an undefeated doubles team that won the 1A-4A state title in May. While such an accomplishment is simply the Fulgenzi way, it was a welcome change of pace for his counterpart. Gregory went 32-1 while paired with various teammates throughout the season but was 13-0 when playing alongside Fulgenzi.
ALIANZA DARLEY
Las Vegas Robertson Big-school basketball This 5-foot-11 junior led 4A in scoring (18.1). Tall enough to start at center and quick enough to play the perimeter game, she plays like a guard but can post up against almost anyone. She played her best games down the stretch, averaging 22.8 points and 5 rebounds the final 13 games. That included a 36-point, 9-rebound night against Pojoaque Valley in the district tournament.
JONAH VIGIL
Taos Big-school track and field Let’s see … high point athlete, check. Four-time individual winner, check. Team champ, check. State record-holder, check. About the only thing this Tigers junior didn’t do during the state meet was sell bootleg shirts out of his car. He shattered the 17-year-old state mark in the 400 meter preliminaries (47.01 seconds), then posted the second-fastest time ever the next day in the finals. He also won the 100, 200 and long jump and helped the 400 relay to a win as the Taos track dynasty picked up another team title.
RILEY KINLAW
Santa Fe Prep Swimming He reached the podium three times in four events during the state meet, but his most memorable trip came after his sixth-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly finals. Sitting in last place at the midway point, he passed two rivals before touching the wall in 53.50 seconds. He had another sixthplace finish in the record-setting 100 breaststroke finals.
SARA SHIINA
Los Alamos Swimming The senior will be best remembered for her remarkable finish in the final few strokes of the 100-yard butterfly finals at the state meet in February. In last place at the halfway point, she miraculously worked her way through the pack to finish third in a time of 59.54 seconds. It was one of four events Shiina swam that weekend.