Santa Fe Century rolls back into town
The Santa Fe Century bike ride will make a belated return, and with a new venue for participants. The Century, which organizers boast is the state’s largest bicycling event, will celebrate the 35th edition on Oct. 10 after the coronavirus pandemic canceled it in 2020. Instead of its old start/finish at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, participants will begin and end their rides in the Railyard district. They will still have the familiar courses for the 25-mile, Half-Century (50-mile) and Century rides, as will the timed Medio (50-mile) and Gran (100-mile) Fondos.
“For over 35 years, the Santa Fe Century has been a rite of passage for cyclists throughout the Southwest,” said Matt Piccarello, the Century executive director, “from first-timers to weekend warriors and ex-professionals, everyone loves riding our beautiful routes that wind through the Ortiz Mountains, Galisteo Basin and now finish at Santa Fe’s exciting Railyard arts district.”
One change participants will face are strict mask-wearing policies, including a requirement to wear masks when picking up their packets or any merchandise.
Registration closes Oct. 3. For more information, go to santafecentury.com.
The Santa Fe Striders announced its 2021 scholarship winners last week. They’re reserved for cross-country and track student-athletes from the Santa Fe area. A total of $5,000, which was partially raised by the annual Corrida de Los Locos race, was distributed between four winners.
They are: Alicia Quintana, a recent graduate of Pojoaque Valley, Lucas Rosas; a Monte del Sol graduate, Dylan Tapia; a Santa Fe High grad; and Rafael Sanchez, formerly of Los Alamos High School.
Quintana is attending UNM and will study psychology. She was a four-year letter winner and captain for the Elkettes. Rosas ran for Capital’s track program. He will attend UNM.
Tapia is headed for New Mexico Tech to study mechanical engineering. He ran for four years for the Demons. Sanchez is going to UNM to study biology. He was captain of the Hilltoppers’ track and cross-country teams, winning three events in track his senior year.
Recent Los Alamos High graduate Frances Laurent has been named one of eight regional winners of the Novo Nordisk Donnelly Scholarship, a charitable award given by the USTA Foundation.
Winners are high school students or those already enrolled in college who have excelled in academics and tennis, athletes who have shown strong leadership and community involvement skills. Two national recipients receive $10,000 each while the regional winners get $5,000.
Laurent was 6-1 as a singles player for Los Alamos her senior year. She was 7-0 in doubles play. She helped the Hilltoppers to a second-place finish at the 2021 state tournament in June.
Santa Fe has been named the best city in the U.S. for runners and outdoor exercise, according to a study by experts affiliated with national outfitter Runners Need.
Among the organizations findings: Santa Fe is the seventh-safest city based on a low crime rate. Runners also have access to open trails and parks, places that are relatively free of pollution.
The city edged out Madison, Wis.; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Annapolis, Md.; and Toledo, Ohio.
The Runners Need study determined New York City is the worst place for runners. Los Angeles and Houston were just in front of the Big Apple on the list.
Annapolis tops the charts as the study’s most active city based on events logged online. Orlando, Fla.; Salt Lake City and Milwaukee also rank towards the top of this category.
The study was based on a combination of factors including safety, traffic density, air cleanliness and the number of public parks.
Congratulations to Las Vegas Robertson head coach Leroy Gonzalez for his 100th win Friday, which he got with a 12-7 win over Ruidoso. While Gonzalez begins his 12th year has head coach at the school, this is his 11th season because Robertson did not play in the shortened spring season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In those 11 years, he accumulated a 100-34 record with a state title in 2013. Gonzalez also led Robertson to four straight 3A runner-up finishes from 2015-18 and the program has reached double-figure wins for its last six seasons.
In fact, Gonzalez’s record since 2014 is a remarkable 67-13. The irony in Robertson’s win over the Warriors is that it has outscored opponents 100-14 in winning three straight games after a 34-8 loss at Santa Fe High.
The North American Hockey League was, for a brief time, a thing in Santa Fe. From 200407, the Santa Fe RoadRunners called the Genoveva Chavez Community Center home.
The team moved to Northern New Mexico from the Dallas area, then bolted after a dismal run at the turnstile made hockey in Santa Fe a failed business.
The RoadRunners moved to Topeka, Kan., were rebranded as the Topeka Pilots in 2018 and have since relocated again. They’re now the Amarillo Wranglers.
In a roundabout way, the RoadRunners are coming back to the 505 in the form of a handful of road games against the New Mexico Ice Wolves. To add to the Santa Fe flavor (it’s a stretch, we know), one of the Ice Wolves’ assistant coaches is Jared Brown. Brown was one of the original RoadRunners when the team that was the Lone Star Cavalry became the ’Runners 17 years ago.
Amarillo will visit Albuquerque’s Outpost Ice Arena four times during the 2021-22 NAHL season.
New Mexico’s professional soccer team is trying to do something about the referee shortage across the state.
The New Mexico United will host a recruiting effort Tuesday at the team’s pro shop in Albuquerque. The team is inviting community members to register for referee training courses.
Any person to register for courses will get a handheld flag from the United, then get two tickets to a future home match if they complete the certification process.
“There are so many incredible youth and adult soccer programs across New Mexico, but in order for our kids and communities to keep playing the beautiful game, they need refs,” said United owner and president Peter Trevisani. “Refereeing is a great way to stay active and make sure that soccer continues to grow across our state.”
One of the premier women’s golf events is coming to a course near you.
The PGA of America announced earlier this week that Twin Warriors Golf Club in Santa Ana Pueblo will host the Women’s PGA Cup from Oct. 24-29, 2022.
The Women’s PGA Cup is an international event for PGA club professionals. Players are divided into teams based on their country of origin. The United States won the inaugural Cup in 2019, an event that drew teams from Australia, Britain, Canada, Ireland and Sweden.
“We’re very excited to welcome the top women’s golf Professionals from around the globe to Twin Warriors and the beautiful state of New Mexico,” said PGA of America president Jim Richerson. “The inaugural Women’s PGA Cup in 2019 was well-received globally and the tight margin of victory enjoyed by the U.S. Team showed the women’s game is rich in international talent, especially at the professional level.”
Each team will again be composed of five players and one captain. Each country has the option of allowing its captain to compete. Each team’s lowest three scores will be counted after each round and the victorious country will have the lowest 54-hole aggregate total.