Two prominent former coaches die over weekend
New Mexico lost a pair of coaching legends over the weekend. Former New Mexico Highlands baseball coach Jim Marshall passed away Sunday, as did former New Mexico State men’s basketball coach Neil McCarthy.
McCarthy, 81, was the Aggies head coach from 1985-97. His teams were often the bridesmaid to Jerry Tarkanian’s famed UNLV program when both were part of what started as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association and became the Big West.
He led the Aggies to seven straight postseason trips between 1989 and 1995, averaging 26 wins a season in that span. The high-water mark came in 1992 when he led NMSU to the Sweet 16 in The Pit.
He was fired just weeks before the 1997-98 season. The school cited a number of off-court issues, including an academic scandal that rocked the program. McCarthy graduated just 11 percent of his players during his dozen years in Las Cruces.
He went 248-123 in his time with NMSU and won 205 games in an 11-year run as Weber State’s coach from 1974-85.
Marshall, 86, is nothing short of a legendary figure in Northern New Mexico. He led Highlands to the 1967 NAIA national championship in baseball and was later inducted into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. He was a college teammate of Gale Sayers at Kansas following a brief stint in the military.
Marshall was a defensive back and fullback while Sayers, of course, was on his way to an NFL Hall of Fame career as a running back for the Chicago Bears. Back then, the Kansas Comet was just a college kid who made would-be tacklers like Marshall look silly.
A native of California who lived out his final days in Hobbs, Marshall took the job as baseball coach at Highlands a year after leaving his playing days in football and baseball at Kansas. That post morphed into so much more during his nearly three decades in Las Vegas, N.M. He was the university’s athletic director for 12 years and helped out as an assistant on the football and softball teams. Aside from that, he was an NMHU professor and was acting chairman of the school’s Department of Physical Education and Health.
His résumé includes 38 years as a college coach — 27 at Highlands and 11 at College of the Southwest in Hobbs. He was NMHU’s baseball coach from 1965-91, taking the Cowboys to the NAIA national semifinals three different times. His overall record was 384-351.
He was inducted into NMHU’s Hall of Honor in 2002.
For those Santa Fe High football fans looking for a ray of sunshine amid the black clouds that hovered over Albuquerque Eldorado’s 28-12 win Friday, here is something: For the first time in eight years, the Demons played a game without their opponent invoking either the 35-point margin running clock or the 50-point mercy rule. The last time that occurred was in 2014, when the Deming Wildcats beat Santa Fe High, 27-7. That is a span of 16 games in which 6A schools outscored the Demons 845-55.
Saturday’s game represents the fewest points Santa Fe High has allowed a 6A school since the Deming game and the most points they have scored since beating Albuquerque High 51-34 in 2013, which is also the last time Santa Fe High won a big-school game. The Demons look to change that Friday when they play Albuquerque Manzano at home for homecoming.
Let’s keep the Santa Fe High slant going but switch to soccer.
Wednesday will be a big test for the boys and girls teams as they take on Albuquerque High to open District 5-5A play. Both Albuquerque High teams were 5A runners-up last year, but the programs are on divergent paths. The boys program is 6-1 and ranked second in the state, while the Santa Fe High boys sit at eighth after enjoying a week as the No. 1 team in the state earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the Santa Fe High girls, who are 8-0 and ranked seventh in 5A, take on a 2-4 Lady Bulldogs squad that recently endured a coaching change.
Brenda Atencio was one of dozens of players who took part in the recent American Football Events USA All-Stars Patriot Day Game in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
A native of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo near Española, she was an undergraduate at Northern New Mexico College and later got a master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma. She also happened to play a lot of football over the years, eventually founding New Mexico’s semi-pro all-women’s team, the Rio Grande Heat.
The Patriot Day Game took place Sept. 11. Meant to honor the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it brought together the best female football players from around the country. She was drafted onto the American All-Stars roster, which beat the National All-Stars, 20-15.
The biggest regular-season cross-country event occurs Saturday, if only out of habit. The Rio Rancho Jamboree is this week, a month earlier than its traditional October date. That is mainly because the State Cross-Country Championship no longer takes place at Rio Rancho High School. The New Mexico Activities Association moved it to Albuquerque Academy during the shortened spring season and it will remain there for this fall.
Despite that, expect most of the state to show up for this meet because of the challenging course that combines running on grass, asphalt and a dirt trail with a steep hill climb. Every northern school will be at the meet except for Mora, which will be at the Nick Martin Memorial Invite in Sandia Park.
In case you’re wondering, the Albuquerque Academy Invitational is set for Oct. 16 — which is the slot the Jamboree held.