Sundevils have only glimmer of hope remaining
Well, it was nice while it lasted for the Española Valley boys basketball team. The Sundevils entered the District 2-4A season with a 2-16 record and no hopes of advancing to the Class 4A State Tournament — unless they win the district title. That seemed to be the case through the first five games as the Sundevils were tied with Taos for first place at 4-1.
This week, however, brought the team back to Earth, as Moriarty and Los Alamos beat Española to push it back to third place. The Hilltoppers downed the Sundevils 51-41 on Saturday in Edward Medina Gymnasium, getting a measure of revenge for a 49-48 loss Jan. 26 that was decided on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
At 6-19 and 4-3 in district play, the Sundevils postseason hopes are practically gone … unless they can win the District 2-4A Tournament.
Don’t say it can’t happen.
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Legendary Santa Fe high head wrestling Mike Lujan was a part of the last wrestling team at Trinidad (Colo.) State during the 1971-72 season.
That is, until the 2023-24 version of the Trojans take to the mat in December.
Lujan was at the Region 1 Wrestling Championships on Saturday at Rio Rancho Cleveland handing out leaflets announcing the return of the sport to the school, which was announced in December. He said he was heartened by the junior college’s decision, especially because it had a profound influence on his career.
“We’ll have a pipeline [of wrestling recruits] for Trinidad State, we’ll have a pipeline for Adams State and we have a pipeline for [New Mexico] Highlands,” Lujan said. “Kids will have a choice to go to three different schools.”
A four-year letterman in the sport and a 1970 graduate at Albuquerque Rio Grande, Lujan said wrestling at Trinidad State was invaluable to him. He said he had offers to play at Division I schools like UNM, but wasn’t ready for the academic rigors at the school. Trinidad
State gave him a chance to wrestle and prepared him for his future as a teacher.
He began teaching in Santa Fe in 1975, but he also started Santa Fe Junior Wrestling that same year, a program that introduced wrestling to local youth and grew to include hundreds of kids at its zenith. He also was the head wrestling coach at Santa Fe High from 1980-2003, and produced 28 state champions and 12 college All-Americans during his tenure.
Lujan said he and Trinidad State head coach John Lewis will be at this weekend’s State Wrestling Championships, introducing prospective wrestlers to the coach and the program.
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The first games of the high school baseball season are less than two weeks away — weather permitting, of course.
Santa Fe High is getting an early start Saturday when it hosts the Demon Alumni Game on the recently refurbished field next to Ivan Head Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. but players are being asked to arrive an hour earlier to get loose and warm up.
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The New Mexico Highlands women’s indoor track and field team has moved back into the top 20 of the latest NCAA Division II rankings. It’s one of four teams from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in this week’s rankings, joining No. 23 Colorado-Colorado Springs, No. 8 Colorado School of Mines and No. 2 Adams State.
The Cowgirls moved up two spots this week after starting the season at No. 12 The rankings are tabulated by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. It’s officially known as the USTFCCCA National Rating Index.
What’s most impressive about NMHU is the team’s youth. There are only five seniors on the roster. Of the 15 indoor events earlier this season, the top performers in 13 of them were freshmen, sophomores and juniors. The team’s top marks in the 800-meter, mile and 3,000 is sophomore Faith Lovato from Rio Rancho while the top sprinter is freshman Patreece Clarke from Jamaica.
Highlands will head to the RMAC Indoor Championships Feb. 24-25 in Alamosa, Colo. Those who qualify for nationals will compete in the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships March 10-11 in Virginia Beach, Va.
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Timing is everything.
Just as New Mexico State’s men’s basketball team is making headlines for all the wrong reasons, the NMSU football team will be in Santa Fe on Monday as part of “Aggie Football Day” at the Legislature. Aggies coach Jerry Kill and players Diego Pavia, Trevor Brohard and Shiyazh Pete, along with NMSU athletic director Mario Moccia, will be honored on the floor of the Senate for winning the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit in December.
It comes as NMSU is requesting $16.8 million in capital outlay money for 13 improvement projects in the athletic department. The football team is just getting the finishing touches done on a new turf field at Aggie Memorial Stadium, but the target of this capital outlay request are a number of smaller projects like lights for the softball field, roof repairs and a new video board for the football stadium.
The school is also asking for $10 million to go toward a new press box in the football stadium.