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Two of prep’s best players, Colfax and Swanson, narrow in on a soccer title
Soccer or cross-country? The debate was short and sweet for Santa Fe Prep’s Anna Swanson and Hayden Colfax — it’s soccer all the way.
In the world of small-school athletics, the seasonal dual-sport athlete is commonplace, but it is also a sometimes tricky balancing act for athletes to give adequate time for both sports as well as their school work. It takes understanding coaches and persistence on the part of the athletes to make a practice schedule that works for both programs.
Of course, it’s also helpful when the athletes make clear their preferences. Swanson and Colfax have done that already.
“Cross-country is a really fun sport,” Swanson said. “For me, it’s a fun thing to do to help out the school and help my friends and teammates. It’s more of a fun thing than it is a competitive thing.”
So, Prep head cross-country coach Laura LewAllen understands that she likely won’t see Swanson or Colfax lining up at the starting line for the Class 3A State Cross-Country Championships on Saturday morning.
“They belong to the soccer program,” LewAllen said. “That was decided beforehand. We were just grateful to have them run.”
The two expect to be at Rio Rancho to cheer on their teammates, but ultimate goal for the duo is to be at the Bernalillo Soccer Complex at 5:30 p.m. Saturday to compete for the hardware that Swanson and Colfax have their hearts set on: a Class 1A/4A state girls soccer championship.
The pair is an integral part of Prep’s undefeated, top-seeded team, which begins its march toward a state title Thursday afternoon with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 8 Moriarty at 2:30 p.m. in Bernalillo. Swanson, a freshman, is 1A/4A’s top goal scorer with 28 in just 15 matches this season. Colfax, a sophomore, is the thirdleading scorer for the Blue Griffins (nine goals, eight assists).
However, they demonstrated their value on cross-country courses around the state. Colfax won a meet at Dulce to open the season and the duo was consistently among the Blue Griffins’ top five runners throughout the season. Their swan song came at last week’s District 2/3-3A meet at Dulce, as Swanson took 15th place and Colfax 16th to help qualify
Prep for the state meet as a team with a third-place finish with 57 points.
“Honestly, I am really grateful we get to run with them and they let us because we don’t go to very many practices,” Colfax said. “The fact they get to go to state to run it, it’ll be fun to watch them. They’re such a great team, as is this team.”
Still, Coppola noticed that their cross-country endeavors occasionally affects their ability on the soccer pitch. She noted that Colfax and Swanson looked a little sluggish at Sunday’s morning practice, and for good reason.
“It’s not a mental thing,” Colfax said. “We’ll both go forever, but it’s just physical. You can see it in soccer practice. We just get a little bit tired.”
Tired legs are not good on a soccer pitch, but Prep is in a far better situation now than it was two seasons ago.
When Prep head coach Steph Coppola stepped on the soccer pitch for preseason practices in 2015, the team she saw was unfamiliar to her as far as soccer skills were concerned. Prep was a freshmen and eighth-grade-dominant squad, but only a handful of those young players had significant soccer experience.
In fact, quite a few of them played little to no soccer before joining the team. Instead of talking about strategy and formations, Coppola turned into a teacher more than a coach. Junior Taylor Lincoln, who played on coed teams for a couple of years as a youth but no other soccer experience, credited Coppola for being patient during that stretch.
“In eighth grade, I remember us doing Coervers every single day, which is just basic touch work,” Lincoln said. “Really working on your individual touch.”
The Blue Griffins didn’t score a goal until the seventh match of that season and had 27 in all during a 6-13-1 campaign that left them on the outside looking in on the postseason. There were signs of life, though. Prep went 6-7-1 after that horrific start and almost played itself into the state tournament if it hadn’t lost to Monte del Sol on Sept. 26. It was the difference between second place and third in 2-1A/4A.
Prep started off the 2016 campaign 6-2, and finished tied for second in the district. But the biggest sign that the Blue Griffins were on the upswing came in the 1A/4A quarterfinals against an alltoo-familiar foe — the St. Michael’s Lady Horsemen.
It had been five years since Prep beat St. Michael’s, but when Colfax scored with 12 minutes left in the match, the Blue Griffins had a 2-1 lead and an upset brewing. A desperate Lady Horsemen rally helped them win 3-2, but any doubts about how good Prep was evaporated in the November air.
“We realized we could beat them,” Swanson said. “That was the attitude we came into the beginning of the year, knowing and believing in our ability to be successful.”
A 2-all tie to Albuquerque Bosque School on Aug. 29 is the only blemish on a 14-0-1 mark, and the Blue Griffins did something they hadn’t had accomplished in 14 years — sweep St. Michael’s. It also halted the 14-year district reign by the Lady Horsemen in the process.
Lincoln said the players aren’t walking around campus and at practice with the arrogance of an undefeated team. Rather, it’s a cool confidence that keeps them grounded.
“We just have this calm about us,” Lincoln said. “It’s the only way I know how to describe it because we don’t have this … cockiness. We have a faith in each other that we have all the components that we need.”