NorthStars

This might be NorthStars, our annual tribute to the top athletes and teams in the state, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. The coronavirus pandemic derailed the spring season and left the 2019-20 school year to be completed at home. Though the high school sports year was cut short, there were still great performances to be remembered. Today we highlight the best athletes from the fall. Look for the winter standouts in Sunday’s New Mexican.

FOOTBALL Luke Padilla, Capital

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound junior was “Mr. Jaguar” in 2019. Padilla rushed for 1,853 yards, as he and fellow teammate Gio Muñoz combined for almost 2,500 yards in Capital’s “ground-n-pound” offense. The highlight of his season was a 47-carry, 208-yard, two-touchdown performance against Portales on Oct. 4. It started a five-game stretch in which he ran for more than 200 yards four times as the Jaguars won the District 2/6-5A title and earned their first home playoff game in 12 years.

GIRLS CROSS-COUNTRY

Maggie Rittmeyer, Academy for Technology and the Classics

Rittmeyer was second-best in 2018 at the Class 1A/2A state meet, chasing Pecos’ Vanessa Dominguez to the finish. When the two reconvened their duel at Rio Rancho High School a year later, it was Dominguez who watched her counterpart get smaller and smaller as Rittmeyer pulled away. By the end of the 5-kilometer race, Rittmeyer was nowhere in sight, as she beat the reigning state champion by more than a minute to win the individual title in 19 minutes, 41.70 seconds. Even better: She helped the Phoenix to the team title with 24 points.

VOLLEYBALL Salome Romp, Santa Fe High

For five years, Romp was a fierce force on the outside that opponents had to respect. Romp, who will play at NCAA Division II Newman University in the fall, finished her career with 1,148 kills and had 333 this season — good for second among Class 5A hitters. She was so much more than that for the Demonettes, though. She led the team in aces (46) and digs (174), showing an all-around form that made her an invaluable member of a squad that shared the District 5-5A title and reached the state quarterfinals.

BOYS SOCCER Berkeley Reynolds, St. Michael’s

Reynolds was part of a three-headed senior monster, along with Esteban Rigales and Wesley Graham, that helped the Horsemen make a stunning run to the Class 1A/3A state championship. He was third on the team in goals with 17, but led the squad with 19 assists and was a trusted figure on corner kicks. Reynolds had a goal and an assist in the final 12 minutes of a 1A/3A opening-round match against District 2-1A/3A rival Santa Fe Prep, a 2-0 win. In a 3-2, double-overtime win over Monte del Sol in the state semifinals, he had a goal and assisted on Graham’s golden goal.

GIRLS SOCCER Rachel Morgan, St. Michael’s

The Lady Horsemen aimed for a balanced offensive attack and succeeded, with five players scoring at least 10 goals. Morgan, though, showed she was a key cog in that “sharing is caring” approach. The junior led St. Michael’s with 26 goals, and she chipped in 10 assists to help the team reach the Class 1A/3A semifinals. Morgan finished the season with a flourish, scoring at least two goals in five of her last eight matches, including a hat trick in a 5-1 win over Las Vegas Robertson in the opening round of the state tournament.

BOYS CROSS-COUNTRY Rafael Sanchez, Los Alamos

He wasn’t second-best in the Class 4A state meet like he was in 2018, but he was still the pacesetter for a program that won its second straight team title in November. He finished third in the final meet of the year, leading a quartet of Hilltoppers that finished in the top 10 and paved the way to a 40-43 win over Albuquerque Academy. Sanchez was part of a 1-2-3 finish with Steven Strevell and Wakei Hettinga that helped Los Alamos take the District 2-4A title, and he had fourth-place finishes at the UNM Invitational and Academy Invitational.