Santa Fe High’s Christian Herrera, center, fights for a ball during the Demons’ loss against Volcano Vista in the 5A quarterfinals Wednesday in The Pit. Volcano Vista will play for the Class 5A title Saturday against La Cueva.
St. Michael’s Raylee Hunt competes in the 200 individual medley during the State Swimming and Diving Meet in February at the Albuquerque Academy Natatorium. Hunt finished third in the medley but won the 100 backstroke.
Santa Fe High’s Christian Herrera, center, fights for a ball during the Demons’ loss against Volcano Vista in the 5A quarterfinals Wednesday in The Pit. Volcano Vista will play for the Class 5A title Saturday against La Cueva.
St. Michael’s Raylee Hunt competes in the 200 individual medley during the State Swimming and Diving Meet in February at the Albuquerque Academy Natatorium. Hunt finished third in the medley but won the 100 backstroke.
With spring around the corner and the sun setting after 7 p.m., winter is wrapping up — and with it, so too are New Mexico winter sports like basketball, hockey, swimming and diving, and competitive dance. Across the state, some teams stood out for the first time in years, while others were crushed.
Basketball
On the girls side, the Hobbs High School Eagles were ranked No. 1 among the state’s larger schools — until they ran into Albuquerque Volcano Vista in the state basketball tournament semifinals Thursday in The Pit. Volcano Vista upset Hobbs 49-42 and will meet the Sandia High Matadors of Albuquerque for the title.
On the boys side, the defending champion Volcano Vista Hawks have dominated New Mexico basketball again this season — including during the state 5A quarterfinals, where they rolled over Santa Fe High 69-42 on Wednesday night. The Volcano Vista boys are now 28-1, with the only loss to Rio Rancho Cleveland. Volcano will meet Albuquerque La Cueva for the state title Saturday in The Pit.
While a smaller feat, but a feat nonetheless, the Santa Fe Prep Blue Griffins beat the Ruidoso High School Warriors in the first round of the state tournament earlier this week, Santa Fe Prep’s first win in a state tournament in 10 years. It was followed Wednesday by a loss to the Navajo Prep Eagles out of Farmington.
Dance
Dance team competitions, also known as drill or spirit, are a smaller but competitive world in New Mexico. NMAA’s 2024 State Spirit Championships will take place April 5-6 in The Pit on the University of New Mexico campus. About 30 teams from across New Mexico will be competing in categories like cheer, pom, hip-hop and jazz.
Santa Fe-area teams competing include Santa Fe High, Capital High and St. Michael’s High School.
Swimming and diving
New Mexico’s swimming and diving season concluded at the Nusenda Credit Union State Swimming & Diving Championships at Albuquerque Academy on Feb. 24. Among larger schools, the winning teams were Eldorado High School of Albuquerque for the boys and Albuquerque Academy for the girls. The Los Alamos boys finished second. Cottonwood Classic won the A-3A titles for both girls and boys.
Throughout Santa Fe, many school records were broken by swimmers such as St. Michael’s High School junior Raylee Hunt who won the 100 breaststroke with a school-record time of 1:04.57. Additionally, swimmers from Santa Fe High School such as seniors Rodion Jacques and Henry Lyons, and junior Ruby Sallah all claimed school records as well.
Hockey
The 2023-24 season marked the first in six years back in the rink playing a varsity schedule for the Santa Fe Blue Jackets club team. Previously, the Blue Jackets earned four consecutive New Mexico Interscholastic Ice Hockey League titles between 2007-10. Composed mostly of Santa Fe-area underclassmen in its return to the rink this year, according to The New Mexican, the co-ed team is coached by David Gonzales.
According to stats from the Santa Fe Hockey Association, the team played nine games this season, recording one 3-3 tie with the Grandview Wolves out of Aurora, Colo., in January and a single win, 11-2, against the Lafayette Yellow based in Colorado in February.
Emily J. Aguirre is a sophomore at Santa Fe Prep. Contact her at emjazz19@gmail.com. Hanbi Park is a junior at Santa Fe High School. Contact him at hanbipark2006@gmail.com.
The Santa Fe New Mexican observes its 175th anniversary with a series highlighting some of the major stories and figures that have appeared in the paper's pages through its history. The collection also includes archival photo galleries.
