NoRthERN NEw mExIco’s top hIgh school AthlEtEs
2018 2019
Nort rthStars t
Hayden Colfax of Santa Fe Prep and Jonah Vigil of Taos are pictured near the Cross of the Martyrs in Santa Fe. Luis sánchez saturno the new Mexican
Santa Fe Prep’s Hayden Colfax and Taos’ Jonah Vigil are Athletes of the Year F R I D AY, J U N E 7, 2 0 1 9
s A N tA F E N E w m E x I c A N . c o m
2 NORTHSTARS Santa Fe New Mexican Friday, June 7, 2019
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Friday, June 7, 2019 Santa Fe New Mexican NORTHSTARS 3
Fall Nov. 8, 2018 Bend it like Beckham. With a berth in the girls’ state final on the line, Daisy Smith of St. Michael’s was dispatched to the far portion of the soccer pitch in Bernalillo and asked to deliver a corner kick in the final five minutes of regulation against Socorro. The score was tied 1-1 and the Lady Horsemen sought their second upset in as many matches during the tournament. Seeded sixth, St. Michael’s rolled through the opening round, knocked off No. 3 Albuquerque Bosque School in the Class 1A/3A quarterfinals and needed a win over No. 2 Socorro to get a shot at top-seeded Albuquerque Sandia Prep in the championship match. Enter Smith, a blonde-haired righty who spun the ball to a stop, took a few steps back and fired a line drive that drifted over a pair of Lady Warriors defenders and bounced unabated into the back of the net for what proved the match winner. It was a stunning moment that rocked the entire tournament. St. Michael’s wasn’t expected to get that far, not with a rookie head coach (Anthony Cassaro) and a roster loaded with underclassmen and inexperience. While the Lady Horsemen lost in the title match the following day, they proved their one shining moment from 2018 might well be a sign of bigger things to come in 2019.
Robertson’s Kenneth Archuleta greets Isiah Ortiz after Ortiz scored during the fifth inning of the 3A baseball championship game against West Las Vegas. The Cardinals went on to beat the Dons 11-1 for the title. GABRIELA CAMPOS/THE NEW MExICAN
THE MOMENTS OF 2018-2019
Nov. 10, 2018 All hail No. 5! We all know that blue trophies go to the winners, but this day was all about a pair of runners in the No. 5 spot for their respective teams at the State Cross Country Championships in Rio Rancho. Let’s start with the Pecos girls in 1A/2A. The Lady Panthers had never won a state title and, to make that leap, it required Faith Flores to ignore the burning in her legs and lungs to reach the finish line as fast as possible. As the No. 5 runner on her team, Flores had everyone with a rooting interest yelling words of encouragement as she approached the final half-mile. “I heard everybody say, ‘You’re the one, you’re the one. If you get that little pack, you’re the hero,’ ” Flores said afterward. She caught the pack and finished 20th overall, which gave the Lady Panthers 36 points. They were three points better than Academy for Technology and the Classics to take home the team title. Teammate Vanessa Dominguez was the overall champion, as the top five spots belonged to Pecos and ATC. Robertson won the 3A girls title in the same way. No. 5 runner Kaitlin Arguello finished 57th overall to give the Lady Cardinals 87 points, which was five points clear of Zuni for the championship.
St. Michael’s celebrates during the Class 3A State Volleyball Tournament championship match Nov. 17 against Sandia Prep at the Santa Ana Star Center. The Lady Horsemen won the state title. JANE PHILLIPS/FOR THE NEW MExICAN
Dec. 1, 2018 Funny thing, this whole karma business. When Art Abreu Jr. wrapped up his playing days as a high school football player in the early 2000s, he stood on the muddy turf of Robertson’s own Cardinal Field and soaked in the feeling of what it meant to get so close to a state title and not finish the task. It was all kinds of hurt — and, as it turns out, motivation. All those years later, Abreu had Taos in the Class 4A championship game. The Tigers lambasted traditional southern powers Lovington and Portales en route to the title game against Bloomfield. Making up for years of frustration, Abreu led Taos — with his dad, Art Abreu Sr., as an assistant, no less — to a 14-7 victory and the school’s first football championship. Together, father and son celebrated the first of what could be many postgame Gatorade baths and trophy presentations.
Winter JaN. 3, 2019 If there were any questions about Santa Fe High’s contender status, it was
March 15, 2019 It was a day of firsts in The Pit. The town of Las Vegas, N.M., could finally celebrate a state basketball title when Las Vegas Robertson easily handled District 2-3A rival Santa Fe Indian School, 62-46, to win the Class 3A girls championship. Just two hours later, the town of Pecos began its title dance a day early when its girls team outlasted Mescalero Apache, 53-46, in overtime for the 2A title. For the Lady Cardinals, it was redemption for the past two years of unmet expectations. They lost to district foe Pojoaque Valley in the Class 4A quarterfinals in 2018, then to eventual state champion Shiprock in the semifinals in 2017. “We were, like, this is it, there’s no more ‘We can get it next time,’ ” said Robertson star forward Alianza Darley, who had 27 points and nine rebounds. “There’s no more practices. This is our last game.”
March 16, 2019
Nov. 17, 2018 A dream season ended in storybook fashion for the St. Michael’s volleyball team. Seeded first overall in Class 3A, the Lady Horsemen hammered three-time defending state champ Sandia Prep in the final for the school’s first blue trophy since 2002, ending years of painful near misses and so-so results. Under head coach Valerie Sandoval, St. Michael’s swept aside Navajo Prep without breaking much of a sweat, then held off district rival Robertson in a sweep that was painfully close each game. In the final, it was all Lady Horsemen in the last two games, thanks to the dominant play of Lily Barker and Mikayla Bohlman up front, the All-State play in back row by Darian Ortiz and Miquela Martinez, and the all-around play of everyone else. Simply put, the Lady Horsemen were not going to be stopped. They reeled off 11 straight wins to close out the regular season and beat larger schools like Farmington, Los Lunas, Albuquerque Academy, Santa Fe High and Los Alamos in nondistrict play. History will remember this team as one of the best the city ever produced.
top-scoring small school honor for the third straight year.
Santa Fe High School’s Cruz Martinez pushes past Rio Rancho Cleveland High School’s defense Jan. 3 at Toby Roybal Memorial Gymnasium. The Demons went on to win 63-62. GABRIELA CAMPOS/THE NEW MExICAN settled on this night. Facing the Rio Rancho Cleveland Storm, ranked second in Class 5A, Santa Fe High showed it was ready for the spotlight in outlasting the Storm 63-62. The Demons were in control of the game almost from the moment Fedonta “J.B.” White, the 6-foot-7 sensation, drained a 3-pointer 14 seconds after the opening tip. Visiting Cleveland battled its way back to a 56-all tie and then used a six-point run in a five-second span to take a 62-61 lead with 31 seconds to go in the contest, but Santa Fe High’s Antonio Lovato was cool as he made a pair of free throws with 21 seconds remaining. “This is new territory for us,” Demons head coach Zack Cole said. “I worry about, ‘Are our guys going to be ready?’ But we’ve been ready every game.” That quality helped the Demons navigate a rash of injuries — including White’s season-ending knee injury — to reach the Class 5A championship game.
Feb. 23, 2019 The end of a distinguished prep wrestling career came way too fast for Javier Tapia. The Pojoaque Valley senior’s moment of realization came as he prepared to face Silver’s Nathaniel Lucero for the Class 4A 170pound title at the State Wrestling Championships. Already a three-time state champion collectively for the Elks and Capital (he won a title as a freshman), Tapia became a four-
time champion with an 8-0 win. Santa Fe High had three wrestlers in the finals and ended up with state champions in 5A with senior Adam Peña (120) and sophomore Miguel Padilla (126). St. Michael’s brought home a state champion in Tayo Regenold in the 1A/3A heavyweight division. Las Vegas Robertson produced a pair of state champs in Kaleb Medina (106) and Andrew Trujillo (132).
Feb. 23, 2019 A pair of Santa Fe Prep freshmen staked their claims to the future by placing third in events at the Swimming and Diving State Championships. They established their present by helping the girls team to its first small-school title with 80 points. Emma Kelley made her mark in the 200yard freestyle, swimming the second-fastest split of the eight girls in the final leg to finish in third place in 1 minute, 57.88 seconds. Meanwhile, Sophia Gossum finished third behind a pair of seniors, as her time of 24.43 seconds was just a fraction out of second place. Gossum followed that up with a third in the 100 freestyle, just two-tenths of a second out of a win as she swam it in 52.63 seconds. Kelley and Gossum could take solace in the fact that the top two swimmers in each of their races were seniors, making them favorites for next year. It was a banner day for Santa Fe Prep swimming, as the boys team earned the
The final day of the basketball season belonged to Northern New Mexico. From the first championship game at 8 a.m. (2A boys) to the final game of the evening (5A boys), The Pit was packed with fans and fanaticism — and much of it was a product of northern schools. That was clear when New Mexico Activities Association officials delayed the start of the 2A game between Pecos and Newcomb so all the fans lined up outside could get into arena before opening tip. The Panthers were the only team to bring home a blue trophy, beating Newcomb 58-37. In Class 3A, Santa Fe Indian School lost to Hot Springs, 56-54, in overtime. Those games, however, turned out to be the appetizer. Santa Fe High played in its first championship game since 1978 against defending champion Albuquerque Atrisco Heritage Academy. When Demons sophomore Cody Garcia’s 55-foot desperation heave fell short, allowing the Jaguars to survive 61-58, gritty Santa Fe’s quest for a long-awaited title was denied. But it remained a day to remember for basketball fans in the north.
Spring May 9, 2019 Make that 11 years in a row. Amazing. Lauren Fulgenzi’s unblemished run to the Class 1A-4A Girls Tennis Championship in singles play extended a remarkable run for the unofficial first family of high school tennis. The last time a Fulgenzi — player or coach — was not involved in a singles, doubles or team title in boys and/or girls was 2008. That run was in jeopardy this year as Las Vegas Robertson’s boys failed to qualify for the postseason and the girls were stunned in the semifinals by No. 5 seed St. Michael’s. The boys draw saw Nico Fulgenzi, Lauren’s younger brother, get knocked out in the quarterfinals. It all came down to Lauren, and she didn’t disappointing the family bloodlines. She lost just two games the entire tournament. Just a junior, she’ll return as the overwhelming favorite to win it again next spring. Coming up behind her is Nico, who just wrapped his freshman year at Robertson.
May 11, 2019
Carisa Padilla’s scorecard and fill it with bloated numbers. The St. Michael’s junior won her second individual state title at the Class 1A/3A State Golf Tournament in Hobbs by posting a pair of sub-80 rounds at Rockwind Community Links. The first day of the 36-hole tournament was a mess as high winds, rain and cold temperatures made conditions miserable. Padilla fought through them all, carding a 78 on day one and a course-low 76 to close things out. She’ll return as a senior with a chance to become the first three-time winner in school history, and the first three-time champ in 1A/3A since Socorro’s Kristen Cline (2010, 2012-13).
May 18, 2019 One of the most cherished records in New Mexico high school sports is the 100meter race at the state track meet. The current standard was set at 10.50 seconds in 1997 by legendary Albuquerque Highland sprinter and future Nebraska quarterback Bobby Newcombe. It was tied last year by another future college football player, Jordan Byrd of Albuquerque Manzano. Jonah Vigil nearly broke it during the Class 4A meet when he blazed across the finish line in 10.51 seconds to set a new 4A standard and come within a fingertip of tying Newcombe and Byrd. As it turned out, that was the highlight of a remarkable weekend for the Taos senior. He won four individual events and etched his name among the all-time greats to run track in the state of New Mexico. His 301/2 points gave him the high-point honor for the third straight year, sending him into the college ranks in Colorado with a full head of steam. Vigil’s record run was one of many at the two state meets held in May. Another fell the week before at the small-school event when New Mexico School for the Deaf’s Deven Thompson shattered the mark in the 1A shot put, the same day Santa Fe Prep’s Hayden Colfax set a new standard in the 3A triple jump.
May 18, 2019 We waited a lifetime to see it: an allVegas state championship game. If only it were basketball in The Pit with 15,000 people looking on and the pressure of March Madness bearing down on everyone. Santa Ana Star Field had to do this time as the West Las Vegas-Las Vegas Robertson baseball rivalry culminated in the Class 3A championship game in Albuquerque. Buzzing just overhead were the Thunderbirds, doing aerial maneuvers for a nearby show at Kirtland Air Force Base. Across the street was the state track meet and just about 100 feet to the west was the state softball championship. By time the game started, a nearcapacity crowd filled the 1,000 grandstand seats of UNM’s park, with several dozen more lining the fence along each baseline. On one side, green and gold. The other, red and black. The third-seeded Dons struck first, but top-seeded Robertson put the game away with six runs in the third and five in the fifth to end it early on the 10-run mercy rule. It was a fitting end to the greatest season in Robertson history.
Not even Mother Nature could take
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4 NORTHSTARS Santa Fe New Mexican Friday, June 7, 2019
Friday, June 7, 2019 Santa Fe New Mexican NORTHSTARS 5
rosE moon, sAntA fE wAldorf
soPhiA gossUm, sAntA fE PrEP
hAydEn colfAx, sAntA fE PrEP
JonAh Vigil, tAos
Small-school volleyball it was not the banner senior season Moon wanted, but she showed leadership in helping a young team win the program’s sixth straight district title. Moon averaged 12.5 kills and 3.7 aces per match. She finished with 1,386 kills in a distinguished career that saw her earn class 1a all-State honors for four years. She also was second on the team in digs with 122 and even had eight blocks.
Swimming and diving in helping the blue griffins to the smallschool crown, gossum flashed the skills that will make her a popular name in the pool the next few years. She finished third in the 50-yard freestyle, missing second by the length of a hand. She was second in the 100 free, missing the title by a fraction of a second. She also was a relay stalwart.
big-school track and field how dominant was colfax at the class 3a state meet? of the blue griffins’ 43 points, colfax had a part in 34 of them. the junior won all three jumping events (triple, long, high) and set a 3a record in the triple jump with a distance of 37 feet, 103/4 inches. that jump was not her best of the season, as she went 38-9 at the district 2-3a meet. on the track, she won the 100 meters and the 100 hurdles within a half hour, then completed her performance by leading the 1,600 relay team to a third-place finish that allowed Prep to leapfrog past tularosa to take third place in the team standings.
big-school track and field the imprint the taos senior left on the track and field scene likely will linger for a while. already a state record-holder in the 400 meters, Vigil set the 4a mark in the event by winning the race in 10.51 seconds. he ended up winning all four individual events he entered (100, 200, 400, long jump) and led the 1,6 600-m meter relay team m to a 4a record time e of 3:19.44 to finish his final state meet.
miqUElA mArtinEz, st. michAEl’s
AliAnzA dArlEy, lAs VEgAs robErtson
JonAthAn gArciA, tAos
big-school volleyball an offense is only as good as its setter, and Martinez had no equal in class 3a. She averaged 32.3 assists per match, while also recording 3.4 kills. the senior also was the best server for the Lady horsemen, with a 95.2 percent mark and 68 aces on the season. Martinez also was a stalwart on defense, with h a 12.2 2 digs per match average that was secondbest on the team. all of th hat added up to a first-team all-Statte selection.
big-school basketball the stats speak volumes, with 21 points per game, nine boards, five steals and four assists — but there’s more to this 5-foot-11 senior than numbers. She led the Lady cardinals to the class 3a state title, staking her claim as the go-to player every team wanted. She could hit shots outside and was reliable from the line, but her leaping ability made her a terror in the paint.
big-school football the tigers’ senior running back outdid himself as he helped taos win its first state title. he came within 61 yards of breaking the 2,000-yard plateau, and his 19 touchdowns were critical to the tigers’ offense. his 75-yard kickoff return to open the class 4a championship game was crucial in taos’ 14-7 win over bloomfield, and as a cornerback on defense, garcia picked off a pair of passes and had a fumble recovery.
isAiAh ArmiJo, PEcos Small-school cross country the Panthers fell short of turning a four-peat, but armijo did all he could to keep his team in the picture. armijo led Pecos with a fifth-place finish in the class 2a race, with the Panthers finishing second to Navajo Pine for the team title. armijo, a junior, showed his competitive chops by winning the district 2-2a meet Nov. 3 and was 12th in the championships division of the rio rancho Jamboree as he went up against the state e’s best runners.
thomAs chAdwick, los AlAmos
JAmEs bridgEs, sAntA fE indiAn school
tennis the hilltoppers secured a district 2-4a title, thanks in part to chadwick’s efforts that led him to finish in third place in the class 1a/4a singles bracket. he went 12-1 as the No. 1 singles player, winning the 2-1a/4a individual title with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Nico Fulgenzi of Las Vegas robertson.
big-school basketball he was a known commodity a couple of years ago when he was a rising star as an underclassman. as a senior, this 6-foot-4 standout took it to another level, leading the braves to the class 3a championship game as arguably the state’s most versatile big man at that levell.
VAnEssA domingUEz, PEcos Small-school cross country the Pecos sophomore was consistently one of the Lady Panthers’ top runners, but she was the best in class 1a/2a when it mattered the most. dominguez helped lead a parade of Pecos runners to a team title by winning the individual title in 20:24. For the season, she could be counted on for strong finishes.
JAViEr tAPiA, PoJoAqUE
cArisA PAdillA, st. michAEl’s
wrestling the son of a renowned coach and the younger brother of a five-time champ from capital, this elks senior was as dominant as any wrestler the Santa Fe area has ever seen. he rolled to a 30-1 record at 170 pounds, finishing an incredible career that will take him to western wyoming community college next seaso season.
golf the Lady horsemen might have come up short in their bid for a third-straight state title, but Padilla eased the pain with her second individual title in three years. She posted a two-day score of 10-over 154 that handed her the class 1a/3a title by eight strokes. it capped an impressive junior year — she also won the district 2-1a/3a title and even beat the boys at their game when she carded a 2-under 70; the best round of any golfer at the St. Michael’s invitational on april 15.
Honor Roll
the no orth’s best
norissA VAldEz, los AlAmos
Antonio PAdillA, lAs VEgAs robErtson
lynn robEy, sAntA fE PrEP
iAn JAEgErs, los AlAmos
hAilEy whittAkEr, EscAlAntE
big-school cross country while albuquerque academy had a parade at the front of the class 4a pack, Valdez interrupted the redand-white brigade with a runner-up finish at the state meet. that came on the heels of winning the district 2-4a meet Nov. 2, one of two meets the freshman won on the year.
baseball the cardinals won their first class 3a baseball title, and Padilla was the most consistent cardinal on the team. he led robertson with a .417 batting average, with 21 stolen bases and 21 rbis. he also led a deep pitching staff with a 0.86 era, as he went 5-2 on the season. Padilla saved his best for last, though, firing a six-strikeout complete game in the 3a championship matchup against west Las Vegas.
Soccer in a season that saw the blue griffins lose their top returning scorer to a california club program and struggle with injuries for much of the season, robey was the steady player who always seemed to answer the bell. She led the team with 27 goals and dished out 16 assists as Prep finished third in district 2-1a/3a and reached the state semifinals for the second straight year.
Swimming and diving a freestyle and backstroke specialist, this hilltoppers junior is starting to make a name for himself. he finished sixth in the 100-yard freestyle sprint at the state meet in February, touching the wall in 49.40 seconds. he also finished seventh in the 100 backstroke in 53.62 seconds, then was part of the hilltoppers’ fifth-place result in the 200 individual medley relay, as well as the team’s fourth-place finish in the 400 free relay.
Small-school track and field a year ago, whittaker left the class 2a state meet in tears after tripping and falling over the final hurdle of the 300 hurdles to finish second. this year, the Lady Lobos senior won the 100 hurdles for the first time in 15.82 seconds. whittaker won the 300 hurdles, took fourth in the long jump (15-4 3/4) and fifth in the 100 to finish with 19 points at the state meet.
PhotoS by LuiS SáNchez SaturNo aNd Matt dahLSeid/the New MexicaN aNd JaNe PhiLLiPS/For the New MexicaN; caPSuLeS by wiLL webber aNd JaMeS barroN; deSigN by briaN barker/the New MexicaN
ArthUr stEinkAmP, los AlAmos Soccer No one was the equal to the hilltoppers’ senior forward, who led the state in goals with 43 on the season. in fact, he was practically unstoppable over the final 10 matches, as he scored 32 of his goals in that stretch. he had a four-goal performance in the class 4a semifinal, an easy 7-0 win for Los alamos.
cAssiE mUllEr, PEcos Small-school basketball the senior finally helped her team take center stage in leading Pecos to the class 2a state title. Muller proved herself a master of all crafts by leading the team in scoring (14.4) while ranking among the leaders in rebounds (7.0), assists (2.0) and steals (2.2). She also led the team in 3-pointers. dealing with diabetes, she has a layer of toughness and determination that Pecos fans came to know and admire.
dEVEn thomPson, nEw mExico school for thE dEAf Small-school basketball you’d like to say we’ll never again see a big man like this 6-foot-10 roadrunners behemoth, but that’s not true. it just might take a generation or so to find a player equal of his size and skill. he averaged nearly 26 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks a night for an NMSd squad that won 22 games and reached the class 1a state quarterfinals.
Anthony UlibArri, EscAlAntE
AngElicA “JElly” AngEl, cAPitAl
chEz rAfAEl sAnchEz, los AlAmos
Small-school football ulibarri, a senior running back/linebacker, did a little bit of everything for the Lobos as he accumulated 1,624 allpurpose yards. he was the team’s leading rusher with 920 yards and eight touchdowns, and added 280 receiving yards with four touchdowns. on the defensive side, ulibarri led the team with 78 tackles, had four fumble recoveries and intercepted a pair of passes as escalante reached the class 2a quarterfinals.
Softball the capital junior made a yearlong wait worthwhile. angel was a force at the plate, hitting .593 with 12 home runs and 43 rbis to lead the Lady Jaguars in each category. her 12 homers were fifth-most in the state, regardless of class, and she finished the season hitting home runs in five of her final six games to lead a potent Lady Jaguars offense. She also turned into capital’s top pitching option, going 5-3 as the Lady Jaguars finished in third place in district 5-5a.
big-school cross country Los alamos won the class 4a boys title, with Sanchez leading the progression the team made to chase down defending champion albuquerque academy at the state’s biggest meet Nov. 10. Sanchez finished second as the hilltoppers had three runners in the top five, beating the chargers 42-49 for the team championship. Sanchez was third at the district 2-4a meet the week before and third at the team’s own Los alamos invitational on oct. 26.
AhbEdoh whitE EAglE, AcAdEmy for tEchnology And thE clAssics Small-school track and field it was a banner year for the Phoenix, and white eagle did his part to make it memorable. he dominated the class 2a 100 and 200, and ran the anchor leg of the winning 400 relay team. in all, white eagle’s 18.5 points helped the boys team secure third place in the team standings and the athletic program’s second trophy in its history.
Josh fAmbro, tAos golf it wasn’t quite a state title, but finishing second in a revamped class 4a was still pretty good way to finish a distinguished career at taos. Fambro carded the best round of the second day at the 4a championship at Piñon hills golf course at Farmington with a 3-over 75, as he finished the event with an overall score of 8-over 150. it left him two shots shy of state champion aiden thomas of albuquerque St. Pius, but he ended his tigers career with a 2018 title — the first in the program’s history — and a runnerup medal.
grAcE ViViAn And isAbEl VoinEscU, sAntA fE PrEP tennis the freshman doubles team proved that last year’s run to the 1a/4a championship match was no fluke, as it outdid itself in this year’s doubles bracket. Seeded second for the state tournament, Vivian and Voinescu did not lose a single set en route to the 1a/4a title. in the process, they became the first individual state champions in program history for the blue griffins.
6 NORTHSTARS Santa Fe New Mexican Friday, June 7, 2019
Hayden Colfax
SANTA FE PREP
By Will Webber
wwebber@sfnewmexican.com
T
here comes a time in every child’s development when potential shines through — a moment when the path to the future manifests itself in some arbitrary act where talent finally comes to light. Sometimes, it comes while sitting at a piano or taking a deep dive into a book. Maybe it’s showing empathy for a wayward pet or, perhaps, allowing the inner class clown take a shot at theater. In the case of Hayden Colfax, her moment came in the middle of Aisle 4 at Home Depot. As her parents tell it, she had been talking about getting into gymnastics for a while and finally took it upon herself to show them how much she wanted to give it a try. “She took off and started doing cartwheels down the aisle,” said her father, Reed Colfax. “She was maybe 4 or 5 at the time.” “I don’t think she’d ever even done a cartwheel,” said her mom, Aimee Bevan. “It was almost as if she decided to start gymnastics right there at the store.” Things haven’t been the same since. Hayden Colfax branched out from the gym mat to the track, from the soccer pitch to the pool. She bikes in her spare time and, really, if it involves running, jumping or just moving around, she’s probably doing it. She cultivated all that energy into a standout career as a prep athlete. Having recently completed her junior year at Santa Fe Prep, she has been selected as The New Mexican’s female athlete of the year for 2018-19. Let us count the ways in which she earned it: u She was a star on the Blue Griffins’ soccer team that has been among the state’s best the last two years. u She was a leader on a Prep swim team that took the state’s small-school title in February. u She ended the year as a record-setting track star in May, setting a new standard in the Class 3A triple jump and single-handedly carrying the Blue Griffins to the podium by the end of the meet. If all that weren’t enough, she is a philanthropist at heart. She raised money for the local Toys for Tots program and helped the Santa Fe Public Schools Adelante program generate more than $5,000, not to mention helping raise money for a Kenyan orphan. All this, and she’s still got one year left of high school. “I guess it keeps me pretty busy but, really, it’s all about having fun, right?” Colfax said. “My family gives me all the support I need, and I’m having a good time with all of it.” It’s a stretch to say Colfax has the Midas touch; not everything turns to gold. By her count, she’s had 11 broken bones, including a fractured back and breaks in both legs. At just 17, she’s had more injuries than most college football players. But if there’s one thing she’s learned — and, really, this goes back to her first foray into defying gravity at the home improvement store — it’s that she knows how to take a fall and somehow manage to get back up. She proved that during the Marilyn Sepulveda Meet of Champions at the University of New Mexico in April. Running the 100-meter hurdles, she stumbled over the last hurdle and wound up somersaulting over the finish line — in first place, no less. “If you’re going to fall, I guess it helps to know what you’re doing,” Colfax said laughing. That includes bouncing back, like the time she suffered a stress fracture and kept playing for Prep’s girls soccer team. That led to an injury in the other leg, which still didn’t keep her out. It takes her back to the time she did a flip in gymnastics a few years ago. Although she landed on her feet, it led to a spinal compression that brought on waves of pain which still make her pause. “Yeah, I guess I’ve had some things to deal with,” Colfax said, looking off into the distance with a smile on her face. “But I’m still here. I feel good. Maybe one day when I’m older I’ll feel it, but right now everything works the way it should.”
‘The perfect release’ The daughter of attorneys and the younger sister to a Harvard graduate, Colfax has spent a lifetime setting the bar pretty high for herself. An exemplary student, she also pursues the family’s favorite pastime of cyclocross. A sport that involves cross-country mountain biking with jumps, bumps and the occasional spot where riders have to carry their rides over obstacles, it’s a demanding sport that has found a place in the family’s heart. “It’s one of those things that has a strong following here,” Bevan said. “We’ve all kind of gotten into it and, yeah, it’s definitely something that’s going to push you physically.” Colfax sees her time on the bike as an escape,
Take a bow
ABOVE: Hayden Colfax, center, wins the Class 3A 100 meter hurdles at the state Track and Field Championships at the Great Friends of UNM Track Complex last month. Colfax has shaved a second off her 100 hurdles time every year since she first started trying it.
Energy and drive fuel Blue Griffins’ all-everything star
DiaNa CervaNteS For the New MexiCaN
RIGHT: Colfax goes after the ball during Prep’s game against Bosque High School last year.
then that’s all you can hope for.” It started in eighth grade when her crosscountry coach bought the entire team white bows for the state meet. She wore it again that spring during track. For the state meet that year, her mom bought the bright pink ones that became the staple of a collection that now totals at least 30 options. “They’re all different sizes, but the pink one only comes out at state,” Colfax said. “Everything else is up to whatever mood I’m in. There’s no real system to it.”
New MexiCaN File photo
Future on track
Colfax celebrates after winning the Class 3A 100-meter dash. DiaNa CervaNteS/For the New MexiCaN
but that’s also true of anything she does with her free time. Prep’s academic requirements relentlessly demand time and attention. The crunch of homework and study makes lacing up the spikes that much more enjoyable. “I think that’s why sports are so much fun for me,” Colfax said. “There’s so much homework and so much pressure to keep up in class that getting out there and getting a good workout is the perfect release. Sports, it is a large time commitment, but that’s the part I enjoy. You do it because it’s your choice to be there, not because you have to.” When asked about the mentors in her life, she pointed to Prep coaches Tove Shere (track) and Steph Coppola (soccer), not to mention all the other teachers and adults who lend a hand to make her time more valuable. When pressed about the most influential person in her life, Colfax said her dad probably owns that title. “Even if he’s not out there running with me, which he usually is, he’s encouraging me or
researching videos online to improve my form, just always being positive,” Colfax said. “My parents, my entire family, they go to all my track meets and drive me everywhere I need to go. Everyone in my position needs a family like that. I’ve been really lucky.” Colfax doesn’t describe herself as a superstitious type but admits she does have kind of a weird thing with the giant hair bows that have become her trademark. Look closely and you’ll see she often changes them, digging deep for the all-pink bow that only makes appearances in the biggest of moments. She said she first realized the influence the wardrobe accessory had at the Sepulveda meet a couple years ago. She didn’t have a particularly good performance in one event, so she ran back to her duffel bag and dug one out that felt just a wee bit better. “It didn’t change anything, but mentally it had an effect,” Colfax said. “That’s part of it, right? If it changes the way you feel about things mentally,
A master of most crafts on the track, Colfax has seen the most improvement in the 100 hurdles. She shaved a second off her time every year since she first started trying it. Her first attempt produced a time of roughly 19 seconds; she won the 3A state title last month in a time of 15.28, just three-tenths of a second slower than the state record set 34 years ago. “Honestly, I kind of used to despise track a little,” Colfax said. That’s certainly not the case now — she readily admits track is her sports passion and likely her future in college — but that stemmed from her time as a kid when she was part of Albuquerque’s prestigious Cougar Track Club. “My parents had me on that team in Albuquerque, and part of it was having to go an hour to go run and then drive another hour back with school,” Colfax said. “It was like, yeah, I hated it.” And now? “Now I think about it all the time,” she said. “I love the passion Tove has for it. I love that Prep has the resources and the coaches available to help me get better. I love that I have parents who do what they can for me and all the kids to get what we need.” While not a creature of habit, Colfax said she sees herself developing tunnel vision as she gets older. The demand of being a three-sport (or four-sport if you include cyclocross) athlete is a lot on her 17-year-old body. Rival coaches have said they see her as a potential Division I track athlete and, with just one year left in her high school career, the focus may fall more on the rubber oval moving forward. “The one thing I guess I’ve learned about watching her is to never really stand in her way,” Reed Colfax said. “Aimee and I both saw that early on. If Hayden said she wants something, she’s going to do whatever she can to do it.” Just ask anyone at Home Depot. They can vouch for it.
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Friday, June 7, 2019 Santa Fe New Mexican NORTHSTARS 7
taos
Jonah Vigil
Legacy buiLt with speed
On the track and the pitch, Tigers standout shines with perseverance By James Barron
jbarron@sfnewmexican.com
L
eave a mark at state. Do you want to be remembered? It wasn’t what Jonah Vigil accomplished at Great Friends of UNM Track Complex. It was how he did it. There was something about the combination of Vigil and UNM that made for unforgettable moments. It was the place that Vigil, the recent Taos High School graduate, caught the attention of the state when he ran a 46.99-second time in the 400 meters at the Marilyn Sepulveda Meet of Champions in 2018. It also was the place he set the official state mark in the race with a 47.01 one month later while sweeping three sprint events (100, 200, 400) and capturing the long jump as Taos won its fifth straight state title. Then came May 18. Vigil added to his legend when he came just .01 away from tying a pair of New Mexico greats (Bobby Newcombe and Jordan Byrd) for the best 100 time in track history, instead settling for a Class 4A record of 10.51. He followed that with his best 200 time ever, as his 21.30 was one-tenth away from the 4A mark. After only running a 47.71 in the 400, Vigil had one last opportunity to show he is one of the best sprinters to grace the state. As he prepared to run the anchor leg of the 1,600 relay team to end the 4A meet, he and his sister Miranda Vigil, herself a top sprinter at Taos and a senior at Colorado’s Adams State College, talked about the last 400 meters of his prep career. “I just said, ‘This is it. It’s your time to shine,’ ” Miranda Vigil said. “ ‘You’ll have four years in college, but this time is your moment. Just leave your mark, and go out there and do the best you can.’ ” If anyone knows how to get Jonah Vigil in the right frame of mind, it is his older sister. “We are really close to each other ever since we were young,” Jonah said. “We didn’t have a dad growing up, so we sort of concentrated on each other, I guess you could say.” It was the loss of a father, who took his own life when Jonah was 1 and Miranda 5, that set the tone for how the boy wanted to live his life. The adversity helped him grow and mature both as an athlete and a person — and in the end, solidified his standing as The New Mexican’s NorthStars male athlete of the year for the 2018-19 season. Jonah Vigil accomplished the feat on the strength of his track exploits, as he won four individual events at this year’s 4A meet (the three sprints and long jump) and helped the 1,600 relay team win its race. He also was a starting midfielder for the soccer team, which reached the Class 4A quarterfinals. More than anything, teammates and coaches said Vigil set the tone as a leader and an exemplary teammate. “He is a great kid to have on the team,” said Michael Hensley, Taos’ head boys soccer coach. “It’s rare when you have an individual who is as good he is to have so much humility and so much respect for his peers around him. He is the quintessential team player.” Jonah Vigil’s path, though, was not always an easy one.
An uncommon fuel Growing up without a dad made for some challenging moments for Miranda and Jonah, as they both admitted dealing with anger that stemmed from his absence. They found peace of mind on the Taos Middle School track that was next to their home. “As an escape when I was angry, I would go for a run,” Miranda Vigil said. “I think he saw that it would help and he started doing it as well. We had a lot of anger issues from the incident, and we just grew a close bond. We’ve been pretty tight since then.” “You have an open mind when you start walking around the track,” Jonah said. “Sometimes,
ABOVE: Taos relay teammates Missael Hermosillo, Jonathan Garcia and Jonah Vigil, right, celebrate after breaking the state record by nearly two seconds in the 1,600meter relay May 18 at the State Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque. MORGAN TIMMS TAOS NEWS
LEFT: Jonah Vigil crosses the finish line in the 1,600meter relay at the state meet last month. ShEIlA MIllER TAOS NEWS
when I was angry, I would run. But when I just wanted to think about stuff, I would just walk on the track.” Oh, but running was always close to the forefront for the Vigil family. Miranda Vigil was the first, as she competed in middle school before moving on to the high school level, eventually becoming a top sprinter for the Tigers and running at Adams State. All the while, word spread about the younger Vigil and his exploits at Taos Middle School — enough that high school head coach Benny Mitchell had to check out what he was hearing. “I go [to a middle-school meet], and I look at this kid, thinking, ‘What are you all talking about? This guy, he’s only [5 foot, 6 inches],’ ” Mitchell remembered. “I’m like, ‘This little guy?’ But, oh my God, can he move! I pulled him up [to the high school team] right away and put him in a couple of races.” Still, Jonah had some lessons to learn — especially about harnessing his talent.
Sisterly love, amazing speed Ask Miranda how fast her brother was growing up, she points out that she beat Jonah whenever they raced against each other — usually just 60-meter sprints — until Jonah was a freshman. “The potential was there,” Miranda said. “I always knew when he was younger, he was going to be something great at something. He just didn’t like running that much. When we would run, he was like, ‘You’re beating me.’ I felt like, when he started realizing he was fast, he wanted to beat his older sister.” Of course, Jonah said Miranda had a few tricks up her sleeve to tilt the advantage in her direction. “My eighth-grade year, I had faster times than her,” Jonah said. “But when we’d race and go to the track, I would always be slower with her. She would get me to start laughing when I was running, so I couldn’t keep up.”
Jonah played football as a freshman, but decided the following year that his calling — at least, in the fall — was soccer. For an athlete who seemed like a natural in just about every sport, soccer gave Jonah a reality check. “He didn’t like it,” Hensley said. “He didn’t even want to come to soccer practices because he was so terrible. But I would drive by his house and see him out there, training himself to learn how to do stuff he saw and what he heard from other kids. He just didn’t like not being good at something.” Vigil improved to the point that he was a starting midfielder for most of the last two years. He had four goals and six assists in 2018, as the Tigers went 15-3-1. Hensley was impressed by Vigil’s endurance and intensity as much as his speed. Vigil displayed good footwork and passing skills, which Hensley considered a remarkable transformation in such a short span. “When he cares about something, it shows how dedicated he is to getting better,” Hensley said. “If I had a video of him the first couple of times he came out [compared] to his senior year, you wouldn’t know it was the same person.” But everyone knew what to expect when Vigil reached the spring, and he didn’t disappoint.
‘How do I get faster?’ Mitchell counted 26 medals and trophies Vigil earned or helped earn during his time at Taos. Fifteen of those medals were adorned in championship blue, and 10 came in the past two state meets. The last time Vigil didn’t win a state event came in 2017. Mitchell, who has spent the past three decades watching New Mexico track athletes compete, believes Vigil ranks with the state’s best regardless of class. “I got a chance to see Curtis Beach [an Albuquerque Academy graduate who competed in the
decathlon at Duke] run,” Mitchell said. “I got a chance to see Bobby Newcombe [an Albuquerque Highland graduate who played football at Nebraska]. It’s a good thing that we get a kid from the northern part of New Mexico in that class. I gotta believe he’s in that class.” That’s not to say Vigil hasn’t lost over the past two years. At the Marilyn Sepulveda Meet of Champions last year, he finished second to Manzano’s Byrd in the 100 and the 200. But in losing, Vigil won as far as learning and improving. He picked Byrd’s brain about how to become a better sprinter, and used it to help in one of his weaknesses. “I always looked up to Jordan,” Vigil said. “We became friends and we always talk about, ‘How do I get faster?’ and ask for advice. He said to work on your block and your reaction time.” The advice worked perfectly. Byrd shares the title of “New Mexico’s fastest sprinter” with Newcombe at 10.50 in the 100. Vigil got off to perhaps his fastest start out of the blocks in the 4A 100 last month and blew away the field. The time broke the 4A mark, but Vigil never expected to challenge for the overall state record. “I thought I was going to do better in the 400, but I never thought I would run 10.51 and 21.3 [in the 200],” Vigil said. His 47.75 performance in the 400 was the disappointing part of his final Saturday of the season. Armed with one one more shot at leaving an indelible mark before calling it a career at Taos, Miranda provided the inspiration for Jonah’s finale. In order for that to happen, though, he needed help. Leave it to fellow senior Jonathan Garcia — a friend who he raced plenty of times on the playground growing up — to give Vigil that chance. At the halfway point of the 1,600 relay, Albuquerque Academy fielded about a 45-meter lead when Garcia got the baton for Lap 3. “We’ve never been behind in the four-by-four before,” Garcia said. “I saw a gap, and I knew Jonah was the fastest guy, so I had to get close enough for him to pass the guy in front of him.” Garcia cut the gap almost in half when he passed the baton to Vigil for the last lap, and he wasted no time in reeling in the Chargers’ William Piwowarek. By the first 100 meters, the gap was down to 10 meters. At the halfway mark, Jonah was on Piwowarek’s heels. At that moment, the U.S. Air Force’s Thunderbirds team was performing at Kirtland Air Force Base and flew over the complex as Jonah Vigil went to the point and blew away the field to help the Tigers set a 4A record in 3:19.44. Mitchell and his coaching staff never timed the race, but he said several coaches timed Vigil’s lap in the 46.6 range. Another had it a tick under that. “If it’s competition and he knows it’s there, he just rises to the occasion and he gets after it,” Mitchell said. “He turns on another gear that sometimes we don’t know he has. He has a will to win. You don’t teach that, but you can add to it.” And that is all that Vigil has done — add to his legacy.
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8 NORTHSTARS Santa Fe New Mexican Friday, June 7, 2019
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