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NorthStars NORTHERN NEW MEXICO’S TOP PREP ATHLETES 2012-2013

Female Athlete of the Year

Male Athlete of the Year

ST. MICHAEL’S HIGH SCHOOL

LOS ALAMOS HIGH SCHOOL

SALOMON MARTINEZ SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013

ERIN KIRK

2 NORTHSTARS The Santa Fe New Mexican Saturday, June 1, 2013

The best of 2012-2013 FALL THE MOMENT Nov. 8-9, 2012 It what will go down as one of the more disappointing 24-hour stretches in state soccer history (as far as Santa Fe-area teams are concerned, anyway), as every boys and girls club was sent home early.

It started on a Thursday with early exits by boys teams from St. Michael’s and Santa Fe Preparatory in the Class A-AAA quarterfinals, then turned downright ugly the following day in the semifinals for both genders.

Eliminated in A-AAA girls were St. Michael’s and Las Vegas Robertson; the loss by the Lady Horsemen turned out to be the final match in head coach Ed Velie’s celebrated career with the school.

That was followed in short order by the Los Alamos girls’ crushing 1-0 setback to Aztec in the AAAA final four. Just a few hours later, both boys teams representing District 2AAAA (Los Alamos and Capital) went down by identical 1-0 counts. Both matches went final within minutes of one another, putting a fitting and disappointing end to the soccer season.

Nov. 10, 2012 Proving patience and persistence can pay huge dividends, Mora’s Alonzo Chavez broke free from a crowded pack at the front of the Class AA State Cross Country Championships in Rio Rancho and became the first Ranger to ever win an individual state title.

That, alone, is reason enough to celebrate. Considering how he did it is another.

Reaching the 1-mile mark with three other runners pinned to his shoulders, Chavez turned on the afterburners in the final two-thirds of the race for a convincing victory that set the tone for what would be a memorable senior season for the superstar Mora distance runner.

By time he entered the stadium he was 34 seconds better than anyone else, giving the fans plenty of time to marvel at what would become the widest margin of victory of anyone in the five boys’ races that day. His time of 16 minutes, 1.55 seconds was the third-fastest on the day.

He wasn’t alone on the victory podium that day. Pojoaque Valley’s boys team won its second straight AAA title and had Jereme Santistevan win the individual crown. Los Alamos took home two blue trophies — one for the girls (and a second in a row) and one for the boys — while Nick Hill won his first individual title in his final race as a Hilltopper.

The prevailing wins Sometimes it takes a knuckle sandwich to get someone’s attention.

In the case of the St. Michael’s football team, it came in the form of a late-October visit to Silver City. For one of the most dominant Class AAA teams the state has seen in years, it was just what the doctor ordered: A wake up call for a team that had yet to be challenged through the season’s first two months.

That night showed the Horsemen that not every opponent is going to roll over. It also ignited a fire that preserved the perfection of what would become a 13-0 championship season.

Up to that point St. Michael’s had so thoroughly humiliated its opposition that it was starting to invent reasons for concern.

After the Horsemen fell behind 3-0 early in a 54-point dismantling of Capital, a sense of panic almost rippled through the stands. “We’re losing?” the fans seemed to say. “To Capital? What’s going on?”

The list of final scores heading into the pre-

Halloween trek to Silver City read like a snuff list of also-rans: 46-8, 40-0, 54-2, 55-0, 57-3, 58-7.

Against Silver the concern was justified.

Behind the physical play of talented Colts senior twins Nevada and Dakota Bencomo, the home team rolled to an early 14-0 lead on its homecoming night, matching each crushing hit with two of their own.

Some Horsemen hobbled off the field, others experienced anger and frustration for the first time all season.

When in was over, order had been restored.

The Horsemen prevailed 28-21 to improve to 8-0, but they left town that night knowing not every game would end with the mercy rule, that not every game offered the chance for the second- and third-stringers to get playing time.

They would beat the Colts again six weeks later in the AAA championship game in Santa Fe, but it’s safe to say the blue trophy might have been won on a rough night in October.

Will Webber

St. Michael’s senior cornerback Josh Carrasco intercepts the ball in front of Silver junior wide receiver Gabe Morales with Horsemen senior cornerback Fotios Patsalis defending during the Oct. 26, 2012 showdown in Silver City. SILVER CITY DAILY PRESS FILE PHOTO

Nov. 17, 2012 This was supposed to be the year the Elkettes were fair game, when their impenetrable defense of the Class AAA volleyball crown was to crumble.

Not so.

Some eight hours before its former head coach and all-state setter took the court in the AAAAA final for Rio Rancho Cleveland at the Santa Ana Star Center, Pojoaque Valley took down Ruidoso in four games to claim its fourth straight state championship.

To say it was unexpected is an overstatement. Everyone knew the Elkettes were the team to beat. What they also knew was the Elkettes weren’t the monster juggernaut they had been when Brian Ainsworth led them to three straight championships from 2009 to 2011.

At the helm this time was new head coach Joey Trujillo. At best a stop-gap replacement after Ainsworth and daughter Briana Ainsworth understandably bolted in the offseason for Cleveland’s grander stage, Trujillo was charged with holding together a senior-laden roster with enough talent to repeat.

All he did was do what Ainsworth had done so well in his tenure; win when it mattered most. Pojoaque finished 19-5 in Trujillo’s one and only year with the program.

New coach, new system, same old result.

Nov. 24, 2012 In the town made famous by Smokey Bear, it was a pack of wolves who stole the show.

Behind the potent one-two punch of quarterback Reynaldo Atencio and bruising running back Cody Casados, the Escalante football team rolled to the Class A state title with a 48-30 win over host Capitan. The Lobos had been the state’s best small-school team all season but somehow had been given up for dead after a late-season loss at home to McCurdy in Tierra Amarilla.

That proved to be Escalante’s only loss of the season, one the Lobos avenged with a dramatic 41-34 win over the Bobcats in Española in the state semifinals; a game that will always be remembered for the wild emotional swings and the everlasting image of McCurdy senior quarterback Eric Vigil standing idly in uniform on the sidelines with a torn knee ligament, unable to help.

Atencio capped that with a performance for the ages against Capitan, capping a record-setting season in which he rushed for more than 2,000 yards before the Lobos even got to the playoffs.

Dec. 8, 2012 It was an entire year in the making.

A full 12 months after watching their perfect season end on a deflected incomplete pass into the end zone on the final play of the Class AAA championship game against Lovington at Ivan Head Stadium, the St. Michael’s football team did what it couldn’t do the year before: Put a southern power away at the final gun.

The Horsemen (13-0) captured their third state title under head coach Joey Fernandez with a 10-7 defensive slugfest against Silver at Ivan Head, giving them 25 wins in their last 26 games. They did so by running roughshod over a schedule that, surprisingly, offered few challenges. One of the few obstacles all year was Silver, the only AAA club capable of standing toe-to-toe with one of the most dominant teams in the class in the last dozen years.

With both offenses wilting against the stellar play of the defenses, the outcome was finally settled when Silver quarterback Derek Salas was picked off in the final minute near midfield along the Horsemen sideline.

It capped a storybook season for a team that will surely be remembered as one of the best the City Different has ever seen.

Escalante quarterback Reynaldo Atencio, right, tries to get around Capitan defender Thomas Fields during the Class A State Playoffs championship in November 2012. RUIDOSO FREE PRESS FILE PHOTO

THE MOMENT

Tracking competition I’ve only interviewed Albuquerque Sandia Preparatory’s Rachel Fleddermann once, but she always finds her ways into my stories.

Of course, she has the advantage — and the distinction — of being one of the state’s best distance runners, be it on a cross country course or a track. That she dominates the field in Class AAA is yet another reason for her constant presence in Northern New Mexico.

So, when she simply up and ran away from the field in the 3,200 meters at the Class AAA State Track and Field Championships on May 17, there wasn’t much else to do than marvel at her excellence. But it was at another level on this day.

By the end of the first lap, she had a 20-meter lead on second place.

At Lap 2, it was 45 meters.

By Lap 3, the gap was 75 meters.

When Fleddermann completed Lap 5, she was about 115 meters on the field and there was no stopping her — until something did.

As Fleddermann paced the front stretch to complete 2,400 meters, she looked up to check

on the timer at the end of the frontstretch.

Then in a flash, she had a face-full of track staring her in the face. Fleddermann’s spikes caught the track and sent her crashing to the ground.

The crowd hushed, but Fleddermann didn’t give the spectators much pause for what happened next. She got up and kept running.

And did she ever. When the gun sounded for her final lap, Fleddermann had more than a half a lap on her nearest competitor. She crossed the line to win the event in 11 minutes, 52.82 seconds, and Taos’ Hannah Gunther needed 40.95 seconds to check in with second place.

Fleddermann seemed no worse for wear, other than the scrapes on her knees to remind her of an unusual moment for a runner of such great strength.

And it left an impression on Gunther.

“She’s an amazing runner,” Gunther said. “I want to be like her.”

That’s why she keeps finding her way into The New Mexican.

James Barron

Saturday, June 1, 2013 The Santa Fe New Mexican NORTHSTARS 3

WINTER Feb. 23, 2013 Winning was the name of the game.

And it happened all over the Santa Ana Star Center at the State Wrestling Championships.

In all, 10 Northern wrestlers brought home individual titles — five coming from St. Michael’s.

That helped the Horsemen to a 204-198 win over Silver for their second straight Class AAA title.

Among the winners were junior Korey Windham at 160 pounds, making him 4-for-4 in championship finals; senior Jose Ocampo at 138 to finish his prep career with two straight titles; and senior Andres Blea, who went 35-0 in repeating as heavyweight champion.

While old faces lived up to their names, new ones emerged to stake their claim. Like Capital eighth-grader Jose Tapia, who won the 106 title in Class AAAA, or Isaiah Anaya, a junior who went 31-0 to win the 138 title for the Jaguars.

And you can’t have a tournament without a Cinderella coming through. Enter Brian Geyer from Los Alamos, a fourth seed in 189 who upset the No. 1 and 3 wrestlers in the bracket to take the title.

Feb. 23, 2013 Bronze was beautiful in the North.

For Kirsten Sweers of St. Michael’s and Sarah Lott of Los Alamos, that was the color of the medals they took home at the end of the State Swimming and Diving Championship in Albu-

querque Academy Natatorium. Sweers finished third in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1 minute, .09 seconds.

“It was really cool when you’re done with the race you look at the board and you see how well you did,” Sweers said. “I’m only a freshman, so I still have a lot of years of swimming, so I’m really excited for the years to come.”

Lott, a freshman as well, surprised the field in the 200 freestyle by taking third in 1:55.48, and she came within .08 of setting a new school mark in the event.

She followed that up with a fourth in the event she is better known for — the 500 free.

Rachel Langone added to the smiles in the St. Michael’s camp with a fourth place in the 100 breaststroke. She’s only a sophomore, giving the North a trio who will be heard from for the next few years.

March 14, 2013 What was a fluke a year ago could not be dismissed so easily.

The Santa Fe Indian School Lady Braves were set to right the wrongs that prevented them from winning a third state girls basketball championship in 2012, but once again, a team in blue-and-white got in their way.

The Lovington Lady Wildcats beat SFIS for the second straight year in the Class AAA State Tournament, this time by a 38-33 count in the semifinals in The Pit to go with a 49-48 win in

SPRING May 9, 2013 It was an impressive three-match run.

And even more remarkable once it was all said and done.

Las Vegas Robertson’s Juliana Guerin easily won her quarterfinal and semifinal matches to set up an evening Class A-AAA girls tennis singles title bout against Paloma Gomez of St. Michael’s.

Guerin avenged a regular-season loss to Gomez with a 6-2, 6-3 win to capture her third crown in four years and boost her into an elite class.

Guerin became the eighth girls player in state history to win at least three singles state championships, dating back to 1973 and the first to do it in A-AAA since Bosque School’s Molly McDevitt from 2006-2008.

Should Guerin win a fourth in 2014, she will join Los Alamos’ Elisa Bonner (2000-03), Albuquerque Sandia Prep’s Mariana Spilca (2002-05) and Albuquerque Academy’s Lauren Pick (200710) to reach that mark.

That omits Albuquerque Academy’s Andrea Goldberg who is the only tennis player, girl or boy, to win five singles championships (1994-98).

May 10, 2013 Two obstacles stood before Alonzo Chavez and glory.

One was the 800 meters.

The other, Colton Hollis of Texico.

The Mora senior arrived at the Class A/AA State Track and Field Championships with one goal in mind — achieve the distance triple crown.

That required Chavez to win the 800, 1,600 and 3,200.

Although he entered among the favorites in all three, Chavez placed fifth in the 800 in 2012 and looked even less of a lock as the race played out.

In a near-deadlock with Hollis over the final 150 meters, Chavez received some unexpected help in the form of a public address announcer to spirit him toward victory.

“I noticed that he said, ‘Hollis is making a move,’ so I picked it up a bit,” Chavez said, who crossed the finish line a mere .88 before Hollis to win his first blue medal.

Chavez later edged Hollis again in the 3,200 and achieved his target the following day with a victory over the Texico senior in the 1,600 to become the first to take the top spot in those three events since Marvis Aragon of Laguna-Acoma in 2005.

May 11, 2013 Morning turned to afternoon, afternoon to evening, and evening to night.

Long after the court lights had been turned on to illuminated the Jerry Cline Complex, six seniors had accomplished their dream.

Colleen Fitzsimmons, Danielle Ortiz, Gillian Hsieh-Ratliff, Madeline Margevicius, Nasim Andrews, Susanna Lucido and the rest of the Los Alamos girls tennis team capped a grueling 10-hour day in celebration after defeating Farmington 5-4 in the AAAA state team championship to earn the Lady Hilltoppers their eighth crown.

Los Alamos had to get past Albuquerque Academy, a team the Lady Hilltoppers had lost to in the state semifinals in the previous two seasons, in the same round.

the AAA title game the previous year.

And what most in the state expected to be an All-District 5AAA showdown between the Lady Braves and the top-seeded Hope Christian Lady Huskies was all for naught.

“People have regrets but you live with them,” said Jennifer Willie, Lady Braves point guard. “It wasn’t meant to be.”

All the while, Lovington steps into the role the Lady Braves coveted just a year ago — the one with a chance at a three-peat. That came after the Lady Wildcats’ 58-51 win over the Lady Huskies for their second straight championship.

March 14, 2013 Four years ago, matching terms “Santa Fe High” and “state championship” together would have ushered a cacophony of laughter.

But in 2013, the Demonettes were just 90 seconds away from playing for the AAAA title game. Then Kayla Herrera went down with a sprained ankle.

While she eventually returned to the court, it was the Roswell Lady Coyotes who went to play for the state title after a 57-47 double-overtime win in the AAAA semifinals in The Pit. When Herrera went down, the Demonettes led 34-31, but Roswell, which was down by as much as eight points in the fourth quarter, rallied for a 35-34 lead. It took a Sabrina LozadaCabbage free throw for overtime.

Then it took Herrera’s return to spark a 5-0

run in the final minute of the first overtime to force a second extra period at 42-all.

“Roswell came at us and we had them beat, we had that game won and then Kayla went down,” said Elmer Chavez, Santa Fe High head coach. “It’s upsetting, but you never know what’s going to happen in the game.”

March 16, 2013 This time, Hope Christian didn’t need no stinkin’ clock malfunction.

The Huskies, though, did need to invoke the spirit of Lenny Roybal.

Using a spread offense and the stalling tactics the former Santa Fe High and Española Valley head boys basketball coach made famous, Hope avenged itself against the St. Michael’s Horsemen with a 42-29 win in the AAA title game.

The Horsemen were defending champions thanks to a clock error that helped them eke out a 31-30 win in 2012.

The Huskies trimmed dozens of seconds off the clock as they preserved a 12-6 first-quarter lead that was never really threatened. At one point, Hope guard Micah Murphy stood near the timeline, with the ball on his hip, much like countless other guards did for Roybal.

So, did Jim Murphy, who won his 11th state title for the program, engage in long discussions with the Sultan of Stall?

“Well, we do some scheduling together now,” Murphy said with a laugh.

THE MOMENT

The Lady Hilltoppers secured a 5-4 victory in the afternoon to earn chance to slay Farmington, the four-time state champs.

The battle lived up to the hype as the top two seeds squared off in a dual that wasn’t won until 9:30 p.m., just over five hours after the start.

With all eyes focused on the Lucido/ Fitzsimmons-versus-Allie Linville/ Sydney Schumacher clash, the crowd watched as the Lady Hilltoppers duo let slip a 6-0, 5-2 lead and appeared headed for a third set after losing two consecutive games.

The pair rebounded to win the final game to secure the championship point.

May 17, 2013 Trying to break your own record, now that’s a good problem to have.

Pojoaque Valley’s Amanda Babicke found herself in that predicament at the Class AAA State Track and Field Championships.

Babicke entered as Pojoaque’s current record holder in the long jump after winning the event last year with a jump of 17 feet, 11½ inches and was poised to repeat as a champion.

All of her training during the offseason and into the fall was for the sole purpose of breaking the 18-foot mark.

On her second attempt, Babicke sprinted down the rubber, launched herself into the air and landed with a leap of 18-4½ — and all on her birthday.

The jump was just 2¼ inches shy of the AAA record.

“I’m just glad I got 18 [feet] and I won, I guess,” she said afterward. “I expect a lot out of myself, and I was just glad to help out my team.”

A day later she won the 100 and 200 meters, and anchored the Elkettes’ winning 1,600 relay team to finish as the event’s top point setter for the third straight year with 26 and led Pojoaque to a third-place finish.

Topping all in AAA, though, was District 2AAA rival Taos, which outpointed Albuquerque Hope Christian 69-54 for its first state title.

May 18, 2013 Yes, it was disappointing.

It always is for any team that advances so far only to fall one win short of the ultimate goal.

In the case of the West Las Vegas softball team, the immediate aftermath of a 10-7 loss to Silver may have been devastating but once the pain subsides, the Lady Dons may be able to appreciate their accomplishment of taking their third runner-up trophy in school history.

The remarkable run began May 16 when West Las Vegas upset top-seeded Portales — the team that eliminated the Lady Dons last year — in the winner’s bracket semifinal and culminated on May 17 when the Lady Dons knocked off Albuquerque Hope Christian to win the loser’s bracket final and setup a rematch with the Lady Colts, whom West Las Vegas lost to earlier in the day.

West Las Vegas took a 7-6 lead over the two-time defending AAA champion after Sarah Gold scored on an error in the bottom of the fifth inning.

But the dream of winning the school’s first ever state title was ripped away when a throwing error by catcher Jessica Howard cost the Lady Dons three runs in the sixth.

Santa Fe High’s Warren Fulgenzi serves during a doubles match at the District 2AAAA Tournament at Capital High School. LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN

Their day on court “The fifth set is not about tennis, it’s about nerves,” said tennis legend Boris Becker about the pressure of the do-or-die set.

It wasn’t a fifth set, but a pressure-packed third that showed the guts of one Santa Fe High athlete.

For four straight days, the Jerry Cline Complex was home to some memorable sights and sounds, but one of the most inspiring came from Jorge Atuna and his crew of Demons.

Everything was against No. 6 Santa Fe High — including the weather and perception as heavy underdogs.

The Demons began their AAAA quarterfinal battle of the team tournament against No. 3 Las Cruces Centennial in the afternoon under clear skies at the Sierra Vista Tennis Complex. After an hour weather delay and completion of the doubles segment, Santa Fe High found itself down 2-1.

As sunset neared, Centennial captured a 4-2 lead and appeared to have Santa Fe High in its grip as Atuna lost the first set of his No. 5 singles match 6-4.

Before long, though, the Demons scored two victories and eyes soon gazed upon the every movement and reaction of Atuna and

his opponent, Sean Michnovicz.

Every point inspired shouts of encouragement from Hawks supporters on the west side of the showcourt and Demons on the east.

Atuna battled back to take the second set 6-4 and led in the third 4-3 before the official suspended the match because there was no court lighting.

After a 15-minute drive and a 5-minute warmup, the match resumed under the lights of Jerry Cline.

Atuna tried everything to push the nerves aside, including praying and talking to his mom during the suspension. The concoction worked as Atuna played a flawless two games after Michnovicz tied it at 4-all.

After a winner to clinch the match, Atuna’s teammates roared and rushed the court.

On the verge on tears, the freshman said, “It was kind of a miracle,” admitting the moment had not quite sunk in yet.

When it finally does, Atuna can look back with the satisfaction of knowing that the overlooked guy was the hero — even if for one night.

Zack Ponce

4 NORTHSTARS The Santa Fe New Mexican Saturday, June 1, 2013

Saturday, June 1, 2013 The Santa Fe New Mexican NORTHSTARS 5

Erica Rendon Pojoaque Big school volleyball

Salomon Martinez St. Michael’s Big school football

Haley Rach Taos Big school cross country

Alonzo Chavez Mora Small school cross country

Nick Hill Los Alamos Big school cross country

Luis Rios-Olivas Capital Soccer

Desiray Anderson Santa Fe Prep Small school volleyball

Cassie CdeBaca Pecos Small school cross country

Reynaldo Atencio Escalante Small school football

Amelia Neal Los Alamos Soccer

Trey Pereya Los Alamos Swimming

Korey Windham St. Michael’s Wrestling

Chantel Rivera Mora Small school basketball

Mikey Lopez Capital Big school basketball

She played just a little more than half of the season, but Rendon proved to be the key ingredient to the Elkettes’ fourth straight state Class AAA championship. Her 24 kills in the AAA championship against Ruidoso paved the way for another blue trophy and cemented her spot as the AAA player of the year and a first-team All-State performer.

Upon her return to the lineup in late September, the Elkettes went 13-1 and cruised to a District 2AAA title, the seventh straight district title the program has won.

He wasn’t the 1,000-yard rusher he was in 2011, but Martinez was still an invaluable cog in the undefeated drive to a state championship by the Horsemen. He set a school record with 31 touchdowns and 188 points and combined for more than 1,250 yards rushing and receiving on the season. As a safety on defense, Martinez was a part of a team that allowed just 6.4 points per game.

He earned All-State honors at running back and safety, as well as The New Mexican’s Male Athlete of the Year.

During a season in which every AAA runner chased Sandia Preparatory’s Rachel Fleddermann, Rach was one of the best pursuers.

While upstart eighth-grader Megan Herrera of Pojoaque barely beat her for second place at the state meet, Rach won the District 2AAA championship as Taos finished as district runnerup. She was second in the small-school division of the Rio Rancho Jamboree, and at one point was the only runner to break 20 minutes (granted, it was just two weeks into the season). This is just the start of some big things for the freshman.

Chavez had no equal in Class AA. He lost only two meets during the cross country season — the UNM Invitational and the Rio Rancho Jamboree. In between those two meets, he won five in a row. At the state meet, Chavez’s time was 16:01.55 — just a tick slower than the Ranger senior wanted. Still, it was the third best time by all male runners at the meet.

He’ll continue his quest to break 16 minutes at New Mexico Highlands University, where he will run cross country for the Cowboys.

The Los Alamos senior picked the right time for the first time. His win in the Class AAAA Cross Country Championships ended up being the first of Hill’s career, and it catapulted the Hilltoppers to a repeat as state champions. Hill was usually No. 2 to Sean Reardon’s No. 1 on the scoring ladder, but he started to make strides at the end of the season.

Hill was a team-best fourth at the Los Alamos Invitational, then took second behind Reardon in the District 2AAAA championship. Yet, he saved the best for last — and it earned him this distinction.

On a team that had a variety of ways to hurt opponents, Rios-Olivas was the most effective option. He scored 16 scored and dished out seven assists for a team that went 17-5, tied for the District 2AAAA championship and reached the Class AAAA semifinals, a first for the program. It was his goal in the AAAA quarterfinals — a 40-yard direct kick that bounced over the goalie’s head — that led the way to a 3-1 upset of top-seeded Albuquerque Academy on Nov. 8, 2012.

The sophomore outside hitter stepped into the role Sarah Ihlefeld left upon transferring to Albuquerque La Cueva and thrived. She earned All-District 2AA firstteam honors and helped Prep advance to the Class AA quarterfinals for the second straight season. Her 13 kills led Prep to a sweep of Cuba in the opening round. In the District 2AA playoffs, she had 15 kills as Prep pushed eventual district champion Mora to five games.

When the Class AA Championships began, CdeBaca wasn’t among the favorites.

When the race was a mile into it, she wasn’t even in the same vicinity of the leaders. It was more of the same after Mile 2. But CdeBaca pulled off perhaps the most stunning upset in recent state championships history by overtaking three runners in the final mile to pull off a state title in 20:04.45.

CdeBaca was the lone Lady Panther to qualify after her team failed to finish in the top three at the District 2AA meet. CdeBaca continued the season by winning the meet, and found her way to greatness.

What the junior quarterback did in a season most players would need a career to achieve. Let’s start with rushing. His 2,778 yards is the second-best singleseason effort in state history.

The 46 touchdowns Atencio scored is a state record, as is the 322 points. The 364 yards he gained against Questa on Oct. 26, 2012, ranks sixth on the all-time single-game list. All of that helped the Lobos win the Class A championship, and he finished his historic season with 216 yards on the ground and five touchdowns.

When it comes to scoring goals, Neal has been the go-to player for the Lady Hilltoppers. She concluded her sterling career with 32 goals and 20 assists for 84 points, which was second in the state.

It was the second straight year she broke the 30-goal barrier, as Los Alamos won the District 2AAAA title and reached the AAAA semifinals. Her final goal of the year was her team’s final one as well, coming in the 65th minute of a 1-0 win over Piedra Vista in the AAAA quarterfinals.

Pereya’s stamina gives him the confidence needed to close out the final laps of his favorite event, the 500meter freestyle. While he hasn’t quite perfected the art of attacking those 10 laps, the junior has improved with each successive year.

He capped off his third prep season with a fifth-place finish in the 500 freestyle at the State Swimming and Diving Championships, shaving off nearly four seconds from his performance a year ago. Pereya also helped his team place seventh in the 400 freestyle relay.

Windham’s passion for wrestling began when he was introduced to the sport in third grade. Since that time, the junior has soaked up a wealth of knowledge. He earned his way into the state’s lore when he won the 160-pound crown for his fourth straight blue medal in February, joining Jess Martinez (2012) as the only other Horsemen to accomplish such a feat. Windham’s points also contributed to St. Michael’s second straight Class A-AAA championship.

The senior’s dynamic play made her a threat anywhere on the court. Rivera’s quickness and hustle led to perhaps the most impressive of her stats — a 3.6 steals per game mark.

That set up Rivera for success on the offensive end as the 5-foot-4 speedster averaged 17.9 points and was a key part of the Rangerettes’ run to the Class AA quarterfinals. She finished the year with 518 points, the third most in AA, and was named second team AllState and first team All-District 2AA.

Strength mixed with a hint of athleticism carried Lopez to great heights in his final season as a Jaguar.

Standing 6-foot-3, Lopez was a big man who guarded the paint better than most. His defense and ability to block out led to a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game. That, combined with an average of 14.8 points on offense, was good enough to earn Lopez the District 2AAAA player of the year and second team All-State honors.

Jayme Quintana West Las Vegas Golf Quintana saved her best for last. With a final-round 74 in the A-AAA state tournament, she finished fourth on the leaderboard after a season in which she never shot better than the 77 she posted at the Raton Country Club in September. She did have seven rounds in which she broke 90 but rarely, if ever, displayed the kind of consistency of a round close to even par until the final 18 holes of her prep career.

In fact, her top two rounds came under the pressure cooker of the state championships. Her two-day total of 160 was only a dozen shots off the lead.

Kayla Herrera Santa Fe High Big school basketball Herrera has all the qualities of an ideal scorer — confidence, awareness, repetition and a killer instinct. She averaged 13.1 points per game and was one of the Demonettes’ “Big Three” — along with Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage and Jackie Martinez — to lead Santa Fe High to the Class AAAA semifinals.

Unfortunately, Herrera sprained her ankle in the waning minutes of regulation against Roswell, and Santa Fe High fell in double overtime. One of her best performances came late in the season when Herrera scored a careerhigh 38 points in a District 2AAAA win at home over Los Alamos.

Sarah Lott Los Alamos Swimming

Johnny Vigil Pecos Small school basketball

After she opted to forgo prep competition as an eighthgrader, Lott splashed onto the scene with a third-place finish in the 200 freestyle at state. Little did the freshman know that her time of 1:55.48 was .08 short of the Los Alamos school record. Lott also took fourth in the 500 freestyle and was part of the Lady Hilltoppers’ relay teams that finished third in the 400 freestyle and fourth in the 200 freestyle.

Vigil brought joy to his head coach, Russ Gilmore, and the community of Pecos. The all-around athlete could be found locking down defenders, dropping dimes and battling for boards. Vigil proved indispensable for Pecos throughout the season. He averaged 15 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as he carried Pecos to a remarkable 25-2 regular season mark, a District 2AA title and a No. 2 seed entering the Class AA State Tournament. He was named second team All-State and first team All-District 2AA.

Matthew Smallwood St. Michael’s Big school baseball On the wall of his bedroom is a sheet of paper with one number: 90. It represents the digits his fastball has yet to achieve on a radar gun. 89, yes. 90, no. Not yet. Because he’s only a junior and because he has dedicated his athletic life — save for a few winter months on the swimming team — to baseball, it seems that number will soon be replaced by one just a few ticks higher. After that, look for this future University of New Mexico pitcher to add to an impressive résumé in which he led the Horsemen in wins, strikeouts and innings pitched by possibly taking them past consecutive state semifinal appearances.

PHOTOS BY CLYDE MUELLER, JANE PHILLIPS, LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO AND GRIFFIN VOLTURA/THE NEW MEXICAN

HonorRoll Honor Roll

THE TOP BIG- AND SMALL-SCHOOL ATHLETES FROM FALL, WINTER AND SPRING SPORTS

David Romero and Amadeo Lopez Robertson Tennis Unbeaten as a doubles tandem headed into the A-AAA state tournament, the Cardinals duo capped their perfection by taking down the state’s top-seeded tandem of Rand Briggs and Andrew Patten from Bosque School in the finals of the individual doubles championships. And not a bad way to end it, either.

Romero and Lopez (a junior and senior, respectively) won their opening match 6-0, 6-0, then rolled into the finals after losing on one game in the semis. Against Briggs and Patten they won 6-4, 6-2.

Amanda Babicke Pojoaque Valley Big school track The long line of celebrated track stars in Northern New Mexico will always include this Elkettes senior’s name near the top. In the final meet of her stellar prep career, she won AAA’s 200 meters, the long jump and was on the winning 1,600meter relay team, then was second in the 400. After her final race, she had a quiet moment with her mother near the first turn at the UNM Track Complex. The two shared a hug and a few tears. In tow were even more medals for her already compromised trophy case.

Gabrielle Griego West Las Vegas Softball Reggie Jackson wore No. 44 and they called him Mr. October. This Lady Dons senior wore the same numbers, but no one outside of Las Vegas, N.M., is calling her Ms. May. Maybe they should start.

West’s leadoff hitter was a one-person wrecking crew all season for a team that won 25 games and defied the odds by reaching the AAA championship game. She batted .446 and had a slugging percentage of nearly .700; numbers that rose during the playoffs. She led off an upset of No. 1 Portales with a homer, and next year we’ll see her in an Adams State uniform.

Alonzo Chavez Mora Small school track Baseball has the triple crown, hoops has the triple double and horse racing — well, you get the point. This Rangers senior swept the state’s distance events at the AA championships by taking the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 titles. In each race he topped his qualifying mark ever so slightly. He also edged Texico rival Colton Hollis to the tape by times ranging from less than a second to nearly five. His 21 individual points compromised Mora’s entire point total for the meet, good enough for 11th out of 23 teams.

Taylor Bacon Desert Academy Small school track

Santiago Lovato McCurdy Small school baseball

Juliana Guerin Robertson Tennis

Isaac Gonzales Taos Big school track

Zach Berhost St. Michael’s Golf

Time wasn’t on the Baconator’s side. Not entirely.

The Desert Academy sophomore nearly pulled the distance trifecta at the Class A meet, winning the 1,600 and 3,200 and taking second in the 800. Her time in the mile was particularly impressive as she shaved nearly 10 seconds of her personal best. That race came on a Friday. The other two were less than three hours apart the following afternoon. She was second in the 800, then capped the two-mile run in 12 minutes, 30 seconds.

The best hitter and arguably the best pitcher on what appeared to be one of the best teams in Class A. That honor went to this Bobcats senior who led his team on the mound and at the plate en route to a 14-7 season and, ultimately, a heartbreaking loss in the state semifinals. In his last appearance he was nothing short of workmanlike, laboring through 167 pitches against Jemez Valley in the A semifinals in an outing that personified his outstanding career in Española.

Same time next year? We’ll see. This Lady Cardinals junior carted off her third Class A-AAA singles state championship in early May, downing St. Michael’s senior Paloma Gomez 6-2, 6-3 after entering the tournament as the No. 2 seed. Guerin won all three of her matches in straight sets, although she had only one 6-0 result in the six sets she played.

With a year left, she can add to an already impressive résumé that includes state titles as an eighth-grader in 2010, then again each of the last two years.

When he went down with a knee injury during football season, not many people expected to hear from Gonzales for the rest of the year. Not so fast, my friend. The Tigers junior won the 200 and 400 meters at the AAA state meet, then helped the 800 and 1,600 relay teams take first by running the anchor leg in each event. For good measure, he was second in the triple jump and helped Taos win the state title.

He didn’t finish the way he had hoped for — third in the A-AAA state tournament in Socorro — but he is surely destined for bigger and better things. Headed for the University of Nevada on a golf scholarship, Berhost came into his senior season as the defending state champion. He started it off on a solid note, carding a seasonlow 71 at the Santa Fe Country Club in October and then an even-par 72 at Albuquerque’s Four Hills Country Club in April. He had a 75 in his final round at state, placing him seven shots off the lead.

6 NORTHSTARS The Santa Fe New Mexican Saturday, June 1, 2013

MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

SALOMON MARTINEZ

St. Michael’s running back Salomon Martinez, here playing against Bloomfield, earned Class AAA All-State honors after scoring a team-record 31 total touchdowns while leading the Horsemen to an undefeated state title-winning season. LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN

Shouldering the adversity

By Will Webber The New Mexican

T

he measure of a man can be taken in several ways.

For Salomon Martinez, it comes in a simple phrase he scribbles on his forearm every time he dons a

uniform.

“I can do all this,” it begins, “through Him who gives me strength.”

It’s an oft-quoted verse from Philippians 4:13 in the New International version of the Bible. It’s a phrase that has grown to define the person and athlete Martinez has become.

A three-sport star at St. Michael’s High School, Martinez is The New Mexican’s NorthStars Male Athlete of the Year.

He achieved all-state status in football, leading the Horsemen to an unbeaten championship season while setting a school record for touchdowns. He was part of a basketball team that reached the state title game the year after winning it. He capped his senior year by helping the track and field team finish second at the state meet.

Numbers and accolades aside, Martinez holds true to his faith as a symbol of strength above all else.

“As a mother, of course I think my son is ready to play in the NFL right now,” says Donna Martinez, the matriarch of a household with four children ranging from Salomon to 30-yearold George Jr. and daughters Antoinette, 24, and Destiny, 22. “But as a mother, it makes me so proud to know he holds onto his beliefs when he’s out there on his own. We can teach him and tell him how to do things, but you just don’t know what they’re going to do until you leave them on their own to see how they handle it.”

If faith is one way to describe Salomon Martinez, control is another.

He has become adept at managing his emotions, his anger and his desire to stay on the field no matter the circumstance.

It is quite possibly a trait handed down from his parents, both of whom are retired from the state Corrections Department.

George Sr. was a prison guard at the Penitentiary of New Mexico, serving as a death row guard and in-house SWAT team member for much of his more than two decades of service.

Donna worked in an administrative role and met George while the two were working there.

Keeping cool under pressure was required training for George Martinez. He was charged with keeping the state’s most dangerous inmates in line, literally putting his life on the line every day he reported for work.

He has spent a lifetime passing his numerous lessons on to his children.

Because Salomon is roughly five years younger than his next-oldest sibling, he got plenty of one-on-one attention in that regard.

“My dad, definitely,” he says when asked who the biggest influence in his life has been. “Both my parents were always there for me. In sports, my dad was right there from as early as I can remember. He’s one of the nicest guys ever, but you learn never to make him mad. I take a lot from him. If someone’s going to get in my way, they’re going to get rocked. That’s the way he is;

he’ll never run from a fight.”

He’ll also never forsake his faith, something he and Donna instilled in all their kids.

In almost every interview Salomon did the last few years, he would take a moment to mention it.

Along those same lines was his ability to keep his emotions in check. He readily admits it’s a work in progress, but it’s one that started at an early age while growing up in Santa Fe. An example came when he was 8 and he snapped the femur in his left leg while playing YAFL. It wasn’t until the next day that he was taken to the doctor and properly diagnosed. He had three rods inserted to stabilize the bone, had another procedure to remove the devices, then a third to clear up complications at the break site.

“All I remember is that it was the worst pain I ever felt, and that I really didn’t want it to keep me from playing,” Martinez says. “I don’t know if I have a better tolerance for stuff like that, but I do my best not to let it bother me.”

“There would be times when his temper got the best of him,” admits George Martinez. “I think him controlling it is something Donna and I helped him with ever since he was small.

If he had an incident, we would stop him right there and talk to him instead of doing it when we got home. He’s always been a patient individual who has thought things through, but it took some time to get ahold of his anger and not let it ruin him.”

While track and basketball are a big part of Martinez’s athletic prowess — he was an accomplished hurdler for head coach Fernandez in track and a power forward for head coach Ron Geyer in hoops — it’s his work on the football field that he’ll be remembered for years from now.

Late in his senior season, he set the school’s career record for touchdowns scored. He had 22 trips to the end zone as a rusher last fall, another eight on receptions and one more on a return.

“As a mother, of course I think my son is ready to play in the NFL right now. But as a mother, it makes me so proud to know he holds onto his beliefs when he’s out there on his own.”

Donna Martinez, Salomon’s mother Another couple of injuries, both suffered last fall in football, merely strengthened his perseverance. One was a dislocated shoulder while diving for a long pass from quarterback Cory Serna, the other a sprained ankle and knee during a game in Silver City.

The shoulder discomfort was nothing more than a nuisance, one made worse when Donna insisted he play with a shoulder brace.

“I tried finding the smallest one I could get because all it did was get in my way,” Martinez laughs. “I either played with a brace or my mom would have made me quit. Just one of those things, you know?”

When the injury first occurred, Martinez says he came off the field in pain after feeling the joint pop itself back into place as he got off the ground.

St. Michael’s trainer Tom Fagan wanted to assess the damage on the sideline, but Martinez wanted nothing to do with him.

“It’s kind of funny now that I think of it, but I wouldn’t even let him get near me because I’m so stubborn,” Martinez says. “I knew he’d say it was a dislocation, and I knew [head coach Joey Fernandez] would have taken me out of the game. Maybe it’s kind of crazy, but unless it’s something really bad, I can’t let an injury take me out.”

Same goes with his temper.

When Martinez was a kid, his emotions often got the best of him whether he was playing football or basketball or studying karate. He stuck with the latter sport for a few years, but it was in that short window that he garnered the need for mental discipline.

He parlayed that into more than 1,200 combined yards in receiving and rushing for a team that won all 13 of its games and won its third state championship in a decade.

More than that, he developed a reputation as a ferocious hitter on defense.

Often roaming the secondary as a safety or free floating linebacker, he was one of those players opposing receivers and running backs always had to keep an eye on.

One of his more memorable hits came during his junior year, when he plowed into a Las Vegas Robertson receiver inside the 10-yard line at a game at the Christian Brothers Athletic Complex.

The impact sounded like a gunshot as Martinez’s helmet and pads pounded squarely into the upper body of the Cardinals receiver while both were elevating.

Another is when he ran full steam into a much larger tight end from Albuquerque Academy, a shot that sent both players sprawling to the ground. As usual, Martinez got up less the worse for wear.

“It’s like baseball players saying they don’t feel anything when they hit a home run,” Martinez says. “You get a big hit like that on another player, and it’s just smooth, like nothing’s happening. I love that. I live to hit. Running the ball and scoring touchdowns is fun, but I’d take putting a hit on someone any day. It’s why I play.”

His next stop is in Las Cruces and his freshman year at New Mexico State University. Martinez was recruited lightly by Adams State and a bit more heavily by Fort Lewis, both NCAA Division II schools from the Rocky Mountain

Athletic Conference.

Going to either school would have given him the chance to visit his father’s hometown of Las Vegas, N.M., each of the next four years — George Sr. and George Jr. both attended Robertson High School — but he spurned that opportunity to stay in state and possibly play football for the Aggies.

Guaranteed nothing at NMSU except the chance to pursue a degree in engineering, Martinez hopes to follow in Fernandez’s footsteps now that he’s ready to embark on his college career.

Twenty-five years ago, Fernandez walked on at UNM and played all four years for the Lobos while earning his degree.

Martinez says he’s been given preferred walkon status at NMSU, meaning he’ll be a tackling dummy until he proves he belongs on the roster.

And that’s fine with him. For years, people have dismissed his lack of girth — he’s now 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds — as a sign of weakness.

Just like his earliest days in YAFL when he played for teams that lost more than they won, he’s ready for the challenge of winning people over.

“I thought about it a lot and, really, being at State is what’s best for me,” he says, pointing out that one of his older sisters was also a walkon to the Aggies’ swimming team. “It’s kind of like home for me. It’s where I’m going to be most comfortable.”

Rest assured, his sense of self-control will work wonders when trying to win a spot on the roster.

In most instances, his controlled aggression has won out and most every opponent — be it a would-be tackler or skill position player daring to venture into his zone — needed a little extra time to shake out the cobwebs The one constant has been the flood of advice he has gotten from his parents.

“For whatever reason, my words were golden to Salomon when he was growing up,” George Martinez says. “I would always preach to him: ‘Son, in karate or football or whatever, if you get angry and let it take over, not only has anger beaten you at the game but so has the opponent.’ He didn’t get it right away, but once he did he became a better person. He can be angry on a play but he won’t let it ruin the job he is supposed to do.”

And that’s where the Philippians verse comes in. Probably a dozen times a game he would glance down at the ink scrawled in tiny letters and repeat the line over and over in his head.

Letting emotion run amok is fine as long as he always understood that there was a greater purpose than his own.

“I tell him all the time that all the bad in him is from his mom,” Donna says. “All the good in him is from God. As long as he remembers that, I think he’ll be great.”

Now and forever, those words from Philippians 4:13 are inscribed on George Martinez’s skin. He had the entire verse tattooed onto the side of his arm near his shoulder.

“It’s the first and only tattoo I will ever have, and the only reason I did that was to honor our faith, to honor the meaning,” George says. “My wife didn’t like it and it put me in the doghouse for a while, but I think she understands it.”

Saturday, June 1, 2013 The Santa Fe New Mexican NORTHSTARS 7

FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

ERIN KIRK

By James Barron The New Mexican

L

OS ALAMOS — Team before self.

That’s Erin Kirk.

Whether it was on the basketball or volleyball court, the softball diamond or even at home, Kirk always seemed to be the one making the selfless sacrifice, the one willing to assume the role that, while unglamorous, was so essential to the bigger picture.

“That’s one of our rules,” says Garry Maskaly, former Los Alamos High School head volleyball coach who oversaw Kirk during her four years with the program. “She really exemplified that.”

But every now and then, a supporting member gets a turn at the limelight.

And it’s her turn now.

Kirk has been the consummate teammate, the supportive sister, the face in the crowd. She was the Sundance Kid to Butch Cassidy for most of her career.

But Kirk’s senior year was her time to take on the lead role, and she did it in true Kirk-like fashion.

She transformed herself from a middle blocker to the Lady Hilltoppers’ most trusted outside hitter in the span of a summer and helped them to a third consecutive Class AAAA semifinal appearance. Her 255 kills led the team, and she earned an honorable mention for the AAAA All-State team.

It was her leadership that helped the basketball team overcome the transition of a midseason coaching change and get Los Alamos to the state quarterfinals and The Pit for the first time in three years.

Her steady play in the field and at the plate for softball led to a teambest .449 batting average and a spot on the All-District 2AAAA team.

Los Alamos, which started 4-10, went on a 10-2 flourish and almost beat Los Lunas to reach the AAAA quarterfinals.

And if that wasn’t enough, Kirk earns a distinction not even her more celebrated brother, UNM center Alex Kirk, garnered during his time as a Hilltopper.

Erin’s performance earned her The New Mexican’s NorthStars Female Athlete of the Year.

She is the second straight winner from Los Alamos, joining Chase Ealey, the 2011-12 winner.

For once, she gets bragging rights in the family.

“It’s a great honor,” Erin says. “I am thankful you guys picked me, you can say. Just because it’s a little bit more that I can rub in his face. I texted him that day [when she learned of the honor], and all he said was, ‘Oh.’ Yep. Burned you there, brother.”

So, maybe she isn’t the most graceful winner, but what else would you expect in a sibling rivalry? Besides, it’s not like big brother isn’t proud of his little sister.

“I wasn’t surprised, honestly,” Alex says. “She deserves it a lot more, too. I think that being a three-sport athlete is incredible, but what she did and brought to each of those teams is, in a lot of the cases, bigger than what I did. I got a lot more recognition for it, but she deserves this just as much.”

While Alex gives Erin credit for her three-sport status, some of that should be tossed to parents Alan and Pat Kirk for giving their children opportunities to sample as much as they could out of life.

While Alex’s 7-foot frame might make him a no-brainer for basketball, he played soccer and baseball growing up.

Meanwhile, Erin did soccer, volleyball, softball, track and field, golf and was even a cheerleader once. But there was one sport she never cared for as a child.

“Tennis,” Erin says. “It wasn’t my thing. It was one of those I tried in PE and just did not like.”

Still, the Kirks wanted their kids to participate in whatever they wanted, but with one caveat.

“If you quit practicing, you were done with it,” Alan says.

The only thing the kids ever quit on their own was band. Considering the sports they had to compete in during the year, it’s easy to see why.

In fact, neither Alex or Erin really had a summer to themselves, other than vacations.

For Erin, a summer to herself is almost a foreign concept.

“It might have been kindergarten,” Erin says with hesitation.

But all that playing and traveling had an impact. In a time when specialization of athletes has become routine, the Kirks saw the underside of that, such as burnout and a greater risk of injury from overuse of certain body parts. They also saw a social impact playing multiple sports had on kids, and felt it was an important component to Alex’s and Erin’s development.

“You’re with different kids, you’re with different parents,” Pat says.

“You’re with different coaches.”

Even now, Erin seems to ease her way from one sport to another, from one set of teammates to another.

“I am extremely social,” Erin says.

“It’s so easy for me to go on a court and play with someone and a few seconds later, we’re like best friends because we have something in common. It’s going to be like that when I go to college and play intramurals.”

Not that Erin is looking forward to her playing days coming to an end.

She holds out hope that a school might catch her this summer at the North-South All-Star softball and basketball games in June. If she could play volleyball, she’d do that too, but she didn’t get an invite.

Which is a shame because coaches won’t see how well she developed in the sport.

After spending her junior year in the middle because of the wealth of outside hitters the Lady Hilltoppers had — namely Ealey and Alicia Rendon — Erin saw an opening there.

While she had little experience with the position, she asked the coaches to see if she could try to move there.

“I always wanted to play outside,” Erin says. “I said to [the coaches], ‘I want to play outside. I want to play outside.’ I finally got moved there, and my coach was like, ‘You can do it.’ They really believed in me.”

The transition, though, was not as simple as moving to a different spot on the court.

“The hitting tempo is a little different,” Maskaly says. “In the middle, you get up early and the setter just gets you the ball. A lot of that is predicated on speed, because you’re blocking, then transitioning to hitting right away. On the outside, you got to play defense and serve-receive and play all the way around. You never come out.”

Erin, though, was persistent. She spent extra time hitting with coaches during the summer. She worked hard in drills that helped her with her agility and speed to shore up her defense. Erin also had to improve her serving since she wouldn’t be seeing much of the bench during the season.

What all the work resulted in was a hitter who was responsible for a third of her team’s kills during the season.

Erin also recorded 186 digs, which was third on the team, and had 61 aces. That total was just two behind Danielle Ortiz, one of two teammates who made the All-State team in AAAA. Perhaps the biggest indicator of Erin’s leadership, though, came during a nondistrict match against Albuquerque Sandia Preparatory on Oct. 9, 2012.

The match came on the heels of a disturbing District 2AAAA loss to Santa Fe High two nights before, which ended Los Alamos’ 25-match district winning streak that stretched into 2008.

The Lady Sundevils held a lead early in the match, and the Lady Hilltoppers needed a momentum changer. Enter Kirk.

“She served 11 straight points,” Maskaly says. “And her serves are not easy to pass. She gets a lot of aces, but the down side is she is so aggressive, she can easily miss. But she made it fairly hard for them to run their offense, and that turned the tide of the match.”

Erin’s leadership was again put to the test during basketball, as the team dealt with the midseason loss of then-head coach Tarah Logan and leading scorer Haley Each, who both left the the program.

When Ann Stewart took over, she needed to win over the seniors quickly. Erin, though, made the transition easier.

“Obviously, I didn’t see everything she did,” Stewart says. “But she was there and supportive of everybody and supportive of me and the changes we were making. I think she kinda helped guide the team through

“Being a three-sport athlete is incredible, but what she did and brought to each of those teams is, in a lot of the cases, bigger than what I did.”

Alex Kirk, on his sister’s award

Los Alamos middle blocker Erin Kirk, here playing Capital, led the Lady Hilltoppers with 255 kills and earned honorable mention for the Class AAAA All-State Team. LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN

Made for the adjustments

Kirk helped the Lady Hilltoppers finish the basketball season with a 10-2 stretch and a berth in the state tournament. COURTESY PHOTO

some turmoil and got everybody together to do what we needed to do to get through the season.”

One of those things was to move Erin from the wing to the post, a role she wasn’t accustomed to.

Stewart asked her to take on some of the top post players in the state, from Santa Fe High’s Sabrina LozadaCabbage to Los Lunas’ Teige Zeller to Albuquerque Sandia’s Alayna Lattimore.

It was a role she filled ably, but it led to some frustrating moments.

“She felt more pressure to perform,” Stewart says. “She got kinda upset when she didn’t score as much as she felt she needed to. But she did whatever we needed, whether it was a defensive assignment that kept us in the game or where she was able to get some looks and be a scorer for us.”

Erin also did whatever the family needed as well. She was almost

always present at Alex’s games while at Los Alamos and even made serious sacrifices when he took his talents to New Mexico.

In March, Erin and her parents drove from Deming, where the Lady Hilltoppers won their AAAA firstround basketball game, all the way to Colorado Springs, Colo., to catch Alex and the Lobos play at the Air Force Academy.

On the way back, they braved a snowstorm before returning to home — only to get ready for Los Alamos’ quarterfinal game in Albuquerque two days later.

When UNM found out it was going to Salt Lake City for the NCAA Tournament the next week, the Kirks got in their SUV again and trekked to Utah — again, through snow and rain.

“That kinda goes unnoticed,” Alex says. “You know, a lot of guys don’t see their parents there at every game

because they can’t. It’s always nice to see my parents are almost always there, and Erin’s there, too. I’m not sure if I ever recognized it and thanked her for it.”

Erin can give thanks to her more famous brother.

Erin grew up competing with Alex, be it on the soccer pitch or in the batting cages or even in a game of oneon-one — which Alex says has been a few years since she won a game between the two.

Erin also played club soccer with the boys, and she developed a taste for physical play that followed her to girls sports.

“I won’t say that the girls here aren’t very competitive,” Erin says.

“But I was a little too rough for them.

I didn’t like to take it easy and play nice. I always wanted to play and win. I think that’s why I went to play boys soccer and boys basketball.”

Perhaps the few times anyone saw her spend time in a girls league was when she had a whistle in her mouth.

“She refs them, but she never played in them,” Pat says.

That physical nature was a big help when it came to taking on a player like the 6-2 Zeller, one of the top post players in the state.

Zeller managed 26 points in the AAAA quarterfinals, but eight came in the final 2 minutes.

Erin and teammate Kiana Zerr double-teamed her most of the afternoon, but the Lady Hilltoppers didn’t have many options outside of those two.

“I wish I had someone else so I could give Erin more of breather,” Stewart says. “I’d have liked to have seen how it would have played out if we did. I also wish she could have had three more inches on her.”

Erin could have asked her brother for them, but that’s not her style.

She’s a team player to the bitter end.

8 NORTHSTARS The Santa Fe New Mexican Saturday, June 1, 4, 2013 2011

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