Prep notes: Volcano Vista wrestlers earn All-America status; softball home run record in jeopardy
Apr. 11—Two state champion Volcano Vista High School wrestlers are also All-Americans.
Junior Anthony Lopez and freshman Lorenzo Gallegos earned that distinction at the recent USA Wrestling national tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Lopez, wrestling at 120 pounds, and Gallegos, wrestling at 138 pounds, each finished in the top eight of their weight divisions, which brings with it All-American status.
Gallegos was fourth in his bracket, Lopez was sixth in his.
Lopez won the 114-pound Class 5A state title in February, posting a 39-1 record. Gallegos was 40-1 for the state champion Hawks last season — the school's first championship in boys wrestling — as he finished first in the 133-pound division.
The USA Wrestling nationals is an open invite event.
"Our goal is to get these kids into colleges and universities," Volcano Vista coach Ahren Griego said. "In order to do so, they need to be successful when competing against the nation's best and they have done just that."
GUNTHER RUN: The fourth Gunther Run to Remember is scheduled April 29 from 8-10:30 a.m. at the Sandia High School baseball field.
It is a 5K run and walk. The event is named for John Gunther, a former Matadors baseball coach who died from cancer in 2017. The first year of the event was 2018, but it was interrupted several years by the pandemic.
Registration is available the morning of the event.
There is no entry fee, but donations will be accepted toward the Gunther Strong Memorial Scholarship. One or two $500 scholarship awards will go to a college-bound, graduating senior who has a minimum GPA of 3.0, is a well-rounded student, and is active in the Sandia community.
For more information, find an application at Sandia's website (Sandia.aps.edu). The deadline to apply for the scholarship is noon on April 21.
A RACE TO 20: Two girls in Albuquerque have a legitimate chance over the next month to break New Mexico's single-season home run record in softball.
Albuquerque High's Jazmyn Griego hit four home runs last Saturday against Capital — two in each game of a doubleheader — and has 16 homers for the season.
But Griego is trailing Cibola's Jalyn Montes, who had 16 home runs going into the Cougars' game against La Cueva on Tuesday. She hit her 17th in a 12-4 loss to the Bears.
The state record is 19, shared by two players — Val Swedberg of Cibola (2010) and Brianna Gallegos of Rio Rancho (2019), according to the records list on the New Mexico Activities Association website.
Cibola has five regular-season games remaining, plus the postseason. Griego has six games left, plus the playoffs. She already has at least four games with at least two home runs, and one three-homer outing.
SIGNINGS: Eight Rio Rancho High athletes will be signing their national letters of intent on Thursday.
Only one of them — Ashleigh Meyer of the Rams volleyball team — is staying inside the state, with New Mexico Highlands.
The other signees are: Samantha Baltz (tennis; Linfield University in Oregon); Julia Espinosa (basketball; Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas); Sterling Glenn (track and field; Abilene Christian University in Texas); AnnaFaith Jensen (track and field; Chadron State College in Nebraska); Javas Maria (football; Ottawa University in Kansas); Maya Romero (soccer; Colorado State University at Pueblo); and Niquela Vallejos (powerlifting; Midland University in Nebraska).
THIS AND THAT: Highland's top goal scorer, Yahir Jimenez, has committed to play men's soccer at Eastern New Mexico. ... La Cueva's Karleigh Gutierrez has committed to play women's basketball at Wayland Baptist University in Texas.
