Year in review: ENMU coach search puts cap on year
Dec. 27—CLOVIS — In a year of ups and downs, 2022 comes to a close with Eastern New Mexico University looking for a football coach and area high school squads dreaming of potential state championships in the months to come.
A brief recap of some of the events by month:
January
Portales High's boys held off a late Clovis rally to subdue the Wildcats 60-56 at the RAC in Portales. At the end of the month, the CHS girls edged the Lady Rams 55-53 at The Rock on a buzzer-beating basket in overtime by senior guard Yvonne Fuerte.
Fort Sumner's boys and Logan's girls captured EPAC tournament championships at Texico. The Foxes made 15 3-point baskets to top Melrose 77-70 while the Lady Longhorns defended their crown with a 42-36 win over Fort Sumner.
Clovis Christian's boys put together a 12-game winning streak, which ended with a loss at eventual Class 1A champion Magdalena.
February
Eastern New Mexico University's basketball teams dropped a pair of one-point decisions at Cameron — the men losing 69-68 after the women absorbed a 66-65 setback.
The first-year Clovis High wrestling program qualified two boys — juniors Michael Tree (170 pounds) and Semaj Satcher (195) — for the state meet in Albuquerque.
Clovis finished ninth (boys) and 16th (girls) in state swimming competition in Albuquerque.
Elida junior Aiden Yates scored 40 points in the Tigers' 78-61 victory over Clovis Christian at the CCS gym.
The ENMU women's basketball team locked up the 11th seed in the 12-team Lone Star Conference tournament. The Greyhounds dropped another heartbreaker at Cameron 88-85 in the opening round.
In the LSC indoor track meet at Commerce, Texas, ENMU senior Malethabo Seema took first place in the women's 800 with a time of 2 minutes, 16.12 seconds.
March
The Lady Wildcats lost at Las Cruces High 50-41 in the first round of the Class 5A state basketball tournament. Meantime, Portales dropped a 48-43 decision to eventual champion Kirtland Central in the Class 4A girls semifinals after having posted a 51-35 triumph over the Lady Broncos during the Portales Shootout in early January.
Elida's boys reached the state basketball finals for the first time in school history in Class 1A, losing to Magdalena 71-55 in the finals. On the girls' side, Fort Sumner defeated Melrose 56-30 for the 1A title.
ENMU's softball team began a run of five consecutive doubleheaders against ranked Lone Star Conference opponents with an 8-5 victory over No. 23 Texas A&M-Commerce at Greyhound Field.
Clovis and Portales split in baseball, the Cats winning 12-2 in five innings at Bell Park before the Rams notched an 11-10 triumph later in the month at Ram Field.
April
Portales junior Michael Riess set a school record twice in four days in the 1,600, posting a time of 4:35.36 in the latter at the Wildcat Relays in Clovis.
ENMU beat rival West Texas A&M 3-2 in the first game of their season-ending doubleheader at Greyhound Softball Field, but lost the nightcap to the Lady Buffs 7-1 to fall just short of qualifying for the 10-team LSC softball tournament. The Hounds finished in a three-way tie for 10th, with St. Edward's getting the final spot.
May
Grady swept Magdalena 10-8 and 8-6 in a bid to earn the fourth and final spot in the Class 1A state baseball tournament, but Melrose edged out both teams for the trip to Albuquerque. The Buffs dropped a 10-6 decision in the semifinals to district rival and eventual champion Logan.
Defending champion Clovis Christian finished second to Mesilla Valley in Class 1-3A boys state golf competition.
Behind double wins from senior Jayda Brittenum (100 and 200 dashes) and sophomore Graci Odom (100 and 300 hurdles races), Melrose's girls cruised to their first Class 1A state track title since going back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. The Lady Buffs finished with 104 team points for a 39-point margin over runnerup Gateway Christian.
Clovis High's boys produced two winners in 5A state track competition at Albuquerque — sophomore Jeremiah Johnson in shot put (47 feet, 7 inches) and freshman Sammy Fuentes in the 1,600 (4:39.80), about five seconds better than his previous best time.
June
Former ENMU player and assistant coach Andrew McCraw was named Clovis High's new football coach after CHS alum Cal Fullerton, who had been on the staff for 20 years with the last five as head coach, resigned the position in May.
July
University of the Southwest assistant coach Joshua Mattox was hired as the Clovis boys basketball coach to replace CHS alum Jaden Isler, who resigned at the end of June to take a job with a consulting business in the Fort Worth area. Mattox was named MaxPreps' New Mexico Class 4A coach of the year for the 2018-19 season while at Valencia.
September
Portales improved to 4-0 in football with a 34-28 win at Valencia, making a late goalline stand against the Jaguars and then drove 99 yards in seven plays capped by sophomore quarterback Paxton Culpepper's 8-yard touchdown scramble with 14 seconds left to erase a 28-27 deficit. The game had four second-half lead changes.
In a battle of 0-4 teams, Eldorado edged Clovis 28-27 at Leon Williams Stadium. The Cats, who led 14-0 and 21-7 early, put together a 15-play, 67-yard scoring drive lasting nearly 8 1/2 minutes to make it 28-27, but junior Kash Roberts' PAT kick was wide.
October
Two weeks after the Eldorado loss, Roberts booted a go-ahead 27-yard field goal with three seconds left to lift the Cats to their first win, a 31-28 decision at Albuquerque High in their District 5-6A opener on Oct. 2.
The following day, also in Albuquerque, Valley stopped a late 2-point conversion try to hand Portales its first loss in seven games in a 48-47 shootout.
The ENMU men's soccer team, in its first season back after a two-year hiatus, scored a 1-0 upset of eighth-ranked Midwestern State at Greyhound Stadium in the program's first home match since 2019. The Hounds improved to 3-23-3 all-time against the Mustangs, but posted their second consecutive win in the series.
Clovis returned three interceptions for touchdowns — two by senior cornerback J.D. Burton and the other by Roberts — in a 53-0 rout of Santa Fe High at Leon Williams Stadium.
The Lady Wildcats upended rival Hobbs in a three-game District 4-5A volleyball sweep at The Rock.
The Clovis High girls soccer team earned a No. 8 seed and a first-round home match in the 12-team Class 5A state playoffs. But their season ended with a 16-5 record after a 1-0 double-overtime loss to La Cueva, which finally broke through to score in the 108th minute of the contest.
Playing for district championships, Clovis and Portales both lost on the final night of the regular season — the Cats falling 54-0 at Los Lunas and the Rams losing at home to Lovington 20-14. Portales' setback cost it a first-round bye in the Class 4A playoffs.
November
ENMU beat Lubbock Christian and Western New Mexico at Greyhound Arena to clinch its first winning season in volleyball (15-13) since going 19-13 in 2016.
Lovington eliminated the Rams from the 4A playoffs with a 29-23 quarterfinal-round win at Lovington.
Melrose (Class 1A) and Texico (Class 2A) both finished second in state volleyball competition. Gateway Christian (26-1) avenged its only loss of the season to the Lady Buffs (26-1) in Melrose's Halloween Howl with a four-set victory, while the third-seeded Lady Wolverines (19-8) were beaten in three sets by defending champion and top-seeded Laguna Acoma (25-1) in the 2A final.
Western New Mexico ended a 16-game losing streak to ENMU by besting the Hounds 38-24 in the season finale for both at Greyhound Stadium. It was the Mustangs' first road win in the series since 1990, and at 6-5 clinched their first winning campaign since going 7-3 in 1993.
Unbeaten and top-seeded Jal defeated Texico 41-21 for the 2A state football championship at Texico in a rematch of district rivals. Jal held on for a 41-35 victory in the regular-season meeting, also at Texico, in October.
In the 6-man playoffs, Dora and Elida reached the semifinals before losing to Gateway Christian and Mountainair, respectively.
Farwell (Class 2A Division I) and Muleshoe (Class 3A Division I) reached the second round of the Texas state football playoffs. The Steers were ousted by Sonora 18-7 at Big Spring while the Mules lost to eventually state runnerup Brock 57-20 at Sweetwater.
Melrose's girls opened their 2022-23 basketball season with a 44-42 win at Class 5A Manzano.
December
Clovis' Shad Mayfield finished second in tie-down roping to four-time world champion Caleb Smidt in the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayfield claimed the title in the event in 2020.
Dora's boys defeated Logan 49-37 to win the championship of their own J.P. Stone Invitational for the first time. Later, the Coyotes edged Melrose 51-50 to win Capitan's Smokey Bear tournament.
After finishing second in 2021, Melrose defeated Clayton 57-51 for the boys' championship in its own American Heritage Bank tournament. The Lady Buffs also claimed a title with a 75-52 victory over Tatum in the finals.
A putback by senior Adrian Nunez at the buzzer gave Farwell's boys a 48-47 victory over Littlefield in the finals of the Farwell Invitational. The Lady Blue also claimed a tourney crown, pounding Littlefield 73-39 in the finals, before winning Texico's Citizens Bank tournament championship the following weekend by beating the Lady Wolverines in the title tilt.
Twelve area athletes were chosen for first-team honors in New Mexico High School Coaches Association's all-state selections. Three players — Portales sophomore Tommy Lopez (slot receiver, secondary), Texico sophomore Taye Smith (offensive and defensive lines) and Elida junior Jeremiah Woodruff (defensive line, center — were named on both sides of the ball.
ENMU football coach Tye Hiatt resigned his position with the school last week after two seasons and accepted a job as the offensive coordinator at Southern Utah, a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-AA) program located in Cedar City, Utah.
Clovis High's girls posted a 38-32 victory over Centennial in Saturday's championship game of their own Plateau Holiday Classic at The Rock.
