2003 Sports Stories of the Year

   On Wednesday we covered the first half of the top 10 stories in 2003. Stories 6-10 included the Magdalena football team, Alamo volleyball, Helga Bhasker, Robert Caldwell and the Socorro girls golf squad. Stories are graded based solely on exceptionality. Many deserving stories were not included because only ten were allowed. We hope you enjoy being reminded of the top 10 sports stories of 2003. We certainly enjoyed bringing them to you.

   (Stories 1-5 will be featured today, while Stories 6-10 were in the Dec. 24 edition of El Defensor Chieftain.)

   #5 Magdalena track star is top individual in New Mexico

   Quentin Henderson made it two consecutive years that he was the highest scoring individual at the state track and field championships. Henderson was in the top three in three different events at the 2003 meet. He was not as dominant as last season, but was again the leading point scorer. Anybody who can be considered the best in their class deserves to make this list.

   The story on May 14 went like this: With only four athletes competing at the Class A state tournament on Saturday, Magdalena was just looking for some individual success. Senior Quentin Henderson did not disappoint, defending his state high-point individual title.

   Henderson won the 100, was second in the 200 and placed third in the 300 to garner enough points to win the point championship. "I expected it, but once he didn't win the 400, I wasn't sure he could get it," coach Terry Olguin said of Henderson's win. "It was a good thing for him."

   Henderson wasn't the only athlete to succeed at state. Sophomore Kelly Armstrong set a state record and won the pole vault with a jump of 9 feet. Armstrong had practiced with Robert Caldwell, who is the favorite in the boys state pole vault at this years AAA state meet.

   "We knew she could do it all year long," Olguin said.

   Senior Selesia Winston placed fourth in the discus, and Sophomore Rhiannon Apache competed in the 1600 and the 3200, coming away with a fifteenth and ninth place finishes in those events.

   "We'd have a lot better team if we had more kids out," Olguin said, "but I thought they did really well."

   Olguin said that this season there were a lot of young people on the team. "We're still young and we're looking forward to next year."

   #4 Socorro track athletes win state titles in Bloomfield

   Socorro High School was well represented in the 2003 state track and field championships. There was a relay team and a couple of individuals who earned titles on the girls side, and the boys pole vaulter won going away. Helga Bhasker and Robert Caldwell (no.'s 9 and 8 on this list respectively) were not the only titlists.

   Renee Gallegos won the 400 meters and helped on a relay team that also won a title.

   With six individuals contributing to state championships, the whole team deserves to be on this list.

   The story went like this: The Socorro boys and girls track teams were in Bloomfield on Friday and Saturday, competing at the state championships. Renee Gallegos was the star of the show for the girls, competing in four events and placing in each of them.

   Gallegos won the 400 meters, placed third in the 200 meters, and was part of the winning 1600-meter relay team and fifth place 400-meter relay team. Helga Bhasker won her event, surprising the field in the triple jump with a leap of 33 feet, 6 inches, a school record.

   "I was proud of my seniors," girls coach Dianna Jameson said, "Helga and Renee, they came through."

   Jameson was also pleased with the 1600-meter relay team, which comprised of Gallegos, Candice McLain, Lindsey Heizler, and Traci Tadano.

   The team also set a school record, running the relay in a time of 4:12.70, winning by almost five seconds.

   "Hopefully we'll do it again next year," Jameson said. Also placing for the girls was Rhiannon Monette, who was fifth in the shot put, and sixth in the javelin.

   Monette's shot toss was 34 feet, 2 inches, and her javelin throw was 111 feet. The 400-meter relay team had a time of 52.83, finishing within a second of first place Grants. Gallegos, McLain, Tadano and Kendra Peralta were on the team. Gallegos had her best time of the year in the 400, running a 1:01.68. Her 200-meter time was 27.64, under half a second behind the winner.

   As a team, Socorro finished seventh, with 33 points. Grants won the team title with 77 points.

   Jameson was mildly pleased with the overall performance. "I thought we did pretty good. Hopefully we'll do better next year."

   Robert Caldwell led the boys, equaling a personal best and school record while easily winning the pole vault.

   Caldwell vaulted 15 feet, 7 inches, which tied his best mark, coming at a meet in Ruidoso earlier this year.

   The suspense was gone early in that event. Caldwell did not even jump until the bar was at 13 feet. He cleared it easily on his first attempt.

No other competitors could clear 13 feet. The second place finisher only got by 12 feet, 6 inches.

   Caldwell tried to set a new personal best, going for 13 feet, 1 inch, but failed on all three attempts.

   "One time it felt close," Caldwell said, "It was hard to get on a roll. "I guess I have to be thankful for what we were given."

   Boys coach David Mathieu had some consolation for his star athlete. "He did great. Maybe there should have been more competition. "You've got to realize he's on a 15-foot pole. He does pretty well on a 15-foot pole."

   The only other individual to place on the boys side was Jason Torres, who was fifth in the triple jump with a 39 feet, 5 inches jump.

   The boys 1600-medley relay team placed sixth with a time of 3:57.91. Carlos Acosta, Josh Villa, Chris Lucero and Gavin Cornwell were on the medley team.

   #3 Warrior football returns to prominance, playoffs

   The Socorro Warriors were 0-10 in 2002. They had a total of 19 players left on the team when the season finished for then first-year Head Coach James Palacios. In 2003 the Warriors added new coaches, worked hard in the weight room and had one of the biggest turnarounds in Class 3A in recent memory.

   The Warriors made a return to the playoffs after a three-year absence and had their first winning season since 1997.

   No single sport receives as much support from the community as football. For that reason (and the remarkable reversal of fortunes) the Warriors crack the top 3 in this list.

   The Warriors lost in the regional playoff game to a West Las Vegas team they had beaten earlier in the year. While the game was not a high point in the history of the program, getting there was.

   Here is part of the story after the playoff game:

   Turnovers, penalties and special teams mistakes kept Socorro from ever getting started as West Las Vegas took advantage of Warriors mishaps to win their regional playoff game 44-6.

   Socorro was hoping for a repeat of their 28-20 win at West Las Vegas earlier in the season, but they were unable to put anything together against the stingy Dons defense as the Warriors were held to 40 yards of total offense.

   Couple that with 38 yards in penalties and Socorro was able to net only two yards in the playoff match-up.

   "They stopped our base plays," Socorro Head Coach James Palacios said after the game.

   "You can't take away from that Dons defense, they played a heck of a game." Socorro was handicapped about midway through the second quarter as starting tailback Scotty Crespin went out after suffering a mild concussion. The team realized he was hurt when Crespin could not remember the plays. He was taken to the hospital for evaluation but was released the same day and is doing better according to the coach.

   "He's fine, he just doesn't remember any of the game," Palacios said. Crespin left after running for 34 yards on seven carries, he had proven to be the only successful threat against the speedy Dons defense before his exit. "That hurt us big time," Palacios said. "It took a lot of our offense."

   The Warriors would try to make do without the state's leading rusher, but it would be too tall an order against the Dons ...

   Socorro is just turning around their program. The Warriors were 0-10 last season and this was the first taste of success that most of the Warrior players have had.

   Besides that, Socorro is also playing numerous juniors and sophomores in key positions.

   Couple that with two weeks off and no real competition the last two games of the regular season, and it had been five weeks since Socorro had been challenged to execute efficiently.

   "Our last two games weren't much of a challenge this year," Palacios admitted. The Warriors finished the season 7-4.

   #2 Lady Warrior basketball team reaches final four

   The Lady Warriors had an outstanding 2002-2003 season, one that was almost worthy of being named the top sports story of the year.

   They finished the season with only two losses and a winning percentage over .900.

   Renee Gallegos was named Player of the Year for Class 3A. For the third consecutive season Socorro did not lose a district game.

   Like the football team, the Lady Warriors were knocked out of the postseason by a team they had defeated during the regular season.

   The loss in the semifinals to Lovington could not tarnish what was a great season and a team that will be the measuring stick for all future Socorro girls basketball squads.

   This story was after the Lady Warriors had defeated Tohatchi in the regional game and before the trip to The Pit, in Albuquerque, for the semifinal battle.

  Here is part of it:

   There is no secret to the success of the Socorro High School girls basketball team this season.

   "We just come out prepared and ready to play," said Renee Gallegos, a senior and team leader. "We just practice hard every day and don't let up. We try to stay focused and hope to get to the big game."

   The "big game," of course, is the Class 3A state championship game to be played at The Pit, in Albuquerque, on Friday. The Warriors, ranked No. 1 in the Albuquerque Journal Coaches' Poll, can get there if they beat Lovington in a semifinal game on Wednesday.

   Socorro lost a regional playoff game to Lovington last year but beat the Wildcats earlier this season. Wednesday's tip-off is 2 p.m. at The Pit. The Warriors head into the game feeling confidant. Their 56-50 win over Tohatchi in Friday night's regional playoff game at Socorro improved their record to 23-1 and extended their win streak to 20 games. They need to extend the string to 22 to win the title.

   "We can do it," said Helga Bhasker, a senior who plays guard. "If we put our minds to it, we will."

   The Lady Warriors are a determined bunch, winning most of their games by comfortable margins since suffering a three-point loss to Shiprock early in the season.

   Since then, the Warriors have been unbeatable. They surpassed the old school record of 15 wins in a row and kept racking up the total.

   "It's like a video game ‹ you get so far, and you stop and have to start all over," Bhasker said of the streak. "But I don't have another year to start all over."

   Neither do four other seniors, including Gallegos, the top scorer in 3A with a 19.7 points-per-game average.

   Though categorically the team leader, Gallegos said she gets ample support from her teammates.

   "We have crazy talent on this team. Everybody is so talented. We play as a team, we go into each game ready to play, and we give it all we've got," she said.

   Head coach Joseph Garcia said his team gives all it's got all the time. "You ought to come see how these girls practice," he said. "They play like they practice."

   #1 Socorro amateur Miguel Griego wins Hilton Open

   When Miguel Griego was playing his final round at the Hilton Open, there were people cheering him from the 11th hole on.

   People who do not play much golf, as well as regulars at the New Mexico Tech Golf Course, were all following the young local as he tried to make history. While the amateur was standing toe-to-toe with professionals (including Brian Kortan who qualified for his PGA card this year), he continued to make each shot.

   That is why the three-round performance of Griego is our top story of 2003. It was a heart-warming story and proof that local athletes can compete with players from anywhere.

   Here is the beginning of El Defensor Chieftain's number one sports story of the year:

   The stars were aligned as a University of New Mexico student stepped onto his home course, playing in the championship flight of the 2003 Hilton Open. An amateur had won the Senior Hilton Open for the first time earlier in the week, and it had been 21 years since an amateur had won the regular Hilton Open. Local amateur golfer Miguel Griego is 21 years old.

   Griego would hit fairway after fairway at the New Mexico Tech Golf Course. He would make green after green. He sank putt after putt.

   When it was all over on Saturday, he had shot a three-round total of 203, two shots better than the best professional. He was 27 shots lower than the next amateur.

   It was a fitting end for a young man who, even as a little kid, was a fixture at the Tech golf course.

   His older brother, Juan Carlos, or J.C., was playing golf at a young age. "That's what started me," Griego said.

   "He (J.C.) got to come here and play. I wanted to follow him. I was a tag-along."

   "He was just a tag-along kid with his older brother," Tech head professional Russell Moore echoed.

   Griego was swinging clubs for as long as anyone could remember. Not even his mother Delores could recall when Griego got started.

   "They were rug-rats," Mrs. Griego said of when her two sons started playing golf.

   "They were a babysitter here," she pointed to Moore and the golf course. "They have pictures of me swinging a golf club from when I was 3 years old," Griego said giving his best estimate.

   Moore recalled watching Griego on the course, helping him as a junior golfer at Tech.

   "It's especially nice watching him grow up from a young baby golfer, into a young golfing phenomenon," he said.

   Moore said that even as a youngster, Griego was never intimidated by the older golfers.

   "He would ask the older kids and the adults if they wanted to putt for money," Moore said.

   "He still hasn't changed. Even though he's grown up, in my eyes he is still that young, junior golfer with that bright-eyed look of wanting to learn. "I hope it stays with him all of his life. It's a great way to go through life."

   That concludes the top 10 sports stories of 2003. We hope you enjoyed revisiting some of the great moments from this year. It was a great year for sports in Socorro County.

   Again, we apologize if your choice did not make our list.Hopefully, 2004 will have as many exceptional sports stories as 2003 did.