Taos junior Judah Daffron took home his second consecutive state championship as an individual, helping the boys team achieve a third-place finish. The Tigers fell short of a team podium finish in last year’s state cross-country meet with a fourth-place finish in 2023. Sophomore Billy Romero placed third and shaved off over 20 seconds from last year’s time.

Most of the Taos boys runners reduced their run times. Taos senior Carlos Limas smashed his previous 17:33 to 16:50, over a 40-second improvement from last year’s run time. Junior Brandon Mirabal went from 18:20 to 17:34 and improved 13 spots to 38th place. Senior Antonio Silva crushed his previous run by nearly 50 seconds from 18:31 to 17:44 and climbed 23 places.

The Peñasco boys improved their team placement by one in the last race of the cross-country state championship, averaged 18:16 in their runs and accrued 149 points — which beat Mesa Vista by nine points. Leading the Panthers were sophomore Dylan Garcia and junior Jeremiah Martinez who landed 13th and 14th respectively. Garcia finished at 17:32 and 17:34. Garcia obliterated his previous record (18:22) by 50 seconds and shot up 14 spots because of the stellar performance. Martinez shaved off six seconds from his 2023 run.

Lady Panthers first Taos County girls’ basketball team to be crowned champs

In mid-March, the Peñasco High School girls’ varsity basketball team beat the Tularosa Lady Cats 39-36 to become the first Taos County girls’ basketball team  to win a state championship blue trophy.

The Lady Panthers entered the 2024 Nusenda Credit Union Girls Basketball State Championships as the sixth seed in the 2A class with an overall 21-11 record and an 8-2 district finish. In the first two rounds of the state tournament, the Lady Panthers crushed the Clayton Lady Yellowjackets 66-31 at the La Jicarita Gym at Peñasco High School. The Lady Panther’s offensive schemes and defensive prowess put them in the quarterfinal match against the Pecos Lady Panthers. Peñasco made quick work of the third-seeded Lady Panthers with a final score of 50-32 at the Rio Rancho Event Center, March 12.

Two days later, the Lady Panthers took on the second-seeded Tatum High School’s Lady Coyotes at 8 a.m. at the Rio Rancho Event Center for the semifinal match. This was a true underdog game for the Lady Panthers as they are facing a 27-win team with only two losses in their record. Despite the challenge, the Peñasco girls overcame the Lady Coyotes through two overtimes with a final score of 42-40. Rochelle Lopez and Analise MacAuley led the squad with 15 points each.

The Peñasco squad faced the Tularosa Lady Cats for the final match at the University of New Mexico’s The Pit, March 15. The Lady Panthers set the tone for the game with a 9-0 run in the first quarter. However, the southern team scratched out of the deficit with a 12-5 run in the following quarter. After a six-point burst from Lopez, the two teams went back and forth in the second half with nine lead changes and three ties. Peñasco’s Alyssa Atencio hit a floater to give the Lady Panthers a 31-27 lead. Lopez led the game in scoring with 18 points and Atencio had contributed 10 points for the victory.

After three attempts at the chip, Peñasco’s head coach Mandy Montoya had this to say after a long journey. “This is surreal,” Montoya said right after they won the state championship. “We felt it for a long time already. This is was our time.”

Tigers cheer team goes wire-to-wire to claim 4th-straight title

The Tigers Cheer claimed their fourth-straight state title on Saturday (April 6) at the University of New Mexico’s Pit, having won both “game day” and “cheer with music” routines in the competition.

Taos scored 90.7 in the gameday portion and 88.97 for their cheer with music routine, with 179.67 points total. The Tiger’s scores represented the best in both categories in the 4A class. Along with the blue trophy, two seniors, Feliz Valertio and Alyssa Maul won their fourth consecutive medals,

Behind the Taos Cheer squad was the St. Pius X Sartans from Albuquerque, who scored 171 points for the red trophy. The third spot went to another Albuquerque team, Valley High School, with a final score of 165.1 bringing home the green trophy. 

“It’s 11 months of a lot of hard work that begins in the summer, and is a complete commitment to the end,” Taos Cheer head coach Lisa Abeyta-Valerio declared, as she turned and acknowledged her team with a nod. “It’s not only their sacrifice, but it’s their families’ sacrifice, as well.”

Coinciding with the team’s stellar performance were the Taos fans who showed their support for the cheer squad. When the team returned, they were greeted by first responders who escorted them into town.

Johnny Olguin takes the reins as new Taos football coach

The Taos Municipal Schools District hired Taoseño Johnny Olguin to lead the Taos High School football team in April, when the district announced Olguin would become interim athletic director.

After working for 24 years at the college level as a strength and performance coach and director, Olguin returns to his alma mater. Olguin played in the early ’90s and graduated from Los Alamos High School in 1995. 

Coach Olguin worked all over the Southwest of the United States. After graduating from New Mexico Highlands University with his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and exercise science, He interned for the University of Texas, Austin before becoming director of strength and conditioning for New Mexico Highlands University. 

After several more college positions, Olguin spent a season with the Phoenix Suns and the Brooklyn Nets, and was performance consultant for NBA point guard Tyler Johnson. He was the strength coach for Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas before he took the job at Taos High School.

As head coach, Olguin led the Tigers to a 5-2 record in the revamped district and finished 7-4 overall. Despite the first-round loss against the visiting Española Valley, the Tigers upset the Bernalillo Spartans (21-14) and the Moriarty Pintos (23-22).

Charnelle Gonzales, athlete of the year

Peñasco High School senior Charnelle Gonzales was a multi-sport athlete for the Lady Panthers, where she played basketball, volleyball, cross country and track.

“Charnelle is very quiet, but at the same time, very ambitious,” said her mom, describing her daughter’s commencement celebration at UNM. “When she puts her mind to something, she always commits to doing her best.”

Gonzales earned an associate degree from the University of New Mexico (via Taos Academy) before she graduated high school. She helped the Peñasco Lady Panthers win their first state championship for the first time in the school’s history and aided the program to a 21-11 overall record at the start of 2024. The year before, she placed fifth in the 2A state cross-country championship with a 20:34 finish, which was challenging because it conflicted with her volleyball schedule.

In the state track competition this year, Gonzales finished seventh in the 800-meter and eighth in the 1600 meter. In the 4×800, Gonzales was a part of the Lady Panther’s fourth-place finish alongside Rochelle Lopez, Madison Rael and Amy Muñoz, with a final run time of 11:35.

Questa and Taos Volleyball State Tournament run

‘They fought until the end’

The Taos High School varsity volleyball team season ended following a loss to the Portales Lady Rams in the 2024 Rudy’s Real Texas Bar-B-Q State Volleyball Tournament on Friday (Nov. 15) with a final score of 3-1.

Before the Lady Rams, the Lady Tigers took on the Hope Christian School’s Lady Huskies at the Rio Rancho Event Center at 10 a.m. At the time, the Lady Huskies were ranked as one of the top 20 teams in New Mexico according to the MaxPreps rankings. Despite their efforts, the Lady Tigers were unable to take down the Huskies and had to play a must-win game against the Lady Rams.

After losing to Portales, Taos volleyball head coach Rachel Rael was heartbroken but praised the team for giving their best against New Mexico’s cream of the crop.

“They fought until the end, and it just wasn’t our day,” Rael said.

Despite their exit, the Lady Tigers had their best season since 1987, with a district title to accompany their 7-1 district record. Because of their success, Taos senior Chloe MacHardy won District Player of the Year, and coach Rael was awarded Coach of the Year.

Ladycats finish 1-2 in state

The Questa High School varsity volleyball team lost to the Raton Lady Tigers 3-1 in the state tournament for the 2A class.

The first round started at noon on Thursday (Nov. 14) with a bout against the Santa Rosa Lady Lions at the Rio Rancho High School where the Ladycats beat the Lady Lions in four sets. Despite a great performance against Santa Rosa, their next opponent that afternoon, the Mesilla Valley Christian School, beat the Ladycats in three sets.

Facing elimination, the Ladycats pushed against the Raton Lady Tigers that Friday (Nov. 14) morning but Raton won the battle in four sets. Questa ended their season with an overall record of 22-4 and a 9-1 district campaign.

Tigers upset Spartans ahead of state

The Taos High School football team pulled off an upset against the visiting Bernalillo Spartans with a score of 21-14 to end the district season undefeated at Anaya Field.

The 8-1 Spartans were second in the district behind the unscathed Bloomfield Bobcats in the 4A. With the odds stacked against the Taos team, the Tigers put a stop on the Spartan’s offense early in the game. Down in the second half, the Tigers managed to overtake the visiting team later in the third. The Spartans had eight minutes to regain the initiative, but the Tigers stopped the invaders to win.

Senior Mateo Salazar had 101 all-purpose yards, followed by senior Jaiya Valdez with 60 rushing yards plus a soul-sucking interception. Taos junior Roman Quintana contributed two more interceptions and returned for 45 yards, while Manuel Maes put up 30 rushing yards. Senior Jedrek Jozwiak had two sacks to help the Tigers win over the Spartans. 

Local nonprofit head trade takedowns for wells

Taos nonprofit leader Samuel Favero-Burke traveled to Senegal in Africa for a charity wrestling match with Yawou Dial, a famous wrestling clown in the region. He also helped dig wells and provided whatever other support he could to the local population.

Favero-Burke is a globe-trotting philanthropist who has aided parts of West Brazil and the United States. Here in Taos, his nonprofit helped round up used instruments to distribute among local children interested in music. In 2020, he traveled to sub-Saharan Africa as a part of the Great Green Wall, which aimed to restore regional ecosystem diversity and influenced his return.

On his trip to Africa, he realized that wrestling was popular everywhere he visited. So he set up a Laamb match between him and his friend Dial at the Dakar Arena. Laamb is one of Senegal’s top sports; the objective is to wrestle your opponent out of bounds, much like Japan’s Sumo wrestling.

Hilltoppers’ last-minute goal ends Tigers’ soccer season

In the first round of the state tournament, the visiting Taos High School varsity boys soccer team lost a heartbreaking game against the  Los Alamos Hilltoppers in late October losing with a final score of 2-1.

The Hilltoppers’ Jayden Ramirez struck the first blow, but the Tigers evened the score in the second half after Taos junior Benjamin Romero was fouled during a counterattack. Tiger Joaquin Rose took the penalty kick and sunk it to break even with the hosting team. Then, with a few minutes left in the second half, Hilltopper Esteban Wright broke through Taos’ defense and made the game’s final goal. The Tigers tried to push for another goal in response, but the Hilltoppers burned enough time to claim the first round.

“I’m just so proud. I’m so proud of this team, what they accomplished, and what they became,” Taos head coach Hafid Valencia said. “We want to make leaders, and that’s exactly what we did this year, man. We, as humans and as athletes – we grow as a team. It was beautiful. Nothing was held back, so there’s no regrets.”

The Tigers boys soccer ended their season with an 11-7 overall record and finished as the second-best team in their district with a record of 4-2. As a result of their season, Valencia received the Coach of the Year award. Taos senior Ozias Miller was one of the best goalkeepers in the district, with an average of .119 goals against him, which made him the Goalie of the District. At the same time, his teammate, junior Nicholous Jones was selected as Defensive Player of the District.