Top 10 New Mexico high school sports stories of the 2014-15 season

MaxPreps takes a look at our Top 10 stories from the 2014-15 high school campaign in New Mexico.

1. Easton Bruere
Despite having no Division I college football scholarship offers, Easton Bruere led Rio Rancho to a 14-0 record and its first state title with a terrific 33-31 win over Mayfield by throwing for 373 yards and three touchdowns. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior led the state with 4,567 passing yards while connecting for 49 touchdowns and throwing only six interceptions. He will take his 4.0 GPA to Butler Community College.

2. Dave Barney
The legendary swim coach was named to the National High School Hall of Fame this year after notching his 19th boys state title at age 83 for Albuquerque Academy. Overall, he has won 35 state swim titles and coached over 300 All-Americans. He now belongs to six halls of fame.

3. Natasha Bernal
A distance runner in cross country and track, Natasha Bernal ran 28 races this season and won every one. The La Cueva (Albuquerque, N.M.) senior had never run cross country until this year, but went undefeated and notched the state title. In track, where she already was established, the University of New Mexico signee won state titles in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters  - all on the same day.



4. Curtis Flakes
After escaping death in a serious motorcycle accident and surviving stage 2 cancer, he should have had a breeze coaching high school football. However, he inherited a horrendous 39-game losing streak as head coach at Albuquerque High and lost his first four games in the fall. But he finally snapped the streak at 43 games and completed a respectable 4-6 season.

5. Deming girls golf
Despite being moved to the state's largest class (6A) this year, Deming still won its seventh-consecutive state championship. Even though Cleveland (Rio Rancho) earned the No. 1 and 2 medalist positions, the Deming girls used outstanding depth to win the 36-hole crown by a commanding 56 strokes. Senior Darian Zachek led the way with a third-place finish after winning the previous two Class 4A titles.

6. Anthony Juckes & Rico Montoya
Both wrestlers tied the state record by winning their fifth state championships. Four others previously had matched that feat, which meant they had to win as eighth-graders. Anthony Juckes (145 pounds) posted a career record of 169-17 for Piedra Vista (Farmington) and is the only one among the five-time champs to also wrestle for five team state champions. Richard (Rico) Montoya (138) had a spectacular career record of 200-4 - including 48-0 this year - for Robertson (Las Vegas).

7. Austin Treadwell
The hard-hitting Eldorado (Albuquerque) senior came on strong this spring to hit .430, lead the state in runs batted in (39) and throw out nine baserunners during an errorless season in the outfield. But Austin Treadwell may have saved his best for last because even though he barely had been used on the mound, he pitched a spectacular two-hit shutout in the Class 6A state championship game.

8. Dominique & Jacque Galloway
Dominique Galloway, a junior, earned her third-consecutive large-school state golf crown for Cleveland (Rio Rancho) with a 36-hole score of 140. The biggest challenge came from her sister, Jacque Galloway, just an eighth grader, who shot a distant 155.

9. Red-hot tennis rivalry
Two underclassmen already have formed one of the nation's hottest tennis rivalries. They split four matches this spring, but Eldorado (Albuquerque) freshman Ivana Corley won the Class 6A state title by a surprising 6-2, 6-1 margin over La Cueva (Albuquerque) sophomore Sarianna Kuuttila.  Look for many more - and much closer - meetings in the future. 



10. Jessie Hix
Jessie Hix was arguably the state's No. 1 girls soccer player last fall, but gave up the sport during her junior year to run cross country with some senior friends. The Eldorado (Albuquerque) star had doubled in both sports (same season) as a sophomore. However, look for her to reclaim her soccer expertise next fall as a senior, playing only the sport that will provide her a scholarship at the University of Colorado.