By Eric Butler
MaxPreps.com
Baseball: Demons Experience Turnaround
Back when La Cueva was setting a national record for consecutive high school baseball victories in 2005, the Bears could be said to be at the apex of success.
Santa Fe High, on the other hand, was at the nadir.
In fact, on more than one occasion, the district foes met up with La Cueva thoroughly clobbering the Demons.
"There was a 30-something score once where Stan (McKeever, La Cueva's coach), out of his mercy, turned the scoreboard off," says Santa Fe coach John Morrison, recalling the worst of the worst. "He wasn't sure if that was insulting or not and he apologized to me. He wasn't sure what to do."
Things are better for Morrison, now in his sixth season as the Demons' coach. A lot better.
Santa Fe now sports a 17-7 record, with victories over top-ranked La Cueva and second-ranked Rio Rancho part of the resume as the Class 5A playoffs loom. Last year, the Demons set up this season's success to some extent by winning 11 games.
However, in Morrison's first four years, Santa Fe had 19 wins total.
"I always believed that, if I stayed long enough, some talent would come along," Morrison says. "And, if talent could meet a structured program, we could be competitive."
Senior lefthander Herbie Romero has been a big key for Santa Fe this season as he's pitched in the wins over the Bears and Rams and, as well, has hit at a torrid .630 pace this season.
A strong junior class figures to keep the Demons in the mix at least one more year. Andy Hyde, Kyle Mayfield, Anthony Ratliff, Konrad Mueller, A.J. Trujillo and Ian Farris give Santa Fe a solid young core that will get valuable experience in the postseason.
Through all the troubled times early in his tenure, Morrison constantly had the support of his mentor at Rio Rancho – where he previously served as an assistant under head coach Ron Murphy.
"I almost think I'm more excited in what he's done with his program than us being 20-and-3 right now," says Murphy, whose team won the Class 5A state championship last year.
"I think he's done a tremendous job in Santa Fe. I've been telling everybody for the past five years that he would turn this program around," he adds. "Anybody who's doubted him has to eat their words right now, because he's done a phenomenal job."
Morrison, a native of New Jersey, first came to New Mexico after he met his wife while both were working under then-congressman Bill Richardson. When Richardson came to Santa Fe to be the state's governor, Morrison's family arrived too.
Now he garners enjoyment from the baseball field as well keeping an eye on politics.
"It's a hell of a lot more exciting to be in a pennant race – looking at the scoreboards, looking at the standings and thinking about the possibilities – as opposed to making plans for golf," Morrison says.
Track & Field: Monte del Sol Girls Look for First State Title
Another Santa Fe campus is making unlikely and unprecedented waves in the world of Class 2A track.
When Monte del Sol's girls track team arrived at the Richard Harper Memorial track meet last weekend, it was the only Class 2A school represented at Albuquerque Academy.
In fact, most of the top five finishers were from the likes of La Cueva, Cibola, Los Alamos, Eldorado and host Academy – all 4A or 5A representatives.
But, once in a while, it was a girl in a red uniform emblazoned with the word "Dragons" that crashed the big schools party.
Curious competitors took note of the unfamiliar jerseys too and asked about the point of origin for this squad.
"It always happens. At this meet, so many people asked us. We must have had 20 or 25 people ask us," junior Sarah Meade said. "Usually, we just say 'Santa Fe.'"
Meade has tried the more precise answer, but has decided to stick to the more general response.
"We've said it before and they just say, 'What's Monte del Sol?'," Meade said.
No Dragon team member has turned more heads than Meade this season. At the Harper Memorial, she was third in the 100-meter dash behind Cibola's Skye Barnett and Amber Battle. In the long jump, Meade's leap of 15-feet, 18.75-inches was good for fourth overall and she also was third in the 200-dash behind Manzano's Monquisha Coleman and Battle from Cibola.
But she wasn't the only Dragon to finish in the top five.
Freshman Kiara Glover ran a time of 1:01.34 in the 400-meter dash, good for third behind Cibola's Jennifer Tate and La Cueva's Jessica Knewitz while Monte del Sol's 4x200 relay team – consisting of Jamaica Gonzales, Danielle Varela, Glover and Meade - had the fifth-best time.
Having made an impression out-of-classification, the next step for the Dragons is to contend for a state title within Class 2A in one week.
"We're looking for a championship. Our boys were really close to it for basketball, but that's the closest we've got," Gonzales said, remembering Monte del Sol's overtime loss to eventual champion Texico in the 2A quarterfinals. "Not that many are really into sports, but the ones that do it are really passionate about it."
The question for the Dragons is depth. With Meade, certainly Monte del Sol has a huge individual head start at the state meet as she's expected to contend for titles in the 100, 200 and long jump.
Last year, Meade almost became the school's first champ as she was second in the 400 and third in the 100.
"My coach wants me to break the record (in the 100). I kind of already have at this Saturday meet (the Harper Memorial), but I just have to do it at state, that's all," said Meade, whose time of 12.28 last weekend would have bested the current Class 2A mark of 12.52.
Monte del Sol's coach is Nicholas Trouvat, 29, who is a French teacher at the private school and himself played basketball in France in his teenage years.
"I've always trained at a high level in sports and I've always had a high expectation for them," said Trouvat, who does not have a senior on his small squad.
"I've got five really good girls and seven on the team, so it's a pretty small team. But we work hard every day," he adds. "We have, potentially, five first-places and one second-place and that would give us quite a bit of points, so we'll see.”
