St. Pius X junior Tatiana Limon (right) is drawing rave reviews as she continues to set school records.
Photo by Jose Samora
Though she's just a junior,
St. Pius X (Albuquerque) soccer star
Tatiana Limon already has broken career school records for goals (87) and points (226) by big margins. The records she broke were 79 goals and 205 points. She also has 52 career assists and is nearing records in that category, too.
Coach David Sullivan Jr. noted that the career goals record was previously held by Courtney Tinnin, who became an All-American at Arizona State University.
Limon's record-setting career recently was recognized by Sports Illustrated, which featured her in its weekly Faces In The Crowd section. She called the honor "Hopefully, a start of something big."
"It's a blessing," she said. "They (teammates) just believe in me. They build me up. I didn't think of it (setting records), but I always have wanted to do great things."
The 5-foot-3 forward has been playing soccer since age 4. She was a member of AUFC Prestige club team from age 8 until this year, when she switched to Rush 99 to get more national exposure.
Sullivan discovered her in the St. Pius camp prior to her eighth-grade year.
He recalled, "She was one of the best players on the field. We had her with our varsity group and that didn't faze her at all. The summer before her ninth-grade year we had three scrimmages and she scored six goals. She does things with the ball that I never had seen a girl do."
In her first varsity game as a freshman, Limon exploded for a school-record seven goals during a 10-0 rout of Class 5A Roswell. Her biggest game since then has been six goals against Bloomfield this year.
Limon admitted, "I wasn't really expecting it. I was just happy to make the team. I was super pumped."
She calls soccer "really cool. You're not just playing for yourself, but also playing for 10 other players on the field and you get to meet a lot of other players."
Limon completed her freshman year with 30 goals and 17 assists while sparking the Sartans to the Class 4A (now 5A) state championship with a 22-1 record. Her proudest moment came when she was fouled and a teammate made the PK to win the title game.
At that point in her brilliant young career, she had to decide what she could do for an encore.
She related, "I started focusing on my shot. I knew if I had one shot I would have to make it count. I worked on getting stronger. I have a trainer and I lift weights. That's a good thing, being able to compete against taller, stronger players."
As a sophomore, Limon accounted for 36 goals and 36 assists, sparking the Sartans to a 21-3 record and their second-consecutive state championship. In the title game, she scored a goal for a 1-1 tie, then assisted on the game winner to beat Albuquerque Academy 2-1.
Looking at his polished star now, Sullivan says, "She's a natural finisher, an athlete who competes like very few girls her age do. She's one of the best I've ever seen on the ball. She's not afraid to get in and mix it up. She sees the game in slow motion. Another thing - I have no explanation - she heads to the goal and the ball comes right to her. Call it instinct or premonition. She seems to be in the right place at the right time.
"She's also very humble. When people ask her about records, she always leads back to the team. That's what separates her. She's willing to put in the work. She does most things that others don't do. She's the most coachable kid I've ever had. She has a 3.5 GPA and really pushes herself in everything she does. She wants to be the best."
She revealed that she is very interested in attending Santa Clara University. Notre Dame and UConn also have shown some interest and the list will grow by this time next year.
Limon has led the Sartans to an 8-1 record entering this week. Sullivan enjoys talking about a recent 3-0 victory over Aztec. He noted, "One of their players shadowed her and made sure she didn't touch the ball, but every time she did, she made them pay. She scored three goals (on six shots)."
Despite all of her previously mentioned talents, Limon's greatest gift may be toughness. Over the years she also has played football, basketball, run cross country and still runs track.
Limon competed in the National Punt, Pass and Kick football competition from ages 8 to 12, once just missing the nationals by about 6 feet. She also played on an unbeaten flag football team coached by her father.
As a middle school athlete she helped her team win a parochial school city basketball title, but sprained her ankle. Despite a badly swollen ankle, she then ran in a 2 1/2-mile national cross country meet and helped the Cougar Track & Cross Country Team win the championship by being its No. 5 and final scoring runner in a very tight finish.
"I don't think I told my coach (about the ankle injury)," she said. "It was fun. It was worth it. I know how to deal with it but I don't like it."
The best example of her toughness, however, came this fall while participating in tackle football during a junior class retreat.
Limon had neatly faked out one of the male defenders on a running play, but, obviously embarrassed, he nailed her the next time, with his shoulder smashing into her eye and causing blood to flow.
"I didn't need stitches," she said. "I used Super Glue (which closed up the wound). I just got a nice shiner."
