Cleveland (Rio Rancho) is a strong contender to win the Class 6A boys and girls state golf championships this spring, but some coaches believe that Class A-4A
Hope Christian (Albuquerque) may have the strongest overall boys team in the state.
Girls divisionsDominique Galloway, left, and sister Jacque form a terrific twosome for Cleveland.
Photo courtesy of Michael Gilbert
The Cleveland girls are a solid favorite on the basis of the No. 1 and 2 players in the state plus some new-found depth. Senior
Dominique Galloway, who has signed with the University of Texas, can tie the state record by winning her fourth large-school medalist crown. January Romero won four titles for Albuquerque Academy and Edie Murdoch captured four for Grants.
Galloway is backed strongly by freshman sister
Jacque Galloway, who was a distant second in the state as an eighth-grader. Rio Rancho transfer
Elixiss Gutierrez, a freshman, is a welcome addition at the No. 3 position, while close to five other girls up bidding for the No. 4 and 5 spots.
"On paper, it looks pretty good," acknowledged Jim Tillery, who recently coached the Cleveland bowling team to a fifth-place finish in the state tournament. "That's (more depth) a good problem to have. We are deeper than we have been in the past. We have 20 out this year."
Deming beat Cleveland by a large margin last year (seventh consecutive title) with its depth, but veteran coach James Williams is starting from scratch this spring. He lost his top six players, including three who transferred.
La Cueva (Albuquerque) has potential to battle the Storm for state supremacy with three of its top five returning, including Nos. 1 and 2 - seniors
Sarah Rippberger and
Summer Vigil. Junior
Katie Meyer will play No. 3, while five others are competing for the Nos. 4 and 5 slots.
Robert Perea, who also coaches the girls basketball team, says Rippberger has "one of the best short games I've seen in a long time. She had three rounds in the mid-70's last fall." He added that Vigil has "tremendous length off the tee."
Though Perea coached the girls team last year, he revealed that he will work with the boys team this spring and has turned the girls' reins over to John Bash.
In Class 5A,
Albuquerque Academy returns state champion
Katie Allen, a sophomore who averaged 75 in the fall. Playing No. 2 will be senior
Nicole Spence, a senior who transferred from Bosque Prep (Albuquerque) and sat out her junior year. Bidding for the No. 3 position are eighth-grader Skylor Winkler and junior
Merritt Barnwell.
St. Pius X (Albuquerque) and
Los Alamos also are expected to have strong teams.
The biggest news in Class A-4A is that veteran
Socorro coach Margaret Stanley has retired after leading the Warriors to eight state titles - five as a coach and three as a player.
Successor Russ Moore noted, "Her family is a legend. Her dad coached girls for years and she did a marvelous job holding that team together."
Texico, last year's runner-up, may be the team to beat in this class.
Boys divisionsCleveland (Rio Rancho) lost its No. 1 player, but returns the next four in quest of its third-straight Class 6A state championship. The veterans are seniors
Justin Davis and
John Gallegos, junior
Corey Haught and sophomore
Alejandro Armijo. Tillery, who also coaches this team, calls all four pretty equal.
The veteran coach is quick to admit, "Any time you're supposed to win everything, there's pressure."
La Cueva (Albuquerque), again, may give Cleveland its stiffest test. Coach Perea has three of the top five players back and calls the race with Cleveland "pretty much neck and neck."
Senior
Kevin Kim placed second in the state last year and Perea claims, "He has no weaknesses to his game. He doesn't dazzle you, but he doesn't make mistakes. He averaged 72 in the fall." Junior
Conner Allen "has improved a lot. I look for him to take it to the next level." Junior
Kevin Fanelli "has a ton of length off the tee."
Patrick McCarthy, St. Pius X
Photo courtesy of Sun County Amateur Golf Association
Junior
Andrew Daily is an important addition after being ineligible last year.
In Class 5A,
St. Pius X (Albuquerque) is ready to move to the top after placing second the last two years. The Sartans have, arguably, the No. 1 male golfer in the state, senior
Patrick McCarthy, called by coach Jorge Tristani "equal to anybody in the state this year. This is his fourth varsity season. I've been coach at Pius since 2004 and he's the best we've had. He averaged 72.7 in the fall and was medalist in four of five tourneys."
Backing up McCarthy will be freshman
Aidan Thomas, who has taken over the No. 2 position, plus seniors
Elijah Wyckoff and
Parker Willis.
Tristani put in a plug for Cleveland when he said, "Cleveland has the best boys team in the state. They won in the fall and beat us handily."
However, looming large in Class A-4A is
Hope Christian (Albuquerque), which is seeking its fifth-consecutive state championship and believed by some coaches to be the best overall team regardless of class. In the fall, the Huskies won one tourney and placed second on three other occasions.
Hope has four of its top golfers from last year, just one senior (
Cam Zuni) and he plays No. 4. The three top golfers - all juniors - are
Slater Sivage,
Jared Knigge and
Trevor Benevidez. In the fall Sivage averaged 75.8, Knigge 77.2 and Benevidez 79.6.
Asked about the top player in A-4A, coach Bill Huntsman replied, "my first three - any one of the top three would have a chance."
St. Michael's (Santa Fe) coach Geno Torres said, "Hope Christian is probably the best team in the state in all classes."
However, he returns his Nos. 2-3-4-5 players - still all underclassmen - and along with
Socorro will battle Hope to the wire. Leading the Horsemen will be juniors Marshall Springler, Allen Sanchez and Trae Torres, along with sophomore Cameron Gonzales.
Socorro returns its top five players and two of its seniors -
Ricky Silva and
Sean Moore - played on the Junior America's Cup team last summer along with Hope's Sivage and St. Pius' McCarthy. Silva averaged 74.16 in the fall, while Moore averaged 76.52. Junior
Brett Anaya and seniors
Dennis Woods and
Isaiah Anaya round out the top five.