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Saturday, April 16, 2011
Pecos Senior Signs Letter for UNM
By Eric Butler
For the Journal
For someone playing at a small school like Pecos, college athletic recognition may seem out of reach.
"It's not every day that a Class 2A school gets someone to sign at a D1 school," said Panthers' track coach Leroy Barela.
But it happened Friday.
Pecos senior Yeshamabet Turner, as her team and other 1A and 2A schools prepare for the state track meet May 6-7 in Albuquerque, signed a letter of intent to be a track and field athlete at the University of New Mexico.
"She's probably one of the better all-around kids you'll ever come across," Barela said. "That's above and beyond her athletic achievements."
And her athletic endeavors are substantial.
At the recent Marilyn Sepulveda meet in Albuquerque, where the state's best track competitors — regardless of classification — go at it, Turner went 18 feet, 8 inches in the long jump to easily surpass the old meet record.
When the state small school track competition occurs in three weeks, Turner will have a variety of events to choose from. She's also qualified in the high jump and triple jump, as well as sprints like the 100 meters and 200 meters.
Turner's natural ability is evident in the high jump — an event she only took up a year ago.
"We were at Santa Rosa and she said, 'Coach, what do you think of me trying the high jump?'" Barela recalled. "So we went over and I showed her how to do it. She ended up finishing first that day."
As far as the Pecos boys are concerned, Barela has another state first-place hopeful in Antonio Varela. A junior with the Panthers, Varela is the two-time defending Class 2A champ at 3200 meters — where he could get some company at the state finals from sophomore teammate P.J. C'de Baca.
Another top athlete in the girls 2A ranks is Santa Fe Prep senior Kiara Glover, who might run up against Turner in at least one event come state time. Glover is qualified in the 200, 400 and 800 meter runs, as is teammate Elizabeth "Ziggy" Lanman.
"They look great, but we still have a lot of speed to unleash," said Blue Griffins coach Tove Shere, whose girls relay teams have already all qualified for state.
Also at the Class 2A level, Mora sophomore Alonzo Chavez has the top mark in the boys 800-meter race while Julio Ramirez of Questa ranks number one at the 100-meter sprint.
Ramirez, like Turner, has plenty of natural ability — this is only his first year of running track at Questa.
"I've had him since the 8th grade. He played football and was always pretty quick," Questa track coach Paul Passino said. "I told him, 'You could do good at state,' but for whatever reason he never went out for track in the spring.
"This is his senior year and he just decided to give it a shot," added Passino of Ramirez, who is also state-qualified in the 200-meter dash.
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