The New Mexico Activities Association on Tuesday laid out its plans for the high school cross country and volleyball seasons, which were postponed because of ongoing public health concerns related to the coronavirus, to take place in 2021.
So as not to overlap too much with basketball, the NMAA is proposing a volleyball schedule that runs March 1-May 1.
The basketball season is slated to end in mid-March, so girls who do both sports would face minimal hassle.
There is a slight revision to the way the state tournament would play out, with quarterfinals on campus sites on Monday, April 26.
The semifinals would take place mid-week at the Rio Rancho Events Center (formerly Santa Ana Star Center) in Rio Rancho, with finals April 30 and May 1 at the Events Center. The previous plan was to contest the postseason over two weeks.
• Cross country’s season will be shaved to just five weeks, from Feb. 15-March 20. Schools would be allowed three regular-season meets and a district meet ahead of the state meet, which would be run over two days, March 19-20.
This would allow cross country runners some needed down time before the start of the track and field season.
• As for golf, the NMAA is moving up the start date two weeks, to March 22. This could allow schools to try and reschedule some fall events that were lost when the governor recently said non-contact high school sports could not be held this calendar year.
BUILDING BUZZ: Aden Chavez of Cibola continues to generate momentum and be regarded as one of the top sophomore quarterbacks in the country.
The Elite 11 Regional Chicago combine for quarterbacks – which technically is being held in northwestern Indiana – has accepted Chavez’s application to participate on Oct. 31.
The Elite 11 bills itself as a premier quarterback event. The regionals primarily cater to the top QBs in the Class of 2022, but also is accepting top players in younger classes like Chavez.
Other combines are being held this fall in Los Angeles, Chicago and Virginia Beach. Top candidates out of the regionals can earn a spot at the Elite 11 Quarterfinal finals next summer.
The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Chavez last month competed at Under Armour’s Elite Underclassmen Showcase in Las Vegas, Nevada.
AIDEN AND NOTAH: Cibola High junior golfer Aiden Krafft, the 2019 Class 5A state golf champion who shot a sizzling round of 60 at the Albuquerque men’s city tournament earlier this year, has earned a spot at a premier junior event.
Krafft will play in the boys 14-18 division at the inaugural Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship Nov. 15-17 in at Koasati Pines at Coushatta in Kinder, Louisiana.
Krafft qualified by shooting 7-under in a 36-hole regional qualifier in Denver in early August. Highlights from Begay’s tournament will be broadcast by Golf Channel (which employs Begay as an analyst) on Dec. 9 from 5-7 p.m.
At an all-Native American qualifier in August at Santa Ana Golf Club, three New Mexico golfers from the Navajo Nation – Skyler Woods (boys 14-18), Shandiin Harper from Piedra Vista HS (girls 14-18) and 13-year-old Zachary BlueEyes (boys 13-and-under) – also earned spots in Begay’s tournament by winning their age divisions. Woods and Blue Eyes are from Kirtland Central.
THIS AND THAT: Guard Celina Watson from Piedra Vista has announced that she will attend and play basketball at Adams State in Alamosa, Colorado. … Coach Matt Enloe, a longtime assistant to John Zumbrun, is taking over the Carlsbad High School girls basketball program. Earlier this year, Zumbrun was hired to coach the Cavemen boys.
