Prep Notes: Smalls takes on challenge at Rio Grande; Former Lobo lands coaching job

With less than two weeks before the first official practice of the 2023 prep football season, Rio Grande High School has a new head coach.

Christopher Smalls, 29, a former University of New Mexico Lobo player under Bob Davie, is taking over the Ravens from Charles Santistevan, who resigned July 13.

Rio Grande hastily arranged interviews earlier last week to find a replacement; the Ravens have been competing as an independent program the last handful of seasons.

The first day of practice is July 31, and Rio Grande opens at Albuquerque Academy on Thursday, Aug. 17.

“I wanted more of the experience of interviewing to be a head coach, (because) I knew in a couple of years, I was going to be (ready),” Smalls said Thursday. “They said it was (my) job if I want it.”

Smalls, a defensive lineman while at UNM, is a former assistant coach at Albuquerque High under Tim Johnson. He moved briefly to Dallas, but returned recently and was set to be an assistant coach at Del Norte this fall, coaching defensive and offensive linemen.

The Ravens are low on numbers, Smalls said, and recruitment is among his top priorities.

“We have a few kids out, but the numbers aren’t as high as I want them to be,” he said, adding that he needs additional coaches on the Rio Grande campus to work the halls and recruit players.

“It’s gonna be a hard task,” Smalls said. “Especially when I was at Albuquerque High, under coach Johnson, playing Rio Grande, we saw the amount of kids they didn’t have. ... I feel like it’ll take a lot of effort, but I feel like they want someone to be about to bring them out.”

Smalls will also be a teacher at Rio Grande.

BENALLY TIMES TWO: Sydney Benally is preparing to begin her junior year at Sandia High, and, after Eldorado’s Bella Hines, is one of the most sought-after college basketball recruits.

But she’s soon going to have some familiar company at Sandia, at least during the basketball season.

Her younger sister, Kaiyah, is entering the eighth grade and is expected to join the Sandia varsity, playing on what is widely expected to be a challenger for a state title in March 2024.

Kaiyah Benally, however, already has something her sister didn’t have at this age: a Division I offer.

She has been offered by New Mexico State. “Couldn’t be more proud of my little sister,” Sydney wrote on her Twitter account.

Kaiyah is a combo guard, much like her older sister, with strong ballhandling skills.

Albuquerque Public Schools last school year opened the door for eighth-grade athletes to compete at the high school level.

NEW MEXICO GOLF ON THE NATIONAL STAGE: The La Cueva girls competed earlier this month at the High School Golf National Invitational at the PGA of America’s new headquarters in Frisco, Texas.

Sarah Grenemyer, Stephanie Romero, Caytlin Petrova, Kendall Trujillo and Ryanne Covel combined to finish in a tie for 17th place last week with Nebraska. Texas’ girls won the event. Romero, the low Bear at the New Mexico Class 5A state tournament two months ago — and the Journal’s Metro Female Athlete of the Year for the 2022-23 school year — was the low La Cueva finisher in Texas, tying for 74th place.

Deming, the Class 4A state champion in the spring, played in the boys’ half of the tournament that concluded on Wednesday. The Wildcats tied with Massachusetts and Utah for ninth place in their tournament. Vari Mariscal, New Mexico’s 4A state champ, tied for 29th individually.

Belen’s Grady Cox, who lost to Mariscal by a shot in May at Twin Warriors, tied for ninth.

La Cueva’s boys, the 5A state champ, finished in 31st place. Individual 5A state champ Jake Yrene, along with Joseph Garcia, Kirin Hochenedel, Connor Glover and Brock Rice, competed for the Bears. Yrene tied for 111th place.

THIS AND THAT: Former University of New Mexico Lobo Jamal Fenton is entering the prep coaching ranks to become the new girls basketball coach at Bosque School. Fenton currently is competing for The Enchantment in The Basketball Tournament in Texas. ... Albuquerque Public Schools has laid down the remaining two fields at the APS Soccer Complex, and the first games at the four-field venue are coming off in a month. The first two fields were installed earlier this year.