Peerman's Power Rankings: 5 best things in New Mexico sports this week (Sept. 30)

Welcome to Peerman’s Power Rankings (PPR), the five athletes, teams and story lines that have Journal sports editor Lucas Peerman’s attention this week. Have a suggestion, complaint or compliment? Email lpeerman@abqjournal.com or find me on X, @LucasPeerman.

5. UNM volleyball

San Diego State took a 14-7 lead in the fifth set Saturday against UNM volleyball. The Aztecs needed one more point to win the set and match and send the Lobos to an 0-2 start in the Mountain West. But UNM scored the next point, then the next point, then the next point, then the next point, then the next point, then the next point, then the next point, then the next point, then the next point — 16-14 Lobos win!

Incredible comeback.

Also, kudos to the Lobos for keeping San Jose State on the schedule for an Oct. 17 game at Johnson Center. Boise State lost to the Spartans on Saturday after electing not to play, ostensibly kowtowing to a campaign against the Spartans and senior Blaire Fleming, who some groups allege is transgender. Choosing to play, rather than sit, is always going to be a win in these rankings.

4. Pamela Kosgei

Might Kosgei be this year’s Habtom Samuel — as in a Lobo cross-country freshman runner who’s among the best in the nation? Sure seems that way after her performance Saturday at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

The women’s team, ranked No. 21 in the nation, won the event, beating host and No. 16 Oklahoma State in the process. The Lobos were paced by Kosgei, who crossed the finish line first in her first collegiate race — 43.5 seconds before the second-place finisher. Her time of 19 minutes, 50 seconds was the 10th-fastest 6K time ever run by a woman on OSU’s Greiner Cross Country Course and fastest there since 2022.

3. Winning on the road against a rival

Let’s talk Bernalillo and Artesia football — each might be the class of Class 4A and 5A, respectively, after beating a district rival on the road Friday night.

The second-ranked Spartans, not traditionally a football power, proved themselves to be in the conversation for a 4A state title after a thrilling 21-20 overtime victory at No. 3 Española Valley.

The Bulldogs — when was the last time they were not in the conversation for a state title? — hammered No. 1 Lovington 57-21 in Brian Urlacher’s old digs. Artesia, which was 3-2 and ranked No. 3 coming into the game — established itself as the clear favorite to repeat as 5A champs.

2. UNM’s offensive line

Huge rivalry win for the Lobos on Saturday, 50-40 over New Mexico State in Las Cruces. This spot in PPR could go to the UNM team as a whole or coach Bronco Mendenhall for recording their first win on the year, but instead we’ll recognize a unit that has been outstanding all year, in the win and the losses.

Against NMSU, the offensive line allowed no sacks for the fifth straight game and just four quarterback pressures on the night.

And it’s not like this line is made up of three-year starters. In fact, coming into the season the offensive linemen had started a combined zero games for the Lobos — they were a unit of transfers and backups with no experience playing with one another. The expected starting center went out with an injury before the year, forcing the right tackle to move a couple of spots over and play a position he’d never before taken a snap at in a college game. And this unit has had to shuffle its lineup around a couple of other times due to minor nicks.

Still, no sacks allowed.

On Saturday, the line helped make lanes for Campbell transfer Na’Quari Rogers to carry the ball 21 times for 122 yards and three touchdowns; and this line all season has played a part in quarterback Devon Dampier, the Prestige, developing into one of the premier quarterbacks in the Mountain West.

These offensive linemen won’t get the headlines, but they are the reason others’ successes are being highlighted.

1. Kyle Stepp

This parathlete from New Mexico is in South America helping Ecuadorians get access to proper prosthetics and health care through the Range of Motion Project. On Wednesday night, Stepp, whose left leg was amputated above the knee following bike crash four years ago, will begin to climb Cayambe Mountain, a nearly 19,000-foot glacier-covered mountain in Ecuador. This, too, is a ROMP initiative meant to raise awareness and funds for the nonprofit’s mission.

Stepp isn’t stopping once he reaches the summit and journeys back down the mountain. Two weeks later, he’ll be competing at the 2024 World Triathlon Para Championships in Spain. Stepp is the 14th-ranked paratriathlete in the world.

“I’ll summit, I’ll fly back to the United States, be back in Albuquerque training for a week, get on a plane and fly to Spain to represent Team USA,” he said on the Journal’s Good News podcast.

What is Stepp’s motivation? Growing up, he was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and made friends with nine others receiving cancer treatment in a children’s hospital.

“Those nine kids are no longer with us, and they don’t get the opportunity to reach these summits or chase their dreams and for me,” he said, “I’m lucky enough to use my life for good and help others. It’s an immense privilege.”

Honorable mention

The question isn’t whether Las Cruces volleyball will repeat as the 5A girls champion, it’s whether any match this year will go five sets. Thus far, the Bulldawgs are 10-0 and only three of those matches have gone four sets. … The UNM women’s soccer team is now 5-2-2 on the season after Presley Devey’s hat trick helped pace the team to a 5-2 win over Nevada on Sunday … UNM punter Aaron Rodriguez was not only named Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week, he earned his nursing school coat on Friday as he prepares for his first professional rotation.