The 2019-20 high school sports year had its share of memorable ups and forgettable downs.
A few schools made it to the state playoffs, others struggled to win a few games. Some unremarkable seasons ended on a high note, while promising seasons fizzled out at the end. And every student-athlete who was looking forward to playing a spring sport had their heart broken when the coronavirus pandemic caused the season to be unexpectedly canceled.
There’s always next year for underclassmen. But for the senior student-athletes, this year was their final go-round, their last hurrah, the swan song of their high school sports careers.
So for every senior athlete who showed up for practice when they had a paper due, hit the weight room when they had a ton of homework, played their hearts out, kept their chins up when they were getting their butts kicked, and thought of their teammates as nothing less than family, we salute you.
Moriarty boys
Tyler Ortiz, basketball and football
Bobby Schmutz, basketball and football
Julian Encinias, basketball, football, baseball
Reyes Chavez, basketball
Michael Pisz, basketball and baseball
Jude Ipiotis, basketball
Tristan Hoy, baseball
Troy Batie, baseball
Pavel Arguello, soccer, football
Frank McCleave, soccer
Jordan Horoschak, soccer
Luke Lionbarger, soccer
Colton Zeisloft, wrestling
Moriarty girls
Domniarre “Mimi” Notah, cross country, wrestling
Araceli Kamplain, soccer, wrestling
Esperanza Wells, soccer
Kailei Edwards, volleyball, basketball
Tristen Sauter, volleyball, basketball
Kassie Coey, volleyball
Bella Neish, volleyball
Kaitlyn Williams, softball
Aneleya Guillen, softball
Joeyelle Guajardo, softball
Estrella Garcia softball, cheer
East Mountain boys
Will Merkey, baseball, basketball
Dominik Chavez, baseball, basketball
Tommy Morgan, baseball, basketball
Tim Fuchs, basketball, track
Bryce Wrye, basketball
Dylan Justus, cross country, wrestling (Manzano)
Joseph Bertrand, cross country
Zane Randall, soccer
Tyler Batie, soccer
East Mountain girls
Marissa Case, cross country, track
Scout Gunter, soccer
Kimberly Stephenson, soccer
Azalea Hughes, soccer
Emma Rocco, soccer
Jasmine Pellerin, soccer
Ashlyn Simkins, volleyball, basketball, softball
Aletha Steen, basketball, softball
Brooke Bishop, softball
Nina Zahnle, softball
Scarlett Gonzalez, softball
Meryl Armstrong, track
Katie Tetreault, volleyball
Madison Kelsh, volleyball
Estancia boys
Andrew Lujan, football, basketball, baseball
Garrett Noblitt, football, basketball, baseball
Luke Pope, football
Heze Ortiz, football, baseball
Nazareth Astorga, basketball, track
Lars Pottle, cross country, track
Estancia girls
Aliyah Padilla, volleyball, basketball, track
Reagan Walker, volleyball, track
Priscilla Padilla, volleyball, basketball, softball, track
Mountainair boys
Francisco Zamora, football, track
Manzano boys (East Mountains)
Austin Erickson, football, basketball,
Manzano girls (East Mountains)
Abby Clarke, soccer, cross country
Ger has been writing and shooting photos of high school sports for The Independent for 15 years. His dedication to youth athletics goes beyond sports reporting. He is past president of East Mountain Little League and works as a baseball umpire. He lives in Edgewood with his family.
