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Los Alamos School of Gymnastics played host to seven New Mexico teams in their annual Snowflake Invitational.  Los Alamos won the Gold, Platinum, and Diamond competition. The Los Alamos Silver team took third and the Los Alamos Bronze team was also third.

Anika Lovato was Los Alamos' high scorer of the day, winning the Platinum individual competition with a score of 37.05. Lovato took gold on bars (9.40), beam (9.30) and floor (9.35). Team mate Megan Brown took silver on vault (9.20) and bars (9.10).  Colette Bibeault took silver on beam (9.20) and Sara Gardner took silver on floor (9.25). Dani Trellue's high finish was fourth on vault (9.10). 

In the Gold juniors competition Layla Warner captured the gold in the all around with 36.70.  Layla also took gold on bars (9.65) and floor (9.35).  Her vault was an 8.60 for the silver medal and beam was a 9.10 for bronze. Also competing in the gold juniors division was Kylee Lovato, who totaled 34.95 for the bronze medal. Kylee also medaled silver on the beam (8.65) and bronze on bars (9.20).  Caris Hatler took silver on floor (8.75) and bronze on vault (8.70).  Ellie Reass, who moved up to gold mid season, was fifth in the all around.

This week, the Albuquerque Isotopes announced plans to participate in the “Copa de la Diversión,” Minor League Baseball’s way of celebrating Hispanic culture this baseball season.

In select games throughout the season, the Isotopes will transform into the “Mariachis de Nuevo México” and Isotopes Park will become “The Plaza.”

Sure, this is a huge gimmick. But it’s also a lot of fun. It will be great to see this idea play out, and see other teams participate. For example, the Memphis Redbirds will become the “Memphis Música” and the Oklahoma City Dodgers will be come the “Cielo Azul de Oklahoma City.”

A total of 33 teams are participating across all levels of Minor League Baseball, and there are 165 games scheduled as part of the “Copa de la Diversión.

While some people may think adding gimmicks like this to Minor League Baseball is meaningless, I actually disagree. The minor leagues should be a place where the teams can have some fun and do crazy things. The stakes aren’t nearly as high as they are at the major league level, and other draws besides the play on the field are needed to get people to the ballpark.

The Los Alamos High School girls’ lacrosse team played its first home game of the season Tuesday night against Rio Rancho, falling 15-2 against the high-powered offensive attack of the Rams.

LAHS fell behind early in the contest, and struggled to gain control of the ball in the early minutes.

Taking advantage, Rio Rancho sprinted out to a 7-0 lead before the Hilltoppers had time to react.

After slowing the pace down and gaining control of the ball, LAHS got on the scoreboard as Allina Bergemann sprinted down the field and snuck a shot past the goalkeeper to make the score 7-1.

Minutes later, Marie Lee added another tally for the Hilltoppers, as she earned a penalty shot after being fouled attempting to put a shot on net.

Her shot from eight yards out was perfect, sneaking right past the goalkeeper into the back of the net to make the score 7-2.

However, LAHS got no closer. Rio Rancho added another goal before halftime to go up 8-2, and scored 7 unanswered goals in the second half to claim a 15-2 victory.

The Hilltoppers will return home to Dara Jones Field in White Rock April 3 to take on Bosque at 5 p.m.

The boys’ team will make its home debut the next day, taking on Cibola/Bosque at 5 p.m. April 4.

After three games in a row where nearly everything went right for the Los Alamos High School softball team, the opposite was true Friday night against Belen High School, as the Hilltoppers fell 16-2.

LAHS came into the game riding a streak of outstanding pitching, allowing 1 or fewer runs three games in a row, highlighted by the no-hitter thrown by Reyna Lucero against St. Pius X High School.

However, that streak came to an end in a hurry against the Eagles, again with Lucero in the pitching circle.

Control issues plagued Lucero throughout the game, starting in the first inning.

After striking out the leadoff batter, she walked a batter and hit two more with a pitch. With the bases loaded, a pitch got away from Jayde Tucker, the LAHS catcher, allowing a run to score, putting Belen up 1-0 without getting a hit.

The Hilltoppers answered right back in the bottom of the first inning, as Alicia Gonzales led off the game with a long home run to left field, tying the score 1-1.

She drove in both of LAHS’ runs in the game, adding an RBI double in the second inning.

The Eagles took the lead for good in the second inning, as three walks and a hit batter loaded the bases and scored a run, and a double scored 2 more runs, making the score 4-1.