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Today's Sports

  • Atomic City Update: Cutting men’...

    This week, the University of New Mexico Board of Regents voted 6-1 in favor of a budget that will require the university to cut sports programs in the near future. As someone who believes sports are an important part of society, especially on college campuses, this is not the kind of news I like to hear. 

    Particularly concerning is that one of the main sports being considered for the cuts is the men’s soccer program, which has been one of UNM’s most successful programs since the turn of the century. If a program had a long history of losing, and was making the school very little money I think it would be fair to consider letting it go, but that’s far from the case here. 

    The team has played in two Final Fours, one national championship game and has been a conference champion seven times since 2001. That is more success than many programs around the country could expect to have in 50 years of competition. 

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  • Lacrosse falls to Sandia Prep in...

     Battling Sandia Prep was the least of the Los Alamos High School boys’ lacrosse team’s problems Thursday night at Dara Jones Field, as high-powered wind gusts wreaked havoc on the players, the fans and especially the ball. The elements made the game unpredictable and exciting, though the home fans went home unhappy as the Hilltoppers lost 8-7 in overtime. 

    It was a back-and-forth contest from the opening face-off, as neither team was able to create separation. Offense was made difficult by the wind, as every pass had to be made carefully, and long passes were nearly impossible to complete. 

    The Hilltoppers took the early lead, as Peter Janke got LAHS on the board with the first goal of the game. 

    After Sandia answered back with a goal, Jacob Dunwoody gave the Hilltoppers a 2-1 lead with a goal of his own before the end of the first quarter. 

    Sandia once again answered back with a goal, and Ryder Davenhall came right back with his first goal of the game to give LAHS a 3-2 lead. 

    The back-and-forth game continued as Sandia tied the score 3-3 before Janke gave LAHS the lead back.

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  • LAHS softball keeps win streak...

    In Major League Baseball, the talk of the world is about Shohei Otani, the Los Angeles Angels’ two-way star that is dominating on the mound and at the plate in his first season in America. Locally, it turns out Los Alamos High School has a two-way threat of its own on the softball team. Katie Wimer, a sophomore, continued her outstanding season Wednesday afternoon against Albuquerque Academy, picking up a win on the mound with a complete game, and driving in 7 runs at the plate in a 15-5 victory. 

    This season, Wimer has pitched 30.1 innings on the mound, collecting a record of 4-1 while striking out 27 batters. At the plate, she has been even more impressive, batting .492 while driving in 35 RBI’s and knocking three home runs out of the park. 

    In an important district game against the Chargers, the Hilltoppers needed every part of Wimer’s game to pull out the victory. 

    After the pitchers dominated for the first two innings of Wednesday’s game, posting clean innings, Academy took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. 

    That’s when the LAHS offense woke up and returned to the form that it has shown throughout district play. 

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  • Baseball drops heartbreaker at...

     All season, the Los Alamos High School baseball team has relied on strong pitching and timely hitting. Wednesday afternoon, the timely hitting was nowhere to be found as the Hilltoppers lost to Albuquerque Academy 5-4 at Bomber Field. 

    This was an important district game for both teams, as Academy entered the contest with a record of 7-1 in District 2-5A, one game ahead of the Hilltoppers, who entered the game at 6-2. A win would have pulled the Hilltoppers into a tie for first place in the district. Instead, the team is now left to wonder if it has done enough to earn an at-large bid to next month’s state championship tournament. 

    The opportunities were there for LAHS to take control of the game, and yet the big hit wouldn’t come to put the contest out of reach. 

    The Hilltoppers’ first opportunity came in the first inning, when the team loaded the bases with a pair of singles and a walk before Walker Eaton flew out to the left fielder to end the inning. 

    Academy also wasted early opportunities, leaving a man stranded on third base in the first inning, and two runners in scoring position in the second inning. 

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  • LAHS golf has strong day at...

    More than 100 players and 13 teams came together at the Los Alamos County Golf Course Monday morning for the LAHS Spring Invite, where the Hilltoppers played host and enjoyed great results. 

    The boys’ team finished as the overall runner-ups, while the girls were able to boast the event’s overall champion. 

    On the boys’ side of the event, Los Lunas High School walked away as the champions, finishing with a team score of 322. LAHS finished four strokes behind in second place, with a team score of 326. Rounding out the top three was Hope Christian, which finished with a team score of 335. 

    Other teams that participated in the tournament for the boys were Robertson, St. Michael’s, Capital, Tucumcari, East Mountain, Española Valley, Raton, Taos and West Las Vegas. 

    Individually, many Hilltoppers put together solid rounds. Davis Johnson was the team’s top golfer finishing with a score of 77, just six strokes off the leader. Henry Poston and Sean Rau both finished with scores of 81, while Conner Cook finished with a score of 84, Jacob Benelli finished with a score of 87 and Landon Burk finished with a score of 88. 

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  • Hilltoppers fall to Duke City at...

    Facing Duke City at Dara Jones Field Saturday afternoon, the young Los Alamos High School boys’ lacrosse team showed it still has a lot to learn about competing at the highest level, falling 17-3. 

    Duke City dominated possession of the ball from the very beginning, going up 5-0 before the Hilltoppers got the ball across midfield. 

    After switching sides for the second quarter, the Hilltoppers seemed to gain a little bit of momentum and went on the attack. Kevin Dors got LAHS on the board with a beautiful shot from close range, making the score 5-1. 

    However, Duke City, which is made up of some of the best lacrosse players in all of Albuquerque from multiple schools, continued to attack and quickly put the game out of reach. 

    Long after the outcome had been decided, Caleb Key and Jack Vandenkieboom scored goals for the Hilltoppers, temporarily sending cheers throughout the home crowd. 

    As the final whistle blew, however, Duke City emerged with a 17-3 victory. 

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  • Atomic City Update: High school...

    As high school baseball and softball season moves along this spring, I have found great joy in watching the kids play games they love on a daily basis. It is obvious how much fun they are having on the field, and it is great to see the teams at Los Alamos High School find success late in the schedule. 

    However, the one negative I have found about the schedule are the number of doubleheaders the teams are forced to play. From a scheduling standpoint, I absolutely understand the need for doubleheaders. The teams all have to play a certain amount of games, and they want the kids to miss as little school as possible. 

    But I can’t see many other positives to the doubleheaders. First of all, playing two games back-to-back, which can take more than six hours, is physically draining for the players. Baseball is a game of lots of starts and stops. It requires laser-sharp focus and attention while in the field and in the batter’s box. 

    By the end of a second game, it is possible that a player would have played 14 innings in the field, and taken eight or more at-bats. I can’t believe that a player is as sharp after playing that much as he would have been hours earlier, at the beginning of the first game. 

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  • Lacrosse wins second straight...

    The Los Alamos High School girls’ lacrosse team is officially on a roll. For the second consecutive home game, the Hilltoppers came away victorious, defeating Santa Fe Prep 6-5 at Dara Jones Field Thursday night. 

    Elena Culin played well in goal for the Hilltoppers, keeping Santa Fe Prep from putting too many goals on the board. 

    On offense, Allina Bergemann was the star for the Hilltoppers, scoring four goals during the game to lead the team to victory. 

    Also scoring two goals was Marie Lee, who has consistently gotten better throughout the season. 

    This is the second home game in a row that the Hilltoppers have won. The team is finding success in its first year as a team, led by head coach Whitney Pryce, who has done a good job of helping the team improve every game. 

    After a game on the road Thursday in Rio Rancho, the Hilltoppers will return to action Saturday at home against Santa Fe Prep at 10 a.m. This is the final scheduled home game of the season for the team, as the playoffs begin on May 1. 

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  • Hilltopper softball takes...

    With a 12-6 win over Capital High School Wednesday afternoon, the Los Alamos High School softball team is now firmly in first place in District 2-5A and controls its own destiny for the state tournament.

    “The nice thing is, the girls never stopped,” LAHS head coach Randy Burditt said. “They kept battling. That’s a good softball game right there. Capital played tough.”

    Though the game started as a blowout for the Hilltoppers, it became far closer than expected in the late going, and required great pitching by Savana Luster to secure the win.  

    At the plate, the Hilltoppers had no trouble putting runners on base through the first three innings, but struggled to bring them around to home plate. In the second inning, the Hilltoppers had the bases loaded with two outs before Janessa Gonzales struck out to end the inning with just 1 run scoring. In the third inning, LAHS had two runners in scoring position with one out, but again only scored once as Claire Bluhm popped out to the third baseman and Megan Romero struck out to end the inning. 

    However, the Hilltoppers struck for 4 runs in the fourth inning, breaking the game open with a 6-0 lead. 

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  • Baseball gets back on track with...

    With a doubleheader sweep of Española Valley High School Saturday afternoon, the Los Alamos High School baseball team kept pace in District 2-5A, which looks as if it will be highly competitive until the end of the season. 

    The Hilltoppers could not have asked for much more success Saturday afternoon, defeating the Sundevils 9-2 in the first game, and following it up with a 17-0 win in game two, showing that LAHS remains a force to be reckoned with in the playoff conversation. 

    Jacob Rutten started the first game on the mound for the Hilltoppers, and displayed the dominant pitching that has carried his team at times this season. He struck out two batters in the first inning to work around a leadoff single, and followed that up in the second inning by striking out two more batters to escape a jam caused by a pair of walks. 

    On offense, the Hilltoppers clicked right away, scoring 3 runs in the first inning thanks to a leadoff walk and an error by the Sundevil centerfielder. Singles by Antonio Gonzales, Rutten and Sam Fisher followed, and LAHS took a 3-0 lead. 

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