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Today's Sports

  • Derby Dames prepped for home...

    For the first time in 2017, the Los Alamos Derby Dames roller hockey team is gearing up to play in front of its home crowd.

    The team will play its home opener against Albuquerque Roller Derby at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 20.

    “I think the excitement is pretty high,” team member Rachel Adler, known on the derby track as Latzah Balls, said. “Just because we haven’t played in a month and it’s our home turf.”

    The team last competed on the road in Flagstaff, Arizona on April 22, a game they lost to High Altitude Roller Derby.

    Adler believes that first game of the year will allow them to be more prepared heading into Saturday’s matchup.

    “We all got together after our last game, and we talked about what worked and what didn’t work, and we talked about what we know about the team that’s coming to play us on Saturday,” Adler said. “We nailed down some pretty specific strategies that we think are going to work really well.”

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  • Torch run raises more than $1,...

    Among the more than 25 people lined up at the starting line of Thursday morning’s Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run, none were smiling bigger than the five representatives from the Special Olympics: Addy, Jenny, Sam and Sheylene and Teagan.

    As the five kids stood front and center for a group photo before the event began, event liaison and Los Alamos Police Commander Oliver Morris asked them how much of the 43-mile run they wanted to do.

    He then followed up by asking, “All the way?” to which the kids all nodded in agreement and laughed.

    The torch run took the officers from the Los Alamos Justice Center to Jemez Springs, and lasted approximately six hours. In addition to the Los Alamos County officers who participated, two representatives from the Bandelier Rangers also took part.

    Morris, who has acted as the event liaison since 2004, said he was pleased with how it turned out.

    “I think it went really good, and was a huge success,” Morris said. “We had a really great turnout and raised over $1,200 for Special Olympics.”

    He said that the amount of money raised is on par with the totals from previous years, and said that the department will continue to do fundraisers for Special Olympics throughout the remainder of the year.

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  • Ortega leads boys track to...

    The Los Alamos High School boy’s track and field team finished in fourth place this past weekend at the New Mexico Athletic Association’s State Track and Field Championships.

    Steven Montoya, the team’s coach, said he is “pretty ecstatic” with the result, and that this year was a big success and a strong building block for the program.

    Part of what makes the accomplishment so significant for the program is the fact that the team finished in 13th place just a year ago. Last year’s team finished with 18 points at the state meet, while this year’s squad finished with 44.

    “I think last year was an outlier for us,” Montoya said. “I think we proved this year that we should be in contention at the state level. We should be a top-five team at state every year.”

    He added that on paper, the team did not appear to be strong enough to finish so well at the state level, but that they believed in their coaches, believed in their teammates and worked hard all season to earn their spot near the top of the leaderboard.

    When reflecting on the championship, Montoya felt the performances of two of his seniors stood out from the successful weekend: Liam Johnson and Nathaniel Ortega.

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  • Girls track finishes as state...

    For the second consecutive year, the Los Alamos High School girl’s track team finished as the runner-ups in the New Mexico Athletic Association’s State Track and Field Championships.

    This year, the team finished in second place by just a half point, finishing with 67.5 total points to Alamogordo’s 68 points.

    Aaron Padilla, the team’s coach, said that both he and the girls are disappointed with getting second by such a slim margin, but that he is proud to say that his team was one of the best in the entire state.

    “We knew that the state meet was going to be tough,” Padilla said. “We did the best job we possibly could.”

    The state championship came down to the final event of the meet, the 4x400 meter relay.

    Los Alamos entered the event leading Alamogordo by 1.5 points, just needing to finish ahead of them to become state champions.

    Ultimately, Alamogordo finished in second place, while Los Alamos finished in third, handing the state title to Alamogordo.

    Despite that, the 4x400-meter relay still finished with a school record in the event.

    For Padilla and the girls on the team, this year’s runner-up finish feels much different than last year’s.

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  • Aquatomics place well at the...

    A total of 14 swimmers from the Los Alamos Aquatomics competed in the VAST Early Bird Open, which took place in the West Mesa Aquatic Center in Albuquerque this past weekend.

    The ages of the swimmers from the Aquatomics ranged from 8-14.

    One of the top standouts from the team, as well as the entire meet, was 12-year-old Andy Corliss, who posted the fastest times in both the mixed 12 and under 50-meter backstroke, as well as the mixed 12 and under 50 meter breaststroke.

    In the backstroke event, Corliss posted a time of 32.62 seconds, which was more than three seconds faster than the next-fastest competitor.

    In the breaststroke event, he posted a time of 36.03 seconds, which was four seconds faster than the next-closest competitor.

    Corliss also finished in the top 10 in both the mixed 100-meter breaststroke and the mixed 9 and over 200 meter individual medley.

    In the breaststroke event, he finished in fifth place with a 1:19.84. In the individual medley event, he finished with a time of 2:42.95.

    Another top competitor for the team was 10-year-old Sophia Pieck, who finished in the top ten in both the mixed 12 and under 50-meter backstroke and the mixed 12 and under 50-meter breaststroke.

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  • Officials plan $15M in ski...

    Resort officials with the largest ski area collective in the southwest announced capital improvements that will be made for the 2017/2018 season at five southwestern mountains located in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, plus Colorado’s largest cat skiing operation.
    James Coleman, managing partner of  Purgatory Resort in Durango, Colorado;  Arizona Snowbowl in Flagstaff, Arizona; Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort near Taos, New Mexico; Pajarito Mountain Ski Area in Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hesperus Ski Area, west of Durango; and Purgatory Snowcat Adventures, Colorado’s largest snowcat skiing operation, announced the company is investing an additional $15 million for the 2017/2018 season, continuing the aggressive multi-mountain improvement campaign for a grand total of $35 million over three consecutive seasons.  Capital improvements include additional trails, enhancements to snowmaking systems, new summer activities, and new offerings to boost the overall skiing and guest experience at the resorts.
    The 2017/2018 capital investment plan outlines new trails, snowmaking, new summer activities, and more at these mountains:
    Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort

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  • Tennis teams, individuals among...

    It seemed throughout the spring season the Los Alamos Hilltopper tennis teams were on the very short list of squads with a very good chance of earning a state title in 2017.
    And the New Mexico Activities Association tennis seeding committee seemed to agree.
    Los Alamos earned either the No. 1 or No. 2 seeds in girls singles, girls doubles and boys doubles, which started Wednesday in Albuquerque. Along with that, the Hilltopper girls earned the top seed in team competition, while the boys are the No. 2 seed in that draw.
    The singles and doubles tournaments were scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in Albuquerque, with the team competition starting today.
    Los Alamos’ athletes will play their matches at the Jerry Cline Tennis Center.
    Albuquerque Academy, one of the dominant programs in the state in both boys and girls tennis, extending as far back as there’s been tennis at the prep level in New Mexico, picked up the No. 1 seed on the boys side.
    The Chargers, who went through the regular season a spotless 11-0 and won three different tournament titles, are undoubtedly the team to beat in boys tennis, while the Charger girls are the three seed behind top-seeded Los Alamos and second-seeded Farmington.

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  • LA tops Española Valley; can win...

    A crazy play finished off a crazy game between Los Alamos and Espanola Valley in their battle for the top spot in District 2-5A softball.
    With Los Alamos down by two and down to its last out, the team came up with three runs to knock off Espanola Valley’s Sundevils 10-9 at Overlook Park Wednesday.
    Espanola Valley, which had never trailed in the game until the final play, made two critical errors at the close of the seventh inning that allowed those three Hilltopper runs to score and give them the ballgame.
    On the game’s final play, Hilltopper center fielder Alicia Gonzales hit a long fly ball to deep left field. Sundevil left-fielder Sidnee Pollard, who had been rock-solid defensively during the three-game series between the two teams, misplayed the fly ball that she normally would’ve caught, and the ball hit the ground.
    That miscue allowed both pinch-runner Shelby Milligan and Janessa Gonzales to score the game-winning runs.
    With that play, and a bizarre play one batter earlier, also involving Milligan that led to a run, the Hilltoppers managed to secure the lead in the district standings outright and are now just one game away from clinching the 2017 district title.

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  • Softball stays on top of...

    ALBUQUERQUE – The Los Alamos Hilltopper softball team stayed a leg up on the rest of District 2-5A with a lopsided victory Wednesday on the road.
    The Hilltoppers scored in each of the five innings of their game against the Albuquerque Academy Chargers, coming up with 5 runs in their first at-bat, then tacking on three runs in the third and fifth innings to close things out early.
    Reyna Lucero, the Hilltoppers’ ace, threw 3-1/3 innings and allowed just one run as Los Alamos pounded Academy 14-2.
    Wednesday’s game could’ve been a tricky one for Los Alamos (14-7 overall, 8-1 in district) as the Chargers gave the team a scare earlier this month. The Chargers, who have struggled throughout 2017, nearly pulled off an upset over the Hilltoppers in extra innings at Overlook Park during the first game of a doubleheader, but Los Alamos did come back to win that one, 10-9.
    But following the big first inning, there wasn’t a lot of drama to be had Wednesday in Albuquerque.
    Los Alamos features a lot of power in its batting order and had that on full display against Academy. Jayde Tucker and Taylor Collins both hit home runs, with Tucker also adding a triple on the afternoon and Collins a double.
    The two combined to go 6-for-8, scored six runs and knocked in five runs.

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  • ’Topper baseball knocks off...

    ALBUQUERQUE – The challenge for the Los Alamos Hilltopper baseball team heading into the final week-plus of its regular season is to remain viable in the District 2-5A race for second place.
    Wednesday, Los Alamos cleared a big hurdle of that challenge.
    The Hilltoppers came back from a run down late to the district-leading Albuquerque Academy Chargers at Marburger Field to force extra innings.
    Then, in the top of the ninth, Los Alamos came up with three doubles to take a commanding lead and ultimately pull off the upset over the Chargers, 7-4.
    Designated hitter Travis Gonzales looped a fly ball over the head of Academy right fielder Markus Parrish, driving in a pair of runs that would ultimately give the Hilltoppers the win in the top of the ninth. Third baseman Antonio Gonzales doubled in Travis Gonzales one batter later for insurance.
    Instead of Los Alamos dropping another big 2-5A contest, as it did in its district opener March 29 after earning a big lead in extra innings, Hilltopper relief pitcher Rico Zerr came on to pick up the save with little trouble from Academy’s hitters.

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