Sports

Sports

Albuquerque Aardvarks are a local institution

Maddie Pukite | July 14

The Albuquerque Aardvarks, established in 1973, meet weekly to practice rugby on Johnson field. The origin of the team's name has been forgotten, “Bear” said, but the story is that someone flipped through a dictionary to the first animal with the letter A, although nothing is certain. Fables and stories are a common practice around the team, many also using rugby names like Bear or Chonch which originated out of college and high school rugby clubs. Josh “Chonch” Lamb said the name stuck and just became what he was known as. Bear said that the name helped him on the field as well.

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Sports

Duke City Championship Wrestling makes its presence known

Sydney Walker | July 9

Duke City Championship Wrestling is presenting a “Clash of Titans” tag-team showdown at the historic El Rey Theater on July 15. This all ages event will host eight professional wrestling matches inside the ring. Jerry Herrera, a professional wrestler, expects this upcoming event to be just as big as the first one. The overall goal for him and his local wrestlers is to make professional wrestling a more well known sport in Albuquerque, Herrera said.  “Hopefully they (fans) are ready for the second show – more action, more wrestlers, more competition and more entertainment,” Herrera said.

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Sports

The Suika Circuit track is revving its engine

BillyJack Davidson | July 6

  EDITORS NOTE: A previous version of this story said that Andrew Sanford was the new owner of the Suika Circuit. This has sense been changed, and as The Suika Circuit is owned by Dan Brockett, Jim Guthrie and Mike Ossell since Feb. 2023, according to the Rio Rancho Observer. The article has been updated with the corect owner.  Just outside of Albuquerque city limits is the Suika Circuit, formerly known as the Sandia Speedway. It's now under new ownership of Dan Brockett, Jim Guthrie and Mike Ossell and is starting to bounce back and start racing. July 1 was the first one-day event to kick off the refurbished pavement track. Members of Southwest Motorsport Inc. came out with their racing cars for their monthly races. The original Sandia Speedway location hosts events throughout each month on the 1.7 mile long pavement or the slightly smaller dirt track. On July 1, the modified street cars were put on the 14 turn pavement – a tricky course.

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Opinion

Opinion: Albuquerque should be a target for WNBA expansion

Thomas Bulger | July 5

The Women’s National Basketball Association season is in full swing and nearing the league’s All-Star game on July 15. While the league celebrates their top talent, it is a good time to recognize what the gauntlet athletes have to endure to reach that point. With only 144 roster spots across the 12 team league, talented players are waived before they get a chance to develop. Just 15 players from the three round draft made the roster for the team. In the cutthroat league, prospects have to help their teams win from the jump. With limited spots, teams will opt for players with no weaknesses, which leaves players like Brea Beal without a team.

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Sports

Joe Franklin's final run with the Lobos

Francesca Cicconetti | June 27

After 15 seasons with UNM’s Cross Country and Track & Field programs, Head Coach Joe Franklin has left on June 16. Franklin was named the Director of Cross Country and Track & Field at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Franklin came to UNM in 2007 and has had lots of success with the program; as a two-time national coach of the year, his athletes earned a total of 201 All-American Honors and multiple of his athletes have gone on to compete in the Olympics.

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Sports

NM United brings the heat

BillyJack Davidson | June 25

New Mexico United won their 15th game of the season 2-1 against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks on June 24. The boys in black and gold secured their revenge, having previously lost to them on April 22 with a 2-1 loss. This was not only a big win for players, but the club itself. Saturday’s game was the third for the newly appointed head coach, Eric Quill, who came in less than two weeks ago. With Quill, there seemed to be a new fire in the United players' bellies who had a never ending desire to keep possession of the ball.

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Sports

Albuquerque Roller Derby welcomes all

Addison Key | June 20

  The Albuquerque Roller Derby club at Wells Park provides an inclusive atmosphere to all gender, body types and skill levels, Wrecka Roller Derby – a member of the club – said. The Albuquerque Roller Derby's competitions are run and supported by skaters. The league sets up their own matches and provides referees for them. The team’s goal is to get out in the community and invite more people to watch and participate in the sport, Wrecka said.  Wrecka has been with the league since 2019 and said they encourage anyone to join; the team lends gear to new skaters and teaches introductory safety skills. “I was like, ‘Roller derby –, I wanna beat people up,’ but I had no idea that I would find such a community and just an awesome, loving group of people. So that's what's kept me going,” Wrecka said.

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Sports

UNM athletes are running for the gold

BillyJack Davidson | June 19

  The University of New Mexico’s Track & Field team has run far and fast. During the 2023 National Collegiate Athletic Association track and field championships, 12 UNM athletes earned All-American marks under coach Joe Franklin. The event took place over June 7-10; more than 50 teams competed head to head. Five of the athletes make up the two All-American teams that will compete in the United States of America Track and Field Outdoor Championships on July 6-9. One athlete, Amelia Mazza-Downie, earned two nominations in both the 10k and 5k. “It depends on the 8k or the 10k, but usually I try to just look at the girls in front of me – not thinking about anything in particular. I want to just stay in the moment,” Mazza-Downie said. 

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Sports

Isotopes: grinding through the season

BillyJack Davidson | June 13

  The Isotopes continue to push through the middle of the season with a home series against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys. The team played competitively, but ultimately lost the final three games of the series. The game on June 9 started off in favor of the Space Cowboys – hitting a home run with the second batter up. The isotopes came back in the second inning. Cole Tucker hit a ball into the far right that sent Aaron Schunk home. Schunk is one of the Isotopes most prominent hitters as of late – hitting .323 on 186 at bats. On June 11, Schunk said he will continue on to work on all parts of his game.

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Sports

Men’s Basketball: Aaron Katsuma is excited to be a mile high at The Pit

Francesca Cicconetti | June 11

 Aaron Katsuma will be joining the men’s basketball team as an assistant coach. He previously worked for head coach, Richard Pitino, in Minnesota and spent the last five seasons at Colorado State. Katsuma comes to the University of New Mexico with over a decade of experience. Katsuma began his career in 2010 at his alma mater, the University of Minnesota, as a student manager, according to a UNM press release. It was during this time that Katsuma met Pintino. Four of his seasons at Minnesota were spent working for the Lobos' current head coach.

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Sports

NM United: Zach Prince steps down

Thomas Bulger | June 6

New Mexico United's head coach and technical director, Zach Prince, left his position on June 3 to pursue a different position. The news broke, following a 1-0 loss to rival El Paso Locomotive FC. A statement from team owner, Peter Trevisani, was released Saturday night that thanked Prince for his time with the team.

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Sports

Atomic Sisters prepare to compete on the national stage

Addison Key | June 5

The Atomic Sisters – a local Women’s Rugby Club – qualified for the Division II final four of the US Rugby Club Nationals in St. Louis. The Atomic Sisters will play their first game on June 3 Gabriella Rivera, team captain, said.  The team has spent the past couple of weeks holding fundraisers to offset travel costs for their players. The team hasn’t qualified for the final four in 12 years, Rivera said, and they are excited to represent their community.

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Sports

Spirit Squad chooses lucky Lobos to cheer for University

Addison Key | May 1

 Jessie Truitt, the head coach of the University of New Mexico Spirit program, has been working on tryouts to fill the dance team, the co-ed cheer team and the all-girl cheer team.  Over this past weekend, April 28 to 30, tryouts started. They included Spirit Squad veterans and rookies who made it through the video submission phase to compete to fill around 70 to 90 spots, Truitt said. Truitt will also be looking for new people to fill the Lobo Lucy and Lobo Louie costumes on May 4 to 5 in the SUB. “I like to say on the prowl … to build a mascot team. I'm hoping to expand because,  like our athletes, they're required to go to almost all of the sporting events. It's a different beast putting on a 10-pound fur suit (and) to be in there and in that long,” Truitt said.

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Sports

Baseball: Lobos sweep series with a walk-off

Thomas Bulger | May 1

  The Lobos swept the California State University, Fresno Bulldogs culminating in a Kyle Smith walk-off in the third game. In a critical series, the Lobos took control and passed Fresno in the standings and took the season tiebreaker over them. They are now 10-10 in conference play. UNM won by doing what they do best: hitting. Going into Sunday, April 30 the team had a batting average of .332, the third best in the nation. The team scored 39 runs on 49 hits in the series. Lobo, Reed Spenrath talked about the team's ability on offense. In the second game the Lobos went full offense getting as many hitters in the lineup as possible. This led to Spenrath playing his first collegiate game at right field and was proud his coaches trusted him to play both in the infield and outfield. After the interview his teammates were eager to debut his new nickname "The Tarp" because he covers the whole field.

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Sports

Men’s tennis: Lobos finish regular season undefeated

Thomas Bulger | April 24

 The men’s tennis team defeated the University of Nevada, Las Vegas 4-1 to go 6-0 in conference play. The Lobos had clinched the first seed in their previous match against San Diego State University. They will now advance to the semifinals in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team hopes to win the conference tournament for the first time since 2009. The last time the Lobos were both tournament and regular season champions was 2004. 

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Sports

Blade Runners dominate in St. Louis

Maddie Pukite | April 24

The New Mexico Blade Runners recently became national champions in Sled Hockey. They dominated in Division 6 during the Disabled Hockey Festival in St. Louis, Missouri. During the tournament, the team had 45 unanswered goals. Forward and UNM student  Deavon Tabish-Moran said that communication and speed were key for the team to come back to the competition and take first after being third last year. “We went back and we competed in the same division. We wanted to do well in it before moving up, and we came out and (were) much more dominant, showing that we were anticipating,” Tabish-Moran said.

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Opinion

OPINION: NIL collectives are fan exploitation

Thomas Bulger | April 24

How much does a fan owe their team? Unconditional love and support? Buying concessions at a game? $10 a month until the end of time? University of New Mexico head football coach Danny Gonzalez recently announced a partnership with 505 Sports Venture Foundation — a local nonprofit dedicated to getting student-athletes endorsements and name, image and likeness deals — to create a new name, image and likeness collective with a subscription-based model. An NIL collective is a pool of money made up of smaller donations from fans and boosters. The money is then distributed to the players with the use of a third party to work around the fact that universities can’t pay their players directly.

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Sports

Men’s tennis: Lobos are regular season champs

Thomas Bulger | April 20

The men’s tennis team dismantled the San Diego State University Aztecs 4-1 to remain undefeated in conference play and clinch the regular season championship. The Lobos had their trophy waiting for them after the match and will move on as the one seed in the conference tournament. On Thursday, April 20 everything went in the Lobos favor. With two matches left in the season, both the University of Las Vegas and Boise State University were upset, and fell to two losses on the season which left the Lobos in control of their destiny. The win moves the Lobos to 5-0 in conference play.

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Sports

NM United: Team draws in home opener

Thomas Bulger | April 17

 New Mexico United tied 1-1 against San Diego Loyal in their first match in Albuquerque on Saturday, April 15. The two teams have now tied in their past four matchups. Through four matches this season, United has a record of 1-1-2. Fans had to wait six weeks into the season for the team to come back home. They showed up to support the team in droves with 11,233 in attendance Saturday night. Head coach Zach Prince praised the team's effort and credited Sam Hamilton's bounce-back performance after an uncharacteristic game against Monterey Bay.

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Sports

Softball: Lobos split series in dramatic fashion

Thomas Bulger | April 17

 UNM's softball team faced the Colorado State University Rams in a two-game series over the weekend. Both games were called early with the Lobos losing the first game 10-1 in five innings, but rallying back the next game to win 12-4 in six innings. Each game was defined by a 7-run inning that allowed the team to take over. The Lobos had a balanced offense, but Rachel Hathoot and Ashley Archuleta each had four hits and one walk in the series. Hathoot had 5 runs batted in during the second game to help secure the victory.