The proposed cuts that were voted on by the University of New Mexico Board of Regents last year may have been the biggest sports story of the year in Albuquerque in 2018. Some members of the community were outraged by the decision to eliminate the four sports, questioning the fairness involved in forcing current student-athletes to make a sacrifice for problems they played no part in creating.
Fans who are looking forward to UFC 239 were able to satisfy their palate with a touch of UFC Fight Night on Saturday while they continue to wait for next weekend's action. Tyron Woodley and Robbie Lawler were supposed to face one another, but a hand injury to Woodley caused that matchup to be cancelled. It opened the door for a co-main event — though many probably felt the final card between Francis Ngannou and Junior dos Santos failed to live up to expectations.
New Mexico United notched a huge win in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup over a Major League Soccer opponent on Wednesday, but was unable to carry that momentum onto the pitch against Las Vegas Lights FC. United bested the Colorado Rapids after scoring in extra time to tie the match and eventually winning on penalty kicks, but had no such luck on Saturday evening . Las Vegas won in a one-sided affair, as New Mexico was unable to keep pace with the Lights after the scoring began.
University of New Mexico runners have accomplished a lot over the past several years — two NCAA Championships over a three year stretch in cross country and multiple individual championships in track and field over that time frame as well. But a quartet of women raised the bar even higher for UNM as most competed in multiple events at the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Isotopes Park, also known as "The Lab", had been kind to the New Mexico United club — so kind, in fact, that the squad entered Saturday's match undefeated on its home pitch. But perfection isn't usually a sustainable model, and that unbeaten streak finally came to an end. United suffered its first home loss ever, which was also its first shutout loss of the season — falling 3-0 to Sacramento Republic FC on Saturday evening.
Former University of New Mexico men's basketball player Anthony Mathis recently announced he had entered the NCAA transfer portal. He didn't stay there for very long. Multiple reports have confirmed that Mathis has given a verbal commitment and apparently found a new basketball home — his old one.
New Mexico United remained undefeated at home, running its record on the season to 6-1-7 overall after playing OKC Energy FC to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday evening in its "Pride on the Pitch" match at Isotopes Park. The team announced an attendance of 13,574 for the mid-week fixture as fans filed into the stadium to venue to celebrate . Prior to the match, it was announced that the first 5,000 fans would receive a limited-edition New Mexico United rainbow flag.
The excitement around New Mexico United soccer continued last Wednesday as United took on the Colorado Springs Switchbacks in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. In the first half of the match, the game appeared to be uneventful as hopeful attempts from both teams were blocked and recovered by the dedicated goal keepers. At the end of the first, there were no goals scored. Things began to pick up at the beginning of the second half. After an assist from Jordan Schweitzer, The Switchbacks scored the first goal of the night from Colorado Springs captain, Jordan Burt.
The University of New Mexico remained in the top-10 of the NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track and Field national rankings in the latest poll. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's week 9 National Track & Field Rating Index dropped New Mexico to No. 7 overall in the standings, though it remains the highest-ranked school in the Mountain Region. New Mexico's distance runners have been turning in consistent performances throughout the season, and advanced four competitors to nationals after qualifying in the NCAA West Preliminary in Sacramento, California last weekend.
“Jackson Weller was one of the classiest kids I’ve ever coached,” Lobo Baseball Head Coach Ray Birmingham said as he held back tears. “This was the first time in 42 years I’ve lost one of the players on my watch.” Birmingham, Athletics Director Eddie Nuñez and outfielder Brayden Merritt spoke with members of the media about Weller, who was shot and killed outside of a Nob Hill nightclub early Saturday morning. During the press conference, Birmingham and Merritt reflected on how Weller came to play for the Lobos and what he meant to the team, despite never throwing a pitch in a series game.
People who compete in athletics are often creatures of habit — prisoners of preparation and routine, even though it is often by design. Maybe they take the same amount of practice swings, bounce the basketball a certain number of times before attempting a free throw, or any number of other things that feel like things are in the proper place and resemble what they have prepared for. "I'm not one for change."
For the first time in their brief existence, New Mexico United stands alone at the top. The expansion club recorded an emphatic 3-0 win over visiting San Antonio FC (3-5-1) on a gorgeous Cinco de Mayo evening, playing in front of a record 15,023 at Isotopes Park. The result saw New Mexico (4-1-5) claim sole control of first place in the USL Championship's Western Conference with 17 points through 10 matches.
The University of New Mexico baseball may be in last place in the Mountain West, but still have a decent shot at catapulting up the standings with the bottom four teams being separated by just one game in the loss column. New Mexico suffered a loss, picked up a win and played to a tie against the conference's top team, Fresno State, on the road over the weekend and returned home to start an eight-game home stand. Although the first two games on the docket were scheduled against Grand Canyon University, a non-conference foe, UNM didn't appear to have an easy task on its hands. GCU entered Tuesday's matchup against the Lobos riding a seven-game winning streak — which included sweeps at home and away — sandwiched around a big win in Arizona.
Mike Bradbury wasted no time filling his two newly vacated scholarships, replacing guards Madi Washington and Quincy Noble with graduate transfer Ciani Cryor and freshman Celine Dupont. Cryor will wear her third Division I jersey when she suits up for the Lobos in the fall, joining the program after a season at Georgia Tech and the last two at Rutgers. Last year for Rutgers she averaged 8.1 points, 5.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Cryor will provide the Lobos with extra insurance at point guard with Aisia Robertson expected to miss at least the first half of the season recovering from a torn ACL she suffered in the regular season final.
"If you're a fan, you can't ask for anything more... that's for sure." New Mexico United head coach Troy Lesesne summarized with admirable clarity his club's 3-3 draw with the Portland Timbers 2 at Isotopes Park on Friday night. A matchup between two teams atop the Western Conference, the fixture was a first-rate experience of the mercurial nature of competitive soccer. The 90 minutes were fraught with wild swings of emotion for the record 12,921 in attendance — confidence, frustration and despair gave way to euphoria as a last-gasp equalizer from United forward Kevaughn Frater rescued a point for the home side.
Those are the options — although a tie is rare — when playing college baseball and the Lobo baseball team and Fresno State played three games over the weekend and got a different result each time. Fresno State entered the series as the Mountain West leaders, sitting atop the conference standings and occupying one of the top four spots that the Lobos are hoping to climb into before the regular season ends. The Lobos got on the scoreboard first, but the Bulldogs protected their home field at Bob Bennett Stadium on Friday — breaking through in the bottom of the first for five runs as the Lobos were forced to use three pitchers just to get out of the inning.
Texas Tech baseball left Albuquerque with a split against the University of New Mexico baseball team earlier in the month. And with Wednesday's meeting between the two squads getting cancelled, Tuesday night wound up being the final scheduled meeting — carrying the additional bragging rights of winning the head-to-head season series. No. 15 Texas Tech played host this time around, welcoming the Lobos into its home stadium at Rip Griffin Park by recording the first three outs of the game on just 10 pitches, despite UNM getting a base runner. Red Raider starting pitcher Mason Montgomery retired lead-off man Justin Watari to start the game before hitting Tyler Kelly to put him on. But induced a double-play ball to make it a 1-2-3 top first to get things going.
"All things must pass — none of life's strings can last." So sang George Harrison on his seminal composition in 1970, and so ended New Mexico United's season-opening undefeated streak at Greater Nevada Field on Saturday night as Reno 1868 FC handed the visitors a 2-1 loss. United (3-1-4) seemed destined to pick up the road draw after effectively shutting down Reno (3-1-3) for most of the second half, but the fates had other designs. Duke Lacroix sealed the win and crushed the spirits of the New Mexico side with an 89th minute curler from the top of the penalty area, granting the hosts three points by the narrowest of margins.
Former ESPN top-100 basketball recruit JJ Caldwell was officially announced as an addition to the University of New Mexico men's basketball team on Friday, according to a release. The release said Caldwell will join the team as a junior, transferring to UNM after previously playing with the Texas A&M Aggies. He is immediately eligible to play and will begin the final two years of his eligibility at the start of the 2019-20 campaign.
The Lobos and Aggies squared off on a baseball diamond for the second time this season, and history repeated itself as NMSU gave up a sizable lead — only to reclaim it later and pull out a victory. New Mexico gave up a grand slam in the opening inning before tying things up in the first meeting and allowed the Aggies to get on the scoreboard early again on Tuesday night at Santa Ana Star Field. The Lobos got an immediate response in the bottom of the first inning, starting things off with a Justin Watari single and a Tyler Kelly triple to even things up at 1-1. Sophomore first baseman Connor Mang began an outstanding individual game effort with his first hit of the day — a one-one double to left-center — to plate Kelly and put the Lobos on top 2-1 after one inning of play.
Solutions by The State News
