Kurt Johnson, General Manager and Executive Editor of the Las Cruces Bulletin, highlights local sports stories.
Scott Brocato:
Kurt, let's start with NMSU football and their upcoming game on the 7th.
Kurt Johnson:
So NMSU's had this interesting run where they've had these Wednesday night games, three in a row. That's so that the Conference USA teams can get on some national television. They had to compromise and play middle week, but now they're back on Saturday starting on the 7th. They're playing one of the top teams in their conference, Liberty. So that'll be a home game. That'll be an interesting game for NMSU to kind of see where they're at, take a little temperature as they play one of the top teams in the league. So that'll be fun game. That's November 7th, Saturday.
Scott Brocato:
All right, moving on to soccer, women's soccer.
Kurt Johnson:
Yes, the women's soccer teams had a rough year. It hasn't been great. They've struggled a bit, a lot of close games, but not a lot in the win column. They have their actual final regular season match of the season, October 31st on Halloween afternoon against Jacksonville State here in New Mexico State. So that'll be kind of closing out their season, their regular season with that game. So probably a good chance to go out and check the women's soccer team and take a look Halloween afternoon.
Scott Brocato:
All right, how about volleyball?
Kurt Johnson:
So the volleyball team actually keeps doing this split match thing. So they play Friday, Saturday matches against the same team. They keep splitting. So they're actually sitting 500, 5-5 for the season. They're kind of in the middle of the pack. And then this coming week, they actually play Delaware Friday and Saturday. And Delaware's 2-8. So it's an opportunity for them to hopefully pick up a couple of wins and get above that 500 level and get to a better place in the standing. So a good weekend for them as well.
Scott Brocato:
Let's move on to high school. And before we get into the actual sports, let's play up the marching band.
Kurt Johnson:
Yes, a little shout out to the marching band. So the last three years, the state has started a state marching band championship. And they had that this weekend up in Albuquerque and Organ Mountain High School, who won the Zia Championship a week ago, which is another big prestigious event, actually finished second at state and Centennial was 6th. So it was a pretty good week for the marching bands from Las Cruces.
Scott Brocato:
Now moving on to sports proper and football. Let's kick things off with (high school) football.
Kurt Johnson:
So it's interesting. We were last week talking about Las Cruces and Centennial building towards their season finale on October 30th, coming Friday. They were going to be playing each other with a lot on the line and they're still on the line, but Las Cruces got beat this past weekend. So Centennial did actually beat Eldorado. That was a big win for them. So Centennial is kind of in the mix at the top of the district, and Las Cruces is fighting for its playoff life when they play Centennial on Friday night. So it'll be a little bit different. There was a chance for them to be kind of playing for the same spot in the standings. They're not anymore. Centennial's pulled ahead, but Las Cruces is...it's kind of a must-win for them this week to really get in a spot where they want to be in the playoffs.
Scott Brocato:
Okay, what's going on with soccer?
Kurt Johnson:
Oh, actually, one more on football before we go there, because I did forget: the eight-man football tournament brackets came out this week, and that's Mesilla Valley Christian here in town. They actually won their region, won their district, and they drew the four seed, which for them is good news. It means they get a first-round bye, so they don't have to play until November 7th. So they did get the four seed for the tournament. It's a 12 team tournament. We'll see how they do.
Scott Brocato:
All right, now soccer.
Kurt Johnson:
So soccer, the soccer playoffs have kind of been delayed a little bit for boys and girls because the weather canceled some games. They couldn't come out with the seedings when they were supposed to on Sunday. They pushed them to Monday night. So games are ongoing and Organ Mountain girls are still sitting in that spot where they're hoping to make a championship run. They've had a great year. Las Cruces boys won the district championship, finishing 6-2. So they're in the mix as well, a little bit further down because they're a little bit bigger gap between them and the schools from up north.
Scott Brocato:
Okay, and what's going on with volleyball?
Kurt Johnson:
So high school volleyball Las Cruces, which had been on a three-year run of not losing a match. It actually has lost a couple this year, but they've been outside of district play. They're actually undefeated in district play and still among the top ranked teams in the state. So they actually have a Halloween afternoon matchup with Organ Mountain that's sitting third in the region. So it's kind of a local matchup on Saturday afternoon. So that's kind of what to watch for with Las Cruces.
Scott Brocato:
What's going on Halloween? Cross country.
Kurt Johnson:
A lot of Halloween. So cross country is headed towards the state championships and just FYI, the state championships are scheduled for November 7th. At the moment, Bo Beasley from Oregon Mountain and Ryu Medina from Oregon Mountain are in the top 20 in the state rankings. Heading towards state, Mason Dean and Keller Ford from Centennial are just right in that mix as well. And Ashley Galaz from Morgan Mountain and Allison Magallanes from Centennial are among the top 15 girls in the state. So they're gearing up for November 7th, a state meet on a Saturday.
Scott Brocato:
All right, we can read all about this in the Las Cruces Bulletin?
Kurt Johnson:
Las Cruces Bulletin. actually, we're launching, relaunching this week, sponsored by Three Crosses Hospital, our Athletes of the Week, boys and girls. So we're going to have voting going on. So check out our website and get a chance to vote for your favorite athlete.
Scott Brocato:
All right. Kurt Johnson, general manager, executive editor, and sports dude with the Las Cruces Bulletin. Thanks for joining us today.
Kurt Johnson:
I appreciate it. Thanks for the opportunity.