SPX Sports – Summer 2021 – St. Pius X Connections

Sports 2021 Rebound Brings Success

The 2020-2021 sports season saw fall, winter and spring sports packed into a three month period due to pandemic restrictions during the first half of the school year. Football, volleyball, cross country and soccer played in early spring; basketball, wrestling and swimming followed; and track and field, softball, baseball and tennis wrapped up the high school sports year in June. Sartan sports faced shortened pre-season preparation, abbreviated game schedules, masked practice and competition but took the field in black and gold with pride, sportsmanship and success, earning one state championship, three state runner-up trophies, two state third place finishes, and multiple district championships, national honors and All-State awards.

Unbeaten Girls Soccer Wins 10th State Championship

The defending 4A Champion Girls Soccer team claimed its 10th state championship in 2021, beating the Hope Huskies in the finals 2-1 to take home the 4A blue trophy. The Sartans finished the season unbeaten (10-0-2) for only the second time in school history. Astonishingly the Sartans conceded only 6 goals for the season and out of 876 minutes of play trailed for a total of 42 minutes.

Named First Team All State are goalkeeper Alicia Barela, defender Nicole Taibbi, midfielder Emma Donlin, midfielder Kyera Chavez, forward Lauren Salas, and forward Gabriella Jeantete. Named 2nd Team All State are defender Alyssa Doty and defender Enmarae Torres.

Sartan Baseball is 4A State Runner-Up

The defending 4A State Baseball Champions (17-3) beat Aztec 3-0 in the first round of the 4A State Championship, with Sartan pitcher Matthew Cornelius striking out 11 in 5 innings of work. The Sartans advanced to the state semifinals where they beat Artesia 10-1 in six. In the final against Academy, the Sartans scored five runs the top of the seventh for a 7-4 lead but lost 8-7, earning the state runner-up title.

Cornelius earned District 5-4A Player of the Year honors. Other honors were not available at press time.

Girls Golf Wins State Runner-Up Title; Boys Take Third

The SPX Girls Golf Team won 2021 State Runner-Up honors and the Boys Golf Team took Third in this year’s 4A Golf State Championship. Jayden Bates earned 6th in the girls tournament and made the All-State team, while Cade Freeze shot a hole-in-one on the 16th hole of the boys championship at Ladera Golf Course.

Leading up to state, the Girls and Boys Sartan Golf teams each won three tournaments and each took second place at district, where Madison Armijo, Jayden Bates, Sam Jones, and Cohen Mulville were named All-District.

Dorados Win 4A State Runner-Up Trophy

The SPX Dorados Dance Team took home the red State Runner-Up trophy with outstanding pom and jazz performances at the 2021 New Mexico State Spirit Competition in the 4A division.

Girls Cross Country Team Takes Third at State

The SPX Girls Cross Country team got third place in the state cross country meet. Trista Cordova earned All-State honors by placing 9th overall. The Boys Cross Country team did not qualify for state as a team, but Aidan Trujillo, Sam Burschen and Brian Kalb qualified and ran individually.

Sartan Swimmer Breaks Pius Record

At the State Championship swim meet, Leo Kim broke a 30-year-old school record in the 100 breaststroke at 58 seconds and finished second overall in the state. The boys team finished seventh overall with Christopher Perea and Grady Whitson putting up fantastic individual finals swims. Additional State team members included Johnathan Constable, who joined the boys for a top 8 relay medal, and Jacob Quezada, Liam Ruggles and Elijah Barela.

The Girls State meet was highlighted by Bella Shultz’s fifth place finish in the 500 Free and two individual finals performances by Sara Swinson. Alex Sanchez and Faith Montoya filled out the girls state relay team.

Track & Field Takes District

The Sartans of Track & Field dominated the district championships, with boys and girls both sweeping the team titles. Nineteen individual and relay champions were Sartans, the most ever!

Aidan Trujillo won the 3200, 1600, 800 and pole vault, and placed 5th in the javelin, earning District Player of the Year. Emma Donlin, in her first track season, won 100, long jump, 4×100 relay, and placed 3rd in 200 and 4×200 relay to also earn District Player of the Year.

Coach Jeff Turcotte was named District Coach of the Year for both boys & girls teams.

Sartan Softball Earns District Champ Honors

Sartan Softball (17-4) earned District 5-4A championship honors with a 15-1 win over the Belen Eagles. Gabi Casco hit a grand slam during the game. A 4-seed in the state championship, the Sartans lost in the quarterfinals to Miyamura 9-1.

Sartans Honored Nationally and Statewide for Sports this Year

For Boys Soccer (3-5), forward Marcus Garcia earned 2020-21 Gatorade New Mexico Boys Soccer Player of the Year honors and scored the only goal for the West in a 1-1 tie at the All-American High School Soccer Game in May. Garcia joined defender Zach Pena with 4A First Team All-State honors.

Sartan Volleyball (5-5) saw Megan Dennis and Juliana Trujillo earn First Team All-State awards. Named Second Team All-State is Alyssa Portee.

Representing SPX Football (1-3), First Team All-State honors went to Dominic Sais, defensive back, and Andrew Kaplan, offensive line. Named Second Team All-State were Aaron Deller, offensive line, and Nick Pascuzzi, wide receiver.

Boys Basketball finished 5-4 and Jonah Arnett was named Second Team All-State, First Team All-District and District Player of the Year. Tanner Davis earned Second Team All-District honors and the following athletes made the All-District Academic Team: Tanner Davis, Nick Pascuzzi, Jonah Arnett, Zach Neel, Chris Coash, Zeke Jaramillo and Brian Kalb.

Girls Basketball (6-2) worked hard to earn a spot in the first round of the state tournament, losing to Espanola Valley.

SPX Cheer faced many obstacles this year, but that didn’t stop them from making it to the State Spirit Competition. After many injuries they were thrilled to take the state floor and perform as a team.