SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
Devin Flores doesn’t take much of a break.
A senior now at St. Michael’s, he came away with another stellar football season. He played several positions and was equally adept in each one. He was best as a wide receiver, but when another position opened up, he filled it. Playing on both sides of the ball, he took quick breaks alongside the sidelines.
From there he took the basketball court for the Horsemen. At 6-foot-2, he provided the main strength inside. No doubt he also provided the leadership with his experience. On offense, he scored from inside and outside, was there for putbacks, and handed out assists, and from the foul line he was quite accurate. On defense, he often came away with steals that lead to fast break baskets.
Now this was a program that lost its first 10 starts and won only twice over a dozen games, but it would be a good guess to link the remarkable turnaround in the direction of Flores as the blue and white came together and soared to second place in District 2-3A, and the runner-up spot in the 3A state tournament finals, both times to Robertson.
Now he’s doing track and field in quest of a repeat state championship. It was a sweep last year for the Horsemen and Lady Horsemen, and both appear in the running to do it again.
With the girls, long-time head coach Joey Fernandez and his assistant Lenny Gurule, the head cross country coach, will be banking on the one-two punch of freshman Raylee Hunt, the state cross country champion, and junior Jacqueline Gorman. Both will be competing in numerous events that includes the relays, and both have the versatility to score in both the running and field events as they did last time at the University of New Mexico soccer complex.
There are others on the roster that figure to join in and score points, and the girls can count on depth, experience and talent on the track and in the field events. For the Griffin girls, the main attraction is talented senior Isabel Voinesco. Last year, she won the state A-3A state tennis championship in Albuquerque and then made her way to the UNM complex to win the 100 dash, the long jump, and placed 2nd in the triple jump. The other Prep winner was junior Lauren McHorse in the javelin.
With the St. Michael’s boys, and with Flores and fellow senior Daymon Lujan paving the way, the points will be there, and once again district rival Santa Fe Prep will be right behind with reigning senior high jump champion Finn Coles always a threat to score in most events. Then there’s junior teammate GB Davis, a sprinter who ran second in the 200 meters, second in the 400, and among the leaders in the 100.
In the dashes, St. Michael’s best bet is junior Daniel Kupcho. He placed fourth in the 200 last year and sixth in the 100. In the 400, The Horsemen have a good shot with senior Ryan Kuhn, who placed sixth last season.
The 110 and 300 hurdles were dominated last time, and again it’s St. Michael’s Lujan who figures to do it again, plus the Horsemen also have senior Isaiah Salazar in the field. Then there’s Flores and his versatility. He’s defending his javelin title, where he threw for 147-07 last year to beat out runner-up teammate Lucas Coriz by two feet. But Corizhasn’t been the same stellar athlete he was in football, basketball and track after an early-season knee injury called for surgery and he’s still recovering.
Will he be back on the track? Only he knows.
In the 800, Griffins senior Joshia Abeyta hopes to move up after finishing third last time.
In the relays, it could again be St. Michael’s and Prep on top of the heap. Last year, the Griffins won the 4 x 400 with the Horsemen third. in the 4 x 200, it was a one-two finish between the two, with Prep racing first in 1:34.02 and right on its heels was St. Michael’s in 1:34.05. The Griffins won the 4 x 800 and the Horsemen the sprint medley and the 4 x 100. Five relays with the two Santa Fe schools up front.
Who knows how the state championships will turn out, but presently it looks good for St. Michael’s in both genders.
