Side-by-side photos show a female and male cross country runner in black-and-orange uniforms. The female is running on a dirt course and the male on a track surface.

AHS Weekend Sports Wrap

Brienne Green

November 10, 2024

BULLDOG FOOTBALL

Four high school football players in orange-and-white uniforms stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the sideline of a football field with two referees flanking them and fans in bleachers behind them.
PICTURED: Captains, from left, Izac Cazares, Ayden Huffman, Grant Johnson and Frankie Galindo wait to take the field for the coin flip Nov. 2 in Las Cruces.
(Photo Courtesy Artesia Bulldog Paw Prints)

The Bulldog football team earned the No. 2 seed in the Class 4A state playoff bracket last weekend and a bye through the first round. With seventh-ranked Lovington having defeated No. 10 Goddard 55-21 Saturday afternoon, the 'Dogs will be hosting the 'Cats this coming weekend at Bulldog Bowl. Game time is set for 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, and tickets are on sale now on Artesia's GoFan page.

In other first-round games, No. 5 Los Alamos bested No. 12 Valley 49-28 and will take on No. 4 Gadsden at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16; No. 6 Mayfield had no trouble from No. 11 Belen, 53-7, and will meet No. 3 Deming at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15; and No. 9 Highland edged No. 8 Miyamura 20-12 and will take on top-ranked Roswell High at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15.

AHS CROSS COUNTRY

Side-by-side photos show a female and male cross country runner in black-and-orange uniforms. The female is running on a dirt course and the male on a track surface.
(Photos Courtesy Artesia Cross Country)

The Bulldog and Lady Bulldog cross country teams closed out their 2024 seasons today at the State Meet at Albuquerque Academy, turning in some great results against the hyper-competitive Class 4A field.

The Artesia boys came in ninth overall in the state, with individual results as follows:

• Zane Baize, 35th, 17:27.1
• AJ Garcia, 58th, 18:17.7
• Parker Jarratt, 62nd, 18:22.0
• Cameron Devenport, 68th, 18:38.3
• Ethan Johnson, 83rd, 19:24.2
• DJ Madrid, 103rd, 20:12.3
• Edwin Villareal, 111th, 20:29.9

The Lady Bulldogs placed 10th as a team and got a top-15 individual finish from senior Makaylee Morillon. Results included:

• Makaylee Morillon, 14th, 19:54.9
• MacKenzie Norton, 36th, 21:23.4
• Esmeralda Sorrells, 67th, 23:31.1
• Lexi Devenport, 68th, 23:32.7
• Mackenna Drake, 94th, 25:04.1
• Annalee Sanchez, 109th, 27:24.3

Congratulations to the AHS runners on an awesome 2024 season!

BULLDOG VOLLEYBALL

A female volleyball player in an orange-and-black uniform spikes an orange-black-and-white volleyball over the net as two opponents in blue uniforms attempt to block.
PICTURED: Kailee Padilla sends a kill over the net during Artesia's match against Lovington at Bulldog Pit.
(Photo Courtesy Artesia Bulldog Paw Prints)

The Bulldog volleyball team closed out its second season this week with a pair of home matches, coming up just short of Goddard in a five-game nail-biter before sweeping Lovington, 3-0.

Versus a Rocket team they'd bested in five Oct. 24 in Roswell, Artesia got off to a good start Tuesday with a 25-17 victory in the first set but were edged by Goddard in the next two games, 21-25 and 24-26. The 'Dogs reclaimed the momentum with a 25-11 win in Game Four but could not catch up to the Rockets in the fifth set, falling 7-15. Artesia had standout performances on the night from Kailee Padilla and Hattie Harrison, who finished with 20 and 18 kills, respectively; Kirklyn Miller with five aces and 50 assists; and Padilla and Carmen Harvey with a respective 18 and 13 digs.

That loss unfortunately put the Bulldogs out of the running for a District 4-AAAA title, but the girls in orange closed out their district campaign in dominant fashion Thursday against Lovington at the Pit, making short work of the Wildcats in three: 25-4, 25-6 and 25-8. Padilla had 14 kills on the night; Harrison and Miller posted seven and four aces, respectively; and Miller finished with 32 assists.

Artesia (12-11) finished D4 play with a mark of 3-3, with the championship going to Portales at 5-1 and Goddard finishing as the runners-up at 4-2. The teams will now await Sunday's state seeding and selection, which will be streamed on the NMAA website.

AHS SWIMMING

Female and male swimming athletes pose for a photo wearing warm-up clothing. Their female coach stands to their left.
(Photo Courtesy Mike DeHoyos)

Ready or not, here come winter sports!

The Artesia High School swim teams kicked off their 2024-25 seasons Friday and Saturday at the Tori Invitational in Hobbs, with both the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs coming away with third-place team finishes. The teams also came out of the gate with a whopping 11 state qualifications, including:

• Girls' 200-Yard Medley Relay
- Artesia "A" (Johanna Padilla, Ann Greenwood, Addisyn Hartman, Sarah Plotner)
2nd, 1:59.53
• Boys' 200-Yard Medley Relay
- Artesia "A" (Aidan Ciro, Eli DeHoyos, Andree Bautista, Layton Whitmire)
2nd, 1:46.03
• Girls' 200-Yard Individual Medley
- Ann Greenwood, 1st, 2:20.34
• Boys' 50-Yard Freestyle
- Aidan Ciro, 1st, 22.34
- Layton Whitmire, 2nd, 23.35
• Girls' 100-Yard Butterfly
- Addisyn Hartman, 1st, 1:03.45
• Girls' 500-Yard Freestyle
- Sarah Plotner, 2nd, 5:46.08
• Boys' 200-Yard Freestyle Relay
- Artesia "A" (Eli DeHoyos, Andree Bautista, Layton Whitmire, Aidan Ciro)
1st, 1:33.57
• Boys' 100-Yard Backstroke
- Aidan Ciro, 1st, 56.11
• Girls' 100-Yard Breaststroke
- Ann Greenwood, 1st, 1:10.55
• Girls' 400-Yard Freestyle Relay
- Artesia "A" (Ann Greenwood, Johanna Padilla, Sarah Plotner, Addisyn Hartman)
2nd, 3:56.52

Other results included:

• Girls' 200-Yard Medley Relay
- Artesia "B" (London Acosta, Anikah Wisen, Morgan Fisher, Carly DeHoyos)
11th, 2:21.95
• Boys' 200-Yard Medley Relay
- Artesia "B" (Alec Ciro, Dylan Florez, Javier Rodriguez, Chaz Rogers)
8th, 2:07.13
• Girls' 200-Yard Freestyle
- Sarah Plotner, 4th, 2:10.52
- Morgan Fisher, 6th, 2:19.60
• Boys' 200-Yard Freestyle
- Eli DeHoyos, 7th, 2:02.03
• Girls' 200-Yard Individual Medley
- Anikah Wisen, 12th, 2:45.37
- London Acosta, 20th, 3:06.90
• Boys' 200-Yard Individual Medley
- Andree Bautista, 6th, 2:30.36
• Girls' 50-Yard Freestyle
- Addisyn Hartman, 6th, 27.05
- Tynlee Whitmire, 35th, 33.63
- Ella Thomas, 61st, 42.75
• Boys' 50-Yard Freestyle
- Dylan Florez, 17th, 27.01
- Chaz Rogers, 36th, 32.10
• Boys' 100-Yard Butterfly
- Javier Rodriguez, 12th, 1:10.89
• Girls' 100-Yard Freestyle
- Johanna Padilla, 4th, 1:00.81
- Anikah Wisen, 10th, 1:06.11
- Tynlee Whitmire, 25th, 1:15.59
- Evelyn Yeager, 50th, 1:45.15
• Boys' 100-Yard Freestyle
- Andree Bautista, 8th, 55.42
- Chaz Rogers, 36th, 1:12.61
• Girls' 500-Yard Freestyle
- Carly DeHoyos, 12th, 6:58.13
• Boys' 500-Yard Freestyle
- Alec Ciro, 13th, 6:18.00
• Girls' 200-Yard Freestyle Relay
- Artesia "A" (Carly DeHoyos, London Acosta, Anikah Wisen, Morgan Fisher)
9th, 2:03.84
• Girls' 100-Yard Backstroke
- Johanna Padilla, 3rd, 1:07.79
- London Acosta, 18th, 1:24.32
- Ella Thomas, 28th, 1:48.41
- Evelyn Yeager, 30th, 2:04.67
• Boys' 100-Yard Backstroke
- Javier Rodriguez, 13th, 1:13.53
• Girls' 100-Yard Breaststroke
- Morgan Fisher, 3rd, 1:18.10
- Carly DeHoyos, 12th, 1:24.43
• Boys' 100-Yard Breaststroke
- Eli DeHoyos, 2nd, 1:07.46
- Dylan Florez, 11th, 1:18.64
• Boys' 400-Yard Freestyle Relay
- Artesia "A" (Javier Rodriguez, Dylan Florez, Alec Ciro, Layton Whitmire)
4th, 3:56.22

Next up for the swim teams will be the Pecos Eagle Invitational Saturday, Nov. 16, in Pecos, Texas.