Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Clovis Municipal Schools and the city of Clovis are offering a free flag football program for boys and girls in kindergarten through fifth grade, according to a CMS news release. The program teaches kids the fundamentals of football. Participating students must be enrolled at Clovis Municipal Schools. Registration is ongoing at the city’s website: cityofclovis.recdesk.com/Community/Program?category=9 A parent meeting is set for 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. July 22 at the Clovis High School Lecture Hall. Practices begin Aug. 7 and flag f...
Last summer, Stan Hodges was in his pickup truck hauling from one Texas oil site to the next. Just him, his truck and the allure of oil money. That was a foreign world for the 55-year-old Hodges: A lifelong college and high school football coach who sacrificed big paychecks for the internal reward of winning, developing young men and the camaraderie of the football world. His transition from the football field to the oil field started in May of 2023. But while he was making a...
A longtime Texas high school football coach is Clovis High’s new head coach, Clovis Municipal Schools officials announced Friday. Stan Hodges, who’s coached in Texas schools more than 25 years, is scheduled to meet with Wildcats players for the first time on Wednesday. He succeeds Andrew McCraw who last month was named offensive coordinator at Eastern New Mexico University. Hodges has been a part of 50 playoff games in his coaching career, according to a CMS news release. Mos...
Former Clovis High football coach Andrew McCraw will once again be the offensive coordinator at Eastern New Mexico University, he said last week. McCraw, in a Monday interview with The News, conceded his resignation from CHS didn't have the best timing, just two months before the season begins. "You don't want to disappoint kids. And I did," McCraw said. But he also pointed out, "You got to take the college football job when they offer because I know how hard it is to get...
Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local newsmakers. Eastern New Mexico University graduate Steve Loy, who recently donated $2.5 million to ENMU sports programs, is a former collegiate golf coach and longtime player agent. Q: Can you walk me through what it was like to recruit John Daly? Did you think he'd become what he is today? A: John was one of the most naturally talented golfers I had ever recruited and coached at the University of...
Clovis High School on Thursday announced Corey Pickett will take over as head basketball coach for Josh Mattox. Pickett has been a CHS assistant coach since 2020 and the district's fine arts director for the last two years. Pickett was also a candidate for the position in 2018 when the program looked to replace Scott Robinson after he resigned. "After interviewing (Pickett), we determined he was the best fit for our program," CHS Athletic Director Lonnie Baca told The News,...
Eastern New Mexico University sprinter Timothy Frederick gazed up at Greyhound Stadium, a place that helped resuscitate his career. "My home," said Frederick, a native of Trinidad and Tobago, a few weeks before competing in a trial that could send him to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. Back in 2018, Frederick was considered a lock to make the Olympics. Then came multiple quad tears and snatched opportunities. In 2020 he was cut from the University of Alabama track team, whi...
Shocked. That’s the word Clovis High School Athletic Director Lonnie Baca used Monday to describe the sudden departure of Wildcats head football coach Andrew McCraw. McCraw told school officials last week he’s leaving for a coaching position at Eastern New Mexico University – just two months before the season begins. “It is what it is and we just have to put our best foot forward,” said Baca, who’s looking to hire a new coach by the end of next week. As of Monday morning, Ba...
FORT SUMNER — Able to survive its “one bad event,” Singleton Ranches of Lamy and Elida clinched a berth in the Working Ranch Cowboys Association World Finals with a victory in the Fort Sumner Ranch Rodeo here June 14-15 at the De Baca County Fairgrounds. Singleton put together 100 points over the two-day event — despite missing two team members sidelined due to injuries. With regulars Tanner Hart on crutches and Gregg Gudgell in a shoulder sling, Singleton won both the bronc riding and the team branding, piling up 54 points...
Shocked. That’s the word Clovis High School Athletic Director Lonnie Baca used Monday to describe the sudden departure of Wildcats head football coach Andrew McCraw. McCraw told school officials last week he’s leaving for a coaching position at Eastern New Mexico University – just two months before the season begins. “It is what it is and we just have to put our best foot forward,” said Baca, who’s looking to hire a new coach by the end of next week. As of Monday morning, Baca said CHS was looking at seven candidates....
An Eastern New Mexico University alumnus has donated $2.5 million in what college officials are calling the “single largest gift in university history.” ENMU announced in June it had accepted a large donation from Steve Loy, a sports agent and former ENMU football player, but did not announce the amount until this week. The donation is to support ENMU athletes and athletic programs. In honor of the gifts, ENMU will rename Greyhound Stadium and Greyhound arena after the Loy family, according to an ENMU news release. ENMU spo...
At times it's easy to forget Clovis' Cristiano Ortega is just 8 years old. He can read nutrition labels. He recently did the Murph – a brutal CrossFit workout challenge – for fun. He doesn't play video games. And last Friday he won his second straight U.S. championship in double mini in Minnesota. Yet, here was Ortega, an elite gymnast, a week before his victory on the family's backyard trampoline staring at a tiny spider. Some fear in his brown eyes. But mostly curiosi...
Editor’s note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials. Andrew McCraw is beginning his third year as Clovis High’s football coach. Q: What’re your overall thoughts on last season? A: We were excited where we finished the regular season. We kind of struggled early, and then we figured it out. We were waiting for some guys to develop a little bit. When that happened we went on a little roll. We were undefeated in district, won a district championship and had an awesome comeback in the distr...
Offensive lineman J.D. Crumby understands the sacrifice of spending time in Clovis – 739 miles from his Arkansas home – while attempting to become a pillar of Lyons College; an National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in Arkansas. Back home, a chest day for example, would feature him using a typical bench press. But here in Clovis, he's relegated to using a Smith Machine bench press at the local Planet Fitness to continue his training. Without the option of a fre...
While sitting in the Guy Leeder Complex bleachers at last weekend's Guy Leeder Invitational, Roger Jackson nodded to the field. "This kid right here, (No.) 27," Jackson said. Jackson, who helps run Clovis USSSA softball, was making the point that this "No. 27" likely never got to experience the legend that is Guy Leeder – the man who transformed adult softball in Clovis from a 1960s hobby to a cultural phenomenon – and that's why holding the tournament was so essential...
Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials. Kevin Fite was recently named athletic director at Eastern New Mexico University. He most recently worked at Oklahoma State University where he was senior associate athletics director for compliance. Q: What was the hiring process like? A: I was looking for an opportunity, and I live in Oklahoma and I was wanting to stay as close as I could to my daughter who attends University of Oklahoma....
Recently graduated Clovis High School girls' basketball star Zarai Lewis is sandwiched between two points in time: A few months removed from being the Wildcats' top scorer and shot blocker for the third straight year. A few months until she begins her next chapter at New Mexico Junior College. If Lewis can succeed at NMJC and collect a Division I offer, she can show young Clovis hoopers that it is possible to go from this rural town to the pinnacle of college athletics. "I...
Mavericks fans are well-aware that former point guard Jason Kidd and current guard Kyrie Irving have led teams to championships: Kidd as a Maverick in 2011; Irving with Cleveland in 2016. Fewer fans probably know that veteran Maverick forward Markieff Morris played a significant role in the Lakers' 2020 championship run in the Disney World bubble. But how many fans know that another Maverick has NBA Finals experience? Granted, Derrick Jones Jr. played in only four of the six...
One of the most promising young big men in the University of New Mexico’s men’s basketball history is trading in his cherry gear for scarlet. JT Toppin, a highly touted 6-foot-8 power forward who burst onto the scene as a true freshman for the Lobos during the 2023-24 season announced via social media Tuesday that he is signing with Texas Tech. He will have at least three years of eligibility remaining with the Red Raiders, a team that reached the 2019 national championship game. Toppin, who is originally from Dallas, was...
Major League Baseball has a new record holder in several single-season and career categories. Legend and Hall of Famer Josh Gibson will take the top spot on lists that include single-season batting average (.466 in 1943) and slugging percentage (.974 in 1937) - and become the career leader in both - as Negro Leagues statistics become part of the Major League Baseball historical records. The Negro Leagues were officially elevated to MLB status in 2020. Some 2,300 people played...
MINNEAPOLIS – Afterward, Luka Doncic hugged teammates and coaches, but someone was missing. As the Mavericks gathered for the Western Conference finals trophy presentation in Target Center following Thursday night's Game 5 rout of Minnesota, Doncic kept gazing around the court. Finally, he spotted the person for whom he was looking, his father, Sasa. They embraced. Sasa almost didn't make it from Dallas to Minneapolis in time because his original commercial flight had to r...
Clovis High School southpaw Jasiah Mendoza doesn’t regret having bleached hair in the graduation photos he recently took. “Ten years from now I could look back and be like, ‘Why did I bleach my hair?’ Then be like, ‘Oh, yeah, because we made it to the playoffs,’” said Mendoza. Before the season, CHS baseball players agreed that “If we make the playoffs we’re gonna bleach our hair.” Mendoza was a pillar of a Wildcats squad that snapped a half-decade long playoff drought. He’s also one of 11 graduating seniors who laid a fo...
Fittingly, my favorite Bill Walton encounter involved only his voice. It was in October 2000, the day before John Wooden's 90th birthday. I was visiting with Coach in his modest Encino condo when the phone rang and the answering machine picked up. Suddenly the room was filled with a familiar deep and gravelly singing from across the globe. "Happy birthday to you ... happy birthday to you ... happy birthday from Australia..." Wooden smiled. "Oh, that's Bill Walton," he said....
FORT WORTH, Texas - Whatever Scottie Scheffler is going through right now with a stupid legal issue is nothing. So some of the new grass as part of the complete course renovations at Colonial Country Club looks bad. Who cares? On Saturday afternoon, when news hit that PGA Tour player Grayson Murray was dead, everything was put in its proper place. So much of what we waste so much time worrying about is just that. A waste. Because there is life. And there is death. On Sunday...
ALBUQUERQUE – Portales High's girls certainly weren't going to catch Los Alamos on Saturday night, either in the 1,600 relay finale or the overall team standings. So the Lady Rams did the next-best thing – they took second in the relay, inching the team past Belen and into seventh place in final Class 4A girls standings. PHS finished with 23 ½ points while the Lady Eagles, who were sixth in the relay race, dropped to eighth place with 20 points. No one but no one was...
