Volleyball, cross country hoping to get seasons in

CLOVIS — First-year Clovis High cross country coach Liz Ledezma figures her skills as a teacher are helping her adapt to a different season ahead for her program.

While most New Mexico fall prep sports have been moved to the spring due to COVID-19 concerns, cross country and volleyball are hoping to get their seasons in with many protocols in place.

Teams are not allowed to have full-squad practices before Oct. 5, and no actual competition before Oct. 10 under the current New Mexico Activities Association guidelines. In the interim, coaches are figuring ways to deal with workouts which limit them to pods of five athletes per coach at a time.

“It’s hard, but I’m a math teacher,” said Ledezma, a 2001 CHS grad who played soccer in high school. “I like to work with spreadsheets.”

State meets in both sports are scheduled for early December, about a month later than normal.

Cross country meets are limited to three teams with no more than 100 people at the venue, including meet workers. The Wildcats and Lady Wildcats will join Artesia in a season-opening meet at Carlsbad on Oct. 10, then host Lovington and Roswell Goddard a week later at Ned Houk Park.

It’s more work for coaches trying to arrange activities and stay within the guidelines. Still, they’re glad for the opportunity to have a season.

“We’re approaching it with a positive attitude,” said Portales High volleyball coach Ruth Chavez, who spent 29 years with the Lady Rams — 15 as head coach — before taking over the Clovis program for three seasons, starting in 2017.

PHS, which won four state championships in Chavez’ first tenure as coach, is slated to visit Carlsbad in its Oct. 10 opener.

“We just keep hoping that the whistles are going to blow and we’re going to start to play,” she added.

Traditional area small-school volleyball powers Texico and Melrose are looking for a chance to extend their domination. The Lady Wolverines have won six consecutive state titles under Kristen Scanlan — three in Class 3A, three in 2A — while the Lady Buffs have reached the 1A state championship match in each of Casey Jackson’s first six seasons as coach, with titles in 2015 and 2017.

Texico’s scheduled opener is on Oct. 10 at Fort Sumner, while the Lady Buffs visit Tatum three nights later.

“We’re hoping we can get to play by then,” said Jackson, whose squad suffered its only loss last fall (22-1) in the state finals against district rival Logan. “I think everybody’s feeling a little bit of the uncertainty of it all.”

The season is much shorter than usual — about eight weeks with a maximum of 18 matches, instead of three months. In-season tournaments have been eliminated, and there are no overnight stays away from home.

“Tournaments are great just because you get so much playing time and bonding time,” Scanlan said. “It’s definitely not ideal, but we’re getting ready to work with a ball so we’re not complaining. You can’t do a lot of things you normally do, but the kids are thrilled to have a season.”

Second-year PHS cross country coach Laura McNeill said she and her squad are trying to adhere to guidelines set up by PHS athletic director Mark Gallegos, including wearing masks while running.

Portales opens its campaign on Oct. 10 with a home meet against Lovington and New Mexico Military. Two of Portales’ eight meets this season will be at home.

“We’re looking forward to having a season more than anything,” McNeill said. “My approach with our kids right now is we must keep our kids safe.

“We’re adjusting pretty well as a team. They’re just glad to be together and with each other.”

Clovis volleyball coach Darrel Ray served as an assistant for Chavez last year after spending the previous eight seasons as an assistant at Friona. Prior to that, he was at CHS for 26 years, the last 10 as head coach.

“When we get started in October, we’ve got to go,” Ray said. “It’ll be interesting to see if we can make headway.”