ENMU softball signs five

PORTALES — The last time the Eastern New Mexico University softball team recorded an out, it closed out a sweep of rival West Texas A&M and vaulted the Greyhound to second place in the Lone Star Conference.

Coach Kira Zeiter would love to pick things up where they left off, and hopes a quintet of signees for the 2022 season will help the program stay competitive for years.

Signings include Los Lunas’ Edyn Lopez, La Cueva’s Taylor Harrison, Lauren De La Cruz of El Paso, Andraya Alvarado of Santa Ana, California, and Lisette Urquidez of Tucson (Arizona) High Magnet School.

“I am excited about all that this class brings to the softball program,” Zeiter said in a school release. “These student-athletes are not only quality softball players, but good people, students and teammates. This class embodies what our program is about.”

Zeiter highlighted the versatility of the quintet, noting all of them can each play three positions and they may play difference positions each season.

“If they play three positions, we will try them at all three,” Zeiter told The News. “It’s based on what the team needs that year. Every year is different from the next. I tell the team every year you have to re-earn your spot. Versatility also allows us that if we need a bat in the lineup, we have options to do that.”

With most of the season taken away by COVID-19 in the spring, the NCAA granted athletes an additional year of eligibility. Student-athletes could either see long careers at their current universities, earn a degree and transfer to another program as a grad student without having to sit out, or simply decide to call it a career after finishing their studies.

Zeiter said she hasn’t had those conversations yet with any of her players, but anticipates the upcoming season and the few that follow it will be interesting.

Women’s hoops adds Himeur — The Greyhound women’s basketball team announced its first signing of the season in Cibola guard Azia Himeur.

As a junior, the 5-foot-8 guard averaged 14 points and five rebounds and was the District 1-5A offensive player of the year. As a sophomore, she helped the Cougars to a Class 6A state runnerup finish.

“One of the top priorities for us has always been to keep our in-state talent here at Eastern New Mexico,” women’s coach Josh Prock said. “We firmly believe Azia is one of the best players in New Mexico this year and is a complete player.”

Prock credited Himeur for success off the court as well, with the release noting she was Cibola’s junior class secretary and a member of the French National Honor Society.