Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Award given by NMAA to top schools in activities, athletics
MELROSE — It wasn’t a stampede, but it was a victory nonetheless for the Melrose Buffaloes.
The school came away with the Class 1A Director’s Cup, given by the New Mexico Activities Association to the school in each classification with the most success across athletics and activities.
“It feels great. I thought we were going to be second,” said Jamie Widner, outgoing superintendent for Melrose. “I know they’ll compete for it next year. Hopefully, I’m setting Brian (Stacy, incoming superintendent) up to be in a good place next year.”
The Buffaloes go into 2019-20 hoping to become only the second school to win six straight, when St. Michael’s accomplished from 2007 to 2012.
Melrose is only the second school to win five consecutive Director’s Cups since the award first began in 2007. There have been four-peats by La Cueva (2008-11) and Texico (2009-12).
Teams receive 120 points for state championships, 100 points for runnerup finishes, 80 points for semifinal or third- and fourth-place finishes, 60 points for a district championship and 20 points for participation in up to 21 sports. The points system is the same for 11 activities, with the exclusion of district championship points.
The NMAA automatically compiles the points, and the highest-scoring team wins in each classification. Schools lose 100 points for a player or coach ejection, and are disqualified for ejections in multiple sports.
Melrose scored 800 points, topping Fort Sumner (780) and Logan (740). Texico finished second in Class 2A with 800 points, while Clovis was seventh in Class 5A with 1,160 points. Elida, eighth in Class 1A at 480 points, was the only other local top-10 finisher.
Widner never did the math, but figured Logan was take first and it would be a close race for second with Fort Sumner — still not a bad place considering injuries that decimated the football season and some earlier-than-normal tournament exits in other sports.
Instead, Melrose will go for six in a row.
“I think they’re going to come back next year stronger than they’ve been,” Widner said. “But it’s always just one injury away. Without Nataley Mondragon, we had no chance in girls track. I think if we don’t have injuries next year, we’re going to be tough.”
