NMSU, Centennial, MVC snare basketball titles in 2015

Bulletin report

New Mexico State University controlled the Western Athletic Conference’s regular season and the championship tournament in 2015.

Both the men’s and women’s teams won the conference titles.

In the NCAA Tournament – the Aggies’ fourth-straight trip to the Big Dance – the men’s team fell to No. 2-seed Kansas Friday, March 20, in Omaha, Neb.

The women’s basketball team – in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 27 years – lost to No. 1 seed Maryland Terrapins in the Spokane Region, Saturday, March 21.

The NM State women won the regular-season WAC crown after going 13-1 in conference play, its first outright conference title in 20 years.

Son Blazers, Hawks finish on top

The Centennial High Hawks boys basketball team defeated Gallup 52-38, Saturday, March 14, in Albuquerque to win the three-year-old Las Cruces school’s first 5A state championship on the hardcourt.

The same day, the Mesilla Valley Christian Schools boys basketball squad topped Laguna Acoma 63-49 to win the 3A state championship.

For Centennial, sophomore guard Joe Saterfield led the way with 17 points.

The Hawks defeated Capital, Bernalillo and Española Valley to advance to the title game. They finished the 2014-15 season with a 28-4 record.

The Mesilla Valley Christian Son Blazers were paced by senior forward Jeff Adler who poured in 20 points in the title game.

The Son Blazers beat Santa Rosa and Santa Fe Prep to move to the title game and finished 27-2 on the season.

Boxer wins silver medal

Her dad calls her “La Picosita” — The Feisty One — a perfect nickname for Las Cruces teenager Amy Salinas.

The 14-year-old won a silver medal in the United States Boxing Junior Olympics June 8 to 13, 2015 in Charleston, W.V., where she represented the Las Cruces Police Athletic League (PAL).

Salinas started watching her uncle, Jose Salinas, box at the PAL gym when she was 7. She put on the gloves for the first time a year later.

Her most immediate goal: To make the U.S. Olympic boxing team.

Salinas’s silver medal goes along with her other boxing awards, including two title belts from the World Boxing Tournament.

Salas brings home first 3,200 title

After more than 50 years of New Mexico high school competition in the 3,200-meter race, Las Cruces finally has a champion in the event. Oñate High School then-sophomore Thomas Salas snared the individual 3,200-meter title at the 2015 NMAA State Track & Field Championships in Albuquerque in May 2015.

The Knights star comes from a lineage of runners. His parents, David and Kelly, both ran track during their high school years – for Mayfield High and Alamogordo High respectfully – then moved on to run track for New Mexico State University. His grandfather, Tom Burns, was also the boys’ track and cross-country coach at Alamogordo during the 1990s.

Rose selected AP All-American

NM State football’s Larry Rose III was selected to the Associated Press All-America Third Team, the association announced Monday, Dec. 14, 2015. He was the only Sun Belt Conference student-athlete chosen for this prestigious honor.

Rose is the seventh Aggie to be named to an Associated Press All-America team and the first since Karl Dean in 1974 and 1975. Dean was also selected to the Third Team.

This award comes after Rose was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year and placed on the All-Sun Belt First Team last week.

He led the conference with 1,651 rushing yards and had 14 touchdowns on 240 carries. He is the first back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher for the Aggies since Denvis Manns (1995-98). The sophomore broke the all-time single season rushing record for NM State with his 191 yards against UL-Lafayette during week 10 of the season. He finished the year ranked No. 6 in the all-time single season rushing records for the Sun Belt Conference.

The Fairfield, Texas native had three 200-yard rushing games and seven 100-yard rushing games. Rose III racked up a career-high 260 rushing yards over New Mexico, but the highlight of his season was a 212-yard, four touchdown rushing performance against Idaho on Oct. 31. He scored two touchdowns in the final 3:56 of the game to force overtime and then added one touchdown in overtime to lift the Aggies to victory.

NMSU finished the season 3-9.

NMSU volleyball wins WAC title

New Mexico State University rolled to a 3-0 victory against CSU Bakersfield to claim the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015.

NMSU then fell to a tough Stanford squad in the NCAA Tournament.

“I’m just really proud of the effort they gave. I think everyone had a big hand in what was going on there, including the people that didn’t play,” said head coach Mike Jordan. “Our practices have been good, we are a competitive group with each other, and that helps us get better.

Senior Gwen Murphy had a stellar season for the Aggies volleyball team.

The middle blocker was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Region team for the Midwest Region. She is now eligible to be named to the All-America team.

Murphy was also the first Aggie in school history to be named Sport Import/ AVCA National Player of the Week. She was also Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, WAC Tournament MVP, First Team All-WAC and three-time WAC Player of the Week.