Carlsbad's Hazen Wright and Artesia's Savanna Watts announce college athletic plans
Carlsbad High School baseball senior pitcher Hazen Wright announced his intentions to further his baseball career at Galveston College in Texas.
Carlsbad Municipal Schools (CMS) Athletics Director Greg Haston said Wright signed a letter of intent Dec. 7 to play for the junior college on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Wright will wear the White Caps uniform in 2025 and head coach Brian Reinke is prepared for Wright to have an impact on the school's baseball program.
More: Mike McGaha hired as new Carlsbad High School's new baseball coach for 2024
“He’s big, physical, strong and not refined yet. We’ll be able to refine (Wright),” Reinke said.
Wright enters his final season in a Caveman uniform in 2024. As a junior in 2023, he pitched 37 innings, walked 23 batters and struck out 68.
He was 4-0 and had an earned run average of 3.78 last season as the Cavemen finished with a 23-6 record and lost to Las Cruces Centennial in the second round of the 5A playoffs.
Reinke was hired as the White Caps head coach on June 15 after coaching for 17 years at the University of Texas-Permian Basin (UTPB) in Odessa, 140 miles southeast of Carlsbad.
Reinke amassed 396 career wins during 17 seasons at UTPB.
He said Wright meets a number of academic and athletic criteria set by Galveston College for potential student-athletes.
“We’re super excited. He fits the bill,” Reinke said of Wright.
Last season the White Caps finished with a 23-32 record. Reinke said Wright should make Galveston College aggressive in 2025.
More: Carlsbad baseball and softball ready to repeat as state champions during the playoffs.
“He’s super competitive (and) he’s very coachable and I think these things make the difference for everybody,” he said.
Artesia swimmer finds home in South Dakota
Savanna Watts, a senior swimmer at Artesia High School, signed a national letter of intent to swim for the University of Sioux Falls (USF) in 2024-25.
She said she felt at home when visiting the campus in South Dakota’s most populous city.
“The team environment is something you don’t see very often nowadays. Comparing to other schools I was around it was nowhere near the same community that they had going on at USF,” she said.
Watts started competitive swimming during her eighth-grade year while attending the Artesia Public Schools (APS) and said the high school swim team is similar to USF.
The swimming season started Nov. 10 in Hobbs and ends in February at Albuquerque Academy.
More: Carlsbad and Artesia High girls' swim teams finish in good standing at state championships
Watts said her goal at the state meet in early 2024 was to finish in the top 5 in the 100-yard backstroke.
“Last two years I’ve been in sixth place,” she said. “I’m hoping to get fourth or third place this year.”
Watts hopes to place in the 100 freestyle and also competes in the 200 individual medley, 100 butterfly and swimming relays.
“I hope all of our relays rank top 5 (at state) and I hope our team places top 3 at state this year. Last year we were top 5,” she said.
Artesia head swimming coach Andrea Ciro said the girls placed fifth at the 2023 state swim meet, after coming in seventh in 2022.
Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Carlsbad's Hazen Wright Artesia's Savanna Watts make college plans
