La Cueva, Cleveland, Rio Rancho induct new Hall of Famers

Nov. 1—Several local high schools have conducted recent Hall of Fame induction ceremonies to honor some of their best.

La Cueva honored the following individuals:

Ryan Ashcraft (basketball/baseball), from the Class of 1999. Ashcraft later played his collegiate basketball at the University of New Mexico.Richard Bohlken (Class of 2007); a three-year lettermen in both baseball and football, and a former Gatorade Athlete of the Year winner in baseball, plus a collegiate All-American in baseball at Lubbock Christian.Anna Tuttle Indahl (Class of 1995), who was an All-American swimmer at La Cueva, and later, All-American in college at Denison University.Vanessa Strobe (Class of 2005), who excelled at track and field, basketball and softball, and later became a standout track athlete at UNM.Alexis Ball (Class of 2007), who won four soccer letters for the Bears, was a Gatorade winner and played for the Lobos.

Rio Rancho High School also recently inducted its latest batch into its Hall of Fame.

This year's inductees:

Kayla Hammond (Class of 2008) was once a Gatorade Athlete of the Year in volleyball as the Rams setter, and she also played tennis. She even played rugby at UNM.Troy Harris (Class of 2009) was an all-state running back at Rio Rancho, and, like Hammond, a Gatorade winner during his prep career. Later played at Eastern New Mexico.Tamara Lementino (Class of 2010), who was an outstanding cross country/track and field runner for the Rams, earning three all-state honors in the fall and two more in the spring. She later competed at New Mexico State.Caleb Rubalcaba (Class of 2011) was a three-sport athlete at Rio Rancho — cross country, wrestling, track — and he was an all-state performer in all three.Zack Rogers (Class of 2011) was a standout in football and wrestling for the Rams, he won two state titles on the mat and was an outstanding kicker for Rio Rancho, and later kicked for the Lobos.Vince Metzgar is a former athletic director at Rio Rancho HS from 2009-2022, and the school won 26 state titles during his tenure.

Although Cleveland High only opened in 2009, the Storm already is in its second year of inducting Hall of Famers.

Its inaugural class includes Kirk Potter, Cleveland's first football coach who led the Storm to a blue trophy in 2011.

A handful of the Storm's greatest athletes were on the first list.

Cassie House (Class of 2013), who was a stellar volleyball and track and field athlete and who later played volleyball at UNM;Blake Swihart (Class of 2011), a switch-hitting threat who eventually reached the major leagues;Cole Gautsche (Class of 2012), who memorably quarterbacked Cleveland to that undefeated state championship in 2011 and later played college ball for the Lobos;Sara Hattis (Class of 2012), a gifted multi-sport athlete who played volleyball and basketball, and also competed in track and field. She played on three University of Texas teams that reached volleyball's Final Four.Also inducted were major contributor/supporter Sal LiRosi and supporter/staff member David Bency.

The second class of inductees from Cleveland, for the 2023-24 school year, are:

Malia Gonzales won four letters in both cross country and track for the Storm, was a multiple state champion in both sports and later ran collegiately at Hawaii Pacific University;Emily Cubbage scored 60 goals for the Cleveland girls soccer team, was a multiple all-state choice, and later played four years of college at St. John's in New York City;P.J. Horgan was a big man for Cleveland's basketball team, and a former Gatorade award winner who played four years of college hoops at The Citadel;Coach Corey Anderson was the school's first head wrestling coach and led the Storm to state championships 2012, 2013 and 2016 and won a national coach of the year award in 2013;Reece White was in integral member of the 2011 state title football team where he was a dangerous wide receiver, and also was a hurdler and sprinter for the track and field team;Larry Chavez was a former athletic director at Cleveland, and the Storm bagged 28 state championships and three Director's Cup crowns with him serving in that capacity;Tim Flores was the school's first girls track and field coach, and during his time (2009-18) Cleveland won state four times;The last of the inductees is Rodney Anderson, a longtime and influential booster.

VALENCIA'S NEW COACH: With Marty Zeller last week resigning from Valencia as girls basketball coach for a trip to Australia where he intends to coach at the professional level, the Jaguars moved quickly to replace him.

Raymond Montoya, who was a junior varsity boys head coach and a varsity assistant coach at Manzano, has been chosen to replace Zeller.

Montoya coached at Valencia from 2018-21 as a boys varsity assistant and head JV coach.