STATE GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
Cottonwood's Williams, Academy's Whitten and Haas win state golf titles
Socorro wins state title for fifth time in six years, 23rd time overall
High school state golf champions could be found up and down the I-25 corridor on Tuesday.
In Socorro, Albuquerque Academy鈥檚 girls won the Class 4A state title at New Mexico Tech in Socorro, and the Chargers produced both individual state champions.
Down the road in Elephant Butte, Cottonwood Classical Prep eighth-grader Ariana Williams not only captured the Class 1A-3A title, but she demolished the field, winning by an incredible 19 shots at Turtleback Mountain Golf and Resort.
鈥淚 never really imagined it,鈥� Williams said in a phone interview. 鈥淎fter Day 1 鈥� (I knew) I had this opportunity to win it, but I just didn鈥檛 realize I鈥檇 win by 19 shots. If you had told me that before the first day, I鈥檇 be like, 鈥榯hat鈥檚 crazy鈥�.鈥�
Williams shot rounds of 79 and 76 for a 36-hole total of 155. Robertson senior Payton Woolf, at 174, was a distant second.
In Socorro, freshman Thomas Whitten and junior Adelyn Haas won individual titles for Academy.
Whitten, who also plays baseball for Academy, was involved in the tightest of all the individual tournaments on Tuesday. At one point relatively late in the back nine, there were four boys tied for the lead at 5-over.
Whitten birdied the par-5 16th hole, with a nice chip and a short putt, to get to 4-over, and that鈥檚 where he finished. Artesia sophomore Beau Byers was a shot behind at the end, and Lincoln Hoffer and Javan Rael, both of Los Alamos, were two shots back of Whitten.
鈥淚t was very tight,鈥� Whitten said by phone. 鈥淚 like these moments. It鈥檚 always fun playing in high pressure moments, making something happen.鈥�
Whitten said his short game bailed him out repeatedly on the back nine where he only hit several greens.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just an amazing feeling,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just can鈥檛 be any more proud of myself. It was a mental battle out there, and it was very hard.鈥�
Artesia鈥檚 boys won the 4A championship, 623-634 over Academy. Los Alamos was a close third, three strokes behind the Chargers. Jack Byers, Artesia鈥檚 top starting baseball pitcher, finished tied for 11th. Beau is his younger brother.
Academy鈥檚 girls romped at New Mexico Tech. The Chargers, led by Haas, walloped the field, beating runner-up Lovington by 47 shots (667-714). St. Pius, in third, also won a trophy.
Haas shot 75-81 to defeat Hayden Dan of Kirtland Central by five shots, and attributed her victory to being relaxed.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 play to win, you play to swing free,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat was my goal, to have fun and make good memories with the team. Having that freedom really helped me.鈥�
Academy had two others in the top six, as sophomore Gabby Sanchez (fourth) and Addison Kiburz (fifth) also attained all-state honors.
鈥淚t was amazing,鈥� Haas said. 鈥淓verybody contributed on the team and we all worked as one.鈥�
Few small-school girls golf programs do it as well as Socorro, and the Warriors added more blue-tinted hardware on Tuesday.
Socorro won state for the fifth time in six years, and for the 23rd time overall, extending their own New Mexico record which includes all three classifications.
The Warriors beat Gateway Christian by 44 shots at Turtleback, which was being used as a state high school venue for the first time.
Mesilla Valley鈥檚 boys also earned first place in 1A-3A, finishing 31 shots in front of runner-up Dexter. Socorro junior Isaiah Silva was the individual champion, in a playoff with junior Rigo Regalado of Dexter. Both finished at 5-over 149, a shot ahead of Gateway Christian鈥檚 Troy Oswald.
James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at .
