Welcome to the best of times on Santa Fe High – at least the 21st century.
For a high school that has been tossed around in sports for so long, it may seem strange to think of demon athletics in a different context. But on closer inspection, the city’s flagship school is looking up.
We have seen excellence in recent years, from the girls ‘basketball team that won the Class 4A title, the cheer team that won consecutive titles in 2014 and 2015, the boys’ basketball team that made it to the 5A final in 2019, and the Volleyball team trip to the 5A championship in spring.
However, the fall season was unique in that success wasn’t limited to just one program. The soccer team’s 4-2 start is well documented, but for the first time in a long time – maybe at all – both soccer programs are in the top 10 rankings. The boys’ team even enjoyed a week at the top of the MaxPreps.com rankings as the best team in the state before settling in seventh place.
Hell, even the boys’ cross-country team came into play when Tanner Black won the Capital City Invitational over the weekend. Of course, there will be a section of the population who will roll their eyes and say, “There you go. Talk all about Santa Fe High.”
Well the answer is that the school deserves some praise for having suffered a lot of snares and arrows when it came to athletics. Hell, it was only three years since the football team was stuck in a 35-game loss – the second of its kind for the program since 1990.
When it came to the top soccer programming in Santa Fe, we’ve talked about Santa Fe Prep, St. Michael’s, Capital, and even Monte del Sol. The demons were an afterthought. But not anymore.
Hell, this nugget has escaped The New Mexican so far: When the Santa Fe High girls defeated St. Michael’s to kick off the 2021 season, it was the first time the demons had achieved this in 24 years.
A program that was mostly part of the big school scene most of the time couldn’t beat a 1A-3A program for most of a generation. It’s almost as impressive as the equestrian reign in football, where it took 12 years without losing to any of the public schools for the Demons to finish that streak earlier this month.
The chances are good that both football teams will move into the national tournament, which would be the first time in this century. If the soccer team wins seven and takes third place in District 2 / 5-6A, it will be a ban on the big school playoffs for the first time since reaching the 4A semi-finals in 1986.
A good autumn could lead to an equally successful winter. Ask the coaches about the boys and girls’ basketball teams and they will say they feel they should get into the 16-team national tournament.
Win a state title now? That’s a different story.
For a school and sports program hungry for success, it’s all about baby steps. Developing competitive programs was the first step.
Sustainable success? That’s a different story.
But it suggests the irrelevance that has been the history of demons for far too long.
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