All of New Mexico is familiar with the talent of Luis Martinez, but it's the contributions of lesser-known guys like Aaron Flores that make the Storm such a dominant team. Photo by Alan Versaw.
Cleveland High School dominated this one last fall. They appear to be lined up to replicate--or maybe even exceed--their level of domination this fall.
It's not that Cleveland didn't graduate anyone. It's just that they didn't graduate enough to make much of a difference. And, as a rule, they graduated less than everyone in the chase pack.
If we take a look at the list of returners from the top 50 finishers at state last fall, Cleveland boasts a very impressive four of the top five. If they hold those positions this fall, it almost doesn't matter what the fifth guy runs (not that we're expecting any sort of major collapse at #5).
If you're looking for chinks in the Storm's armor, they simply aren't there. At this point, the race for second and third appears to be a much more interesting question. The question for Cleveland would be whether or not they can mount the kind of charge that would make them a serious threat to break up the American Fork/Davis domination at NXR-SW. They have all the rest of the summer and most of the fall to accumulate the firepower necessary to answer that question.
So far as the chase pack is concerned, last year's results suggest that crosstown rival Rio Rancho comes into the season holding the strongest hand. Behind Rio Rancho appears to be Sandia, and then a cluster of Volcano Vista, Eldorado, and La Cueva. Keep half an eye out for Atrisco Heritage, too, a team coming up from 4A this fall.
On paper, Hobbs figures to be the best of the southern 5A programs, with some some consideration going to Onate as well. Depending upon how well Hobbs is able to develop some of last year's younger talent, the Eagles could conceivably mix it up with the Albuquerque area schools, even though the transition to higher elevation for the state meet has historically been unkind to the Eagles.