Peerman's Power Rankings: 10 best things in New Mexico sports this month (June 2024)

Jul. 1—Welcome to Peerman's Power Rankings (PPR), the 10 athletes, teams and story lines that have Journal sports editor Lucas Peerman's attention. Have a suggestion, complaint or compliment? Email lpeerman@abqjournal.com or find me on X, @LucasPeerman.

PPR, normally published weekly, will be transitioning to once a month during the summer. Look for the next PPR near the last week in July.

10. New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame

Peerman's Power Rankings pale in comparison to the power a hall of fame has in bestowing greatness upon an athlete — and there's no greater authority in the Land of Enchantment than the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. The NMSHOF celebrated it's 50th anniversary this June with the induction of the Class of 2023: George Brooks (won a national title as UNM ski coach); Amber Campbell (Olympian who grew up in Tucumcari); Charlie Criss (retired NBA player who starred on the 1970 New Mexico State Final Four team); Larry Hays (legendary baseball coach from Dora and Eastern New Mexico); the late Frank Maestas (New Mexican and Journal sports reporter); the late Jim Marshall (New Mexico Highlands and College of the Southwest baseball coach); Glover Quin (retired NFL player who starred for UNM); Klaus Weber (longtime local skiing, soccer and tennis coach). Congrats to all.

9. Mariah Duran

The 27-year-old pro skateboarder from New Mexico found out in June she'll be on the U.S. Olympic women's street skateboarding team heading to Paris. This will be Duran's second Olympics. She finished 13th in Tokyo and she's glad to have a second chance on biggest international stage. "(The first Olympics) was during the pandemic, so we didn't really have a crowd, we didn't really get to show the environment or have people clapping in the crowd in ceremony," she told the Journal in April. "So I feel like that was motivation for me to do this second one, so I can get the real feel for it."

8. Alex Tambakis

New Mexico United, 4-1 in June, remains tops in the USL Championship Western Conference, thanks in large part to their goalkeeper, whose diving stop on a free kick in the 85th minute of Saturday's match at San Antonio FC preserved a 3-2 lead that United would not relinquish. With the save, Tambakis became the USLC's career saves leader with 575. What a save. What a season. What a career.

7. Grant Smith

The St. Pius alum landed at Kentucky for his final year of collegiate baseball and absolutely proved he belonged on the SEC powerhouse. A shortstop with a glove that won't leave the ball alone, Smith's defense was key on a Wildcats team that advanced to the College World Series quarterfinals. His extraordinary catch in the outfield and throw home to prevent a run in a June 2 regional game against Indiana State was the top play on SportsCenter that night.

6. Pascal Siakam

What was the first order of offseason business for the Indiana Pacers, fresh off a trip to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals? Signing their star forward to a four-year, $189.5 million max contract, of course. Can Siakam, a star at New Mexico State before becoming an NBA champion and All-Star, now claim to have had the most successful pro basketball career of any player with ties to the Land of Enchantment? Here's my ranking of the top 10 most successful pros with ties to New Mexico:

Mel Daniels (UNM)Michael Cooper (UNM)Pascal Siakam (NMSU)Bill Bridges (Hobbs)John Williamson (NMSU)Danny Granger (UNM)Avery Johnson (NMJC)Luc Longley (UNM)Randy Brown (NMSU)Kenny Thomas (UNM)

5. Corbin Coombs

Organ Mountain High's rising senior had an afternoon to remember on June 8. Competing in the Great Southwest Track and Field Classic in Albuquerque, Coombs won the 800 meters, the 1,600 meters and the 3,200 meters in the span of about two-and-a-half hours. Winning just one of those races against the top runners in the region takes enormous skill. And to win those races back-to-back-to-back? That takes stamina. From now on, we'll refer to Coombs' skillamina (yes, this accomplishment warrants a new word) when discussing his sure-to-come state championships.

4. Notah Begay III

On June 6, the famed golfer from New Mexico shared his vision for the inaugural NB3 Matchplay, a collegiate invitational featuring host New Mexico, New Mexico State, Stanford and Texas. Set for a live Golf Channel broadcast on Oct. 8 and Oct. 9 — Balloon Fiesta week — the round robin match play event will pit all four school's men's and women's programs against each other over two days at Twin Warriors Golf Club in Santa Ana Pueblo. Begay is the only golfer with the juice and the desire to bring this kind of national showcase to New Mexico. and that kind of power play deserves recognition.

3. Habtom Samuel

With two laps to go in the men's 10,000-meter race at the NCAA Championships on June 6, UNM's freshman phenom was keeping up with the pack. But a collision in front of Samuel dropped him to the ground. "When I'm falling down, (there's) like many things in my mind — can I close the gap right now (with) two laps to go?" he said after the race. Samuel not only closed the gap, he opened a new gap between him and everyone else in the final 400 meters. With the win, Samuel became UNM's first outdoor individual champion since Weini Kelati won the women's 10,000 in 2019, and the first male athlete to do so since Josh Kerr won the 1,500-meter final in 2017.

2. Chase Jackson

The Los Alamos native launched the shot put 20.10 meters (about 66 feet) at the U.S. track trials on Saturday. Jackson's best throw of the year was 2 centimeters short of the all-time mark at the U.S. track trials but still better than any of the other competitors that night, meaning the two-time world champion earned a trip to Paris to compete in the Olympics for the first time. Jackson is ranked No. 1 in the world right now and may be New Mexico's best bet for a medal.

1. Weini Kelati

She's the most decorated All-American in UNM track and field/cross country history, she's the American record holder in the half-marathon, and now she's an Olympian. Kelati won the women's 10,000 meters at the U.S. track trials on Saturday to secure her trip to Paris. An Eritrea native, Kelati defected to the United States when she was a teen and became a U.S. citizen in 2021. Kelati won Saturday's race in dramatic fashion, coming from behind in the final lap — twice, eventually beating Parker Valby and Karissa Schweizer by just half a second after more than 30 minutes of racing. At 5 feet tall, Kelati is often the shortest runner on the track, but what her legs lack in length they more than make up for in kick. No doubt she'll make a run for a medal in her first Olympics.

Honorable mention

La Cueva football: The reigning 5A state champions' three-star players all committed to big-time college programs in June. Quarterback Cam Dyer is going to Arizona State, linebacker Mason Posa to Wisconsin and tackle Mark Handy to Minnesota. With the recruiting process out of the way, this trio of rising seniors can now focus their work on the field, and that's a scary proposition for all other New Mexico high school football programs.

Emma Bunch and Bastien Amat: Bunch (NMSU women's golf team) and Amat (UNM men's golf team) in June were named as participants in the Arnold Palmer Cup, an annual showcase of the nation's top college golfers in a Ryder Cup-style event. Bunch (Denmark) and Amat (France) are on the international team, which will play the American team July 5-7 at Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland.

Journal Athletes of the Year: Dyer, the star quarterback for La Cueva, who also excels on the basketball court and on the track, is the Journal's Male Metro Athlete of the Year. Gianna Rahmer, an eighth-grader who wins every high school cross country and track event she enters, is the Journal's Female Metro Athlete of the Year. Prep Sports Editor James Yodice wrote about each for the Journal. Yodice also interviewed each for accompanying podcasts. These conversations with Dyer and Rahmer provide additional insights into each of their characters, their motivations and their aspirations and are well worth a listen.