Prep notes: Gary Bradley to continue family tradition at Mayfield; Sandia’s West wins Gatorade honor
From father to son to brother, the Bradley family football tradition continues at Mayfield High School.
A few weeks after Mike Bradley retired as coach of the Trojans, his brother Gary, an assistant with the Trojans, was promoted to head coach. The announcement came late last week.
Next fall will mark the 30th consecutive season that a Bradley has led the Trojans program.
“As far as it’s special and it’s in the family, it really means a lot,” said Gary Bradley, 54. “You never know where life will take you.”
Jim Bradley, the school’s first head coach, returned to take charge of the Trojans in 1994. He coached Mayfield during the 2005 season. Mike Bradley took over in 2006 and led the program to three state titles, and he also coached the school through its transition from the state’s largest classification to the second largest class.
Gary was Mayfield’s offensive coordinator last season and was previously the head coach at Farmington and Carlsbad. He was a longtime Trojan wizard under his father; He went to Farmington in 2007.
“I’m a coach where my father was the head coach and my brother was the head coach,” he said. “It’s pretty special.”
Also in Las Cruces, Organ Mountain is looking for a new head coach; Steve Castille told the Journal last week that he had retired as the Knights coach.
And Organ Mountain wasn’t the only school in the county looking for a new coach. Oliver Soukup resigned earlier this month after a single season at Carlsbad. Soukup joined the Cavemen (replacing Gary Bradley) after being an assistant coach at New Mexico State, and is returning to the college ranks to become Kelley Lee’s defensive coordinator in eastern New Mexico. Carlsbad have named Cale Sanders as their new head coach.
LISTING SHORTENING: St. Pius X announced Monday that it will allow eighth graders to compete in high school track and field beginning in 2023-24.
St. Pius was one of the few remaining high schools in New Mexico not to have made this move.
Albuquerque Public Schools just added eighth-grade athletic participation this school year for track and field, although the number of kids who have played at the varsity level is exceedingly small.
WEST IS TOPS: Sandia’s standout cross country runner, Senior Steven West, was named Gatorade Athlete of the Year for the Fall 2022 season on Monday.
West, the Subway Champion and two-time Class 5A state champion, also won the Garmin RunningLane XC Championship in Huntsville, Alabama, a few weeks after winning the 5A state title at Albuquerque Academy.
West has not yet chosen his study destination.
NAAC: The National Athletic Advisory Council has added two newly elected Farmington High athletes to its roster.
Senior Morgan Deale is a swimmer for the Scorpions who will attend Stanford next fall. Sophomore Sterling Allison is a trio of sports – golf, wrestling and she plans to play soccer next fall.
STATE TOURNAMENT PASSES: The New Mexico Activities Association began selling state basketball tournament passes Monday.
Tickets are $150 each.
The NMAA says they are only sold over the phone on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no personal sale. To purchase a pass, call 505-923-3110.
THIS AND THAT: A Journal story last week should have mentioned Rio Grande senior guard Jonah Lopez as one of the Albuquerque Metro basketball players to make the 1,000-point club this season. Hundred-year-old senior guard Aspen Salazar also reached the same number last weekend.
• Exodus Ayers, former La Cueva football player, received a football offer from Oregon State over the weekend.
The Lobos have also offered Ayers, who played at Proctor Academy in Andover, New Hampshire, last season.
