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Thursday, August 14, 2008

Mustangs Boast a 700-Seat-Bleacher Athletic Complex

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
          "Oh, Lord. You're supposed to build a football field, too?" — wife to husband in "Field of Dreams".
        Mountainair High has the reigning state champion eight-man football team. And now the Mustangs and the community for which they play have a shiny, new outdoor athletic complex.
        "Last week, we turned the lights on for the first time, and people came from all over to see it," said Jay Mortensen, the superintendent of Mountainair Public Schools. "People coming home from Belen saw the lights and drove over to see it. We must have had 150 people show up just by turning the lights on. They were so excited."
        The facility, on the high school's campus to the west of the old 80-yard field, will include a 700-seat set of bleachers and a 50-foot-long press box. The new 100-yard field of lush grass will also be complemented by 150-seat visitors' bleachers on the west side of the field, 40- and 50-foot-high light stanchions on the perimeter and a reflective "Mustangs" sign near the south end zone.
        "This is the nicest thing we've ever had," said Carol Zamora, Mountainair's sixth-year athletic director. "This was my first project. That track (around the field), at least the dirt (version) where it is, has been here since the '80s when I was in high school. Then, it (the plan for a football field in the infield) just fell by the wayside."
        The complex should be ready to go for the football team's under-the-lights home opener against Dora on Aug. 29. But the dedication ceremony will be held on Sept. 12 when Mountainair hosts Magdalena in a nondistrict game.
        "(The Steers are) sort of a rival," Mortensen said. "It will be a no-charge game. If you wear your team colors, whether you're from Magdalena or Mountainair, you get in free of charge. We're hoping to pack the stands."
        Mortensen and Zamora both stressed that the new complex is the culmination of a lot of work on the part of volunteer workers from the community, contractors and assorted other help. The press box itself will be erected solely by volunteers, Mortensen said Monday.
        "None of this would have happened without the volunteer support," Mortensen continued. "And we worked closely with the co-op. They ran some wires for us, and volunteers dug trenches.
        The total ballpark cost for the complex was $585,000, the superintendent said. Both sets of bleachers ran about $250,000, including the handicap ramps and block walls; the lights were approximately $185,000; and the field work, for both the new and the old fields, totaled about $150,000.
        The track, which was built during the 2004-05 school year but has never had a meet run on it, will also be resurfaced at some point, Mortensen said.
        "The school board has worked their rear ends off for this...," Zamora said.
        If you build it, they will come.
        "It really is going to be awesome," Zamora said.
        New Season
        The Mountainair High football team is coming off an undefeated season at 12-0, 2-0 in District 1-8M. The Mustangs defeated Animas 38-26 in the state-title game in Hidalgo County on Nov. 24.
        "We lost some seniors, but this year's group of seniors went undefeated their freshman year," said Mountainair 12th-grader Kyler Silva, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound running back, guard and linebacker. "I'm pretty confident that we can do it. We definitely have the heart to do it."
        "We lost our quarterback and our running back," added senior Kohen Kayser, a 5-9, 155-pound wideout. "But we have most of the rest of the team back. I think we'll be pretty tough."
        Mustangs coach Robert Zamora didn't get much time to enjoy the team's success. Now, after coaching the winning West all-star team in June, he's back in the thick of the gridiron grind even as he and his wife, Denise, expect their second child on Sept. 8.
        "It's going to be different," Zamora said. "I do have seven seniors this year. But there are a lot of position changes, a lot of positions still to be won. I think we have about 26 players, and we have about three weeks to get ready."
        Returners include senior quarterback Estevan Nuñez and junior running back Gabriel Ramirez.
        "We can't miss a beat," said Reuben Torrez, a 6-4, 175-pound senior tight end. "With coach, as intelligent as he is, we'll be as ready as we ever were. And it's exciting that we'll be playing under the lights."
        Other seniors at the Aug. 7 voluntary workout included Salvador Sisneros, a 5-8, 140-pound receiver, and Joseph Lovato, a 6-2, 205-pound center.
        "The guys have been working hard all summer in the weight room and on conditioning on their own," Zamora said. "The seniors have been leaders this summer. They've been doing a good job leading the team."