Hawks hope to fly high in 4A

With a new coach in tow, the Thoreau Hawks hope to outdo themselves come Aug. 26, when they open the 2016 football season against the Tohatchi High School Cougars. The Hawks, who have 10 seniors on this season’s roster, beat the Cougars 32-16 last year in a game played at Tohatchi.

“We’re ready,” new Head Football Coach DeJong DeGroat said this week. “We have a great bunch of guys.”

DeGroat was the head volleyball coach last year at Thoreau. He was also an assistant coach in football under former Hawks Head Coach Roger Willie, who left the job after a 5-5, 3-2 season. Under Willie, Thoreau ran a single wing offensive scheme that featured the...

New AD is Lady Eagles basketball standout

Rainy Crisp, a graduate of and long-time basketball and volleyball coach at Navajo Prep School, was hired July 1 as the school’s new athletic director. The decision was announced last week after the school board finalized the matter.

Crisp, a 1998 graduate of Prep and former all-state basketball player, was named the school’s interim athletic director after Mike Tillman resigned the job in March. The half black, half Navajo Crisp is a graduate of Arizona State University, where she also played basketball.

“I’m happy to still be associated with the program,” Crisp told the Sun this week. “I know the school. I know the program. The...

Antonio was three-time All-State player for Lady Bears

Ashanti Antonio and Nizhoni Young of the Wingate High School volleyball team are headed to Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan. The two signed individual letters-of-intent June 24 to attend the school.

“I’m excited and ready to learn a new system and meet new friends,” Antonio said. “It will be a challenge, but I’m ready.”

Antonio is a highlight film waiting to happen on the volleyball court. She possesses a 15-inch vertical leap and emerged over the past three years as one of the most dominant volleyball players at the net in New Mexico. Antonio and Young also played basketball for the Lady...

Even after 23 years, Wild Thing Championship Bullriding continued to draw old and new fans to Red Rock Park for a two-performance extravaganza full of testosterone, fireworks, the baddest bulls, the toughest cowboys, and a cowboy poker game that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Add to that a little wooley riding by the younger set – some call it mutton busting – and a yearly contribution from parking fees and a concession stand benefitting the Manuelito Navajo Children’s Home and Gallup Christian School … and Wild Thing pretty much has it all in one package.

The heavily sponsored event, which was held at Red Rock Park on July 8 - 9, also made the persistent...