JT Keith
If Artesia’s track and field team can win state May 15-16, it would land almost on top of a milestone: 50 years since the school’s first state track championship in 1976.
Coach Adrian Olivas didn’t want that anniversary to pass quietly.
At the district meet at the Bulldog Bowl on Friday, Olivas paused the action to honor the 1976 state championship team — the group that started Artesia’s run of track titles — introducing members one by one.
Former Artesia coach Ronny Maskew said the title came down to a simple buy-in.
Overcoming odds
Maskew said the Bulldogs were beaten at the district meet a week before state, finishing second to Lovington in Roswell on May 8, 1976.
Back then, teams could enter as many athletes as they wanted and have as many scorers as they wanted. Maskew said that mattered against Lovington, a long-time power with about 60 athletes to Artesia’s 35. The Wildcats had chipped away at the Bulldogs in Roswell, but Maskew believed the gap would close at state.
“Things evened out at the state meet,” Maskew said. “These guys (Artesia) had their best performance at the state meet. Everything they did, they came through. We could not have asked for more from them.”
At the state meet in Albuquerque on May 14-15, Artesia beat 26 other teams with 65 points. Silver City was second with 57, and Lovington finished third with 49.
Commemorative coin
Artesia Athletic Director Jeremy Maupin presented each member with a commemorative coin.
The moment carried some weight, too. Maskew noted that three former athletes and an assistant coach from that team have died.
“The only disappointing thing about being honored is that three members of our team are no longer with us,” Maskew said.
Vernon Asbill, an assistant coach on that 1976 staff, said the coin tradition started in 2014, when the school began recognizing championship teams across sports.
“We thought, well, let’s do it for the 50th anniversary of our state track team,” Asbill said. “It was the very first title for Artesia. We have a history here, and people are proud to get those coins. It represents a very special time in their lives.”
Multiple championships
The 1975-76 school year was the first time Artesia won three state titles in a single school year: football (1975), then baseball and track (1976).
In the 1976 calendar year, the Bulldogs added another title in football, giving the program three championships that year: baseball, track and football.
Members of the team honored were Johnny Delgado; Kenneth Harcrow (represented by his son, Chad Harcrow); Mitchell Johnson; Roy Lawson; Toby Rhodes; Mark Simons (represented by his great-niece, Kaitlyn Addington, a current Bulldog track athlete); James Stimson; David Taylor (represented by Artesia coach Mandi Lewallen); David Thompson; Corey Tolle (represented by his brother, Curtis Tolle); and Bill Trainor.
Assistant coaches were T.W. Harvey and Asbill. Maskew was the head coach.
JT Keith can be reached at 575-420-0061 or on X at @JTKEITH1.