Today's Sports

New Mexico Highlands University’s Vatos rugby club has earned a spot in the Division III college playoffs after a victorious run in the recent regional college tournament in Tucson, Ariz.

Opponents, dates and times will be determined. The national Sweet 16 is slated for Dallas later this spring.

It’s the first nationals bid for the Vatos since 2008.

See Wednesday’s Optic for more on the Vatos.

When Nate Trujillo took over the Luna Community College softball program late in the offseason, he was — by his own admission — “overwhelmed.”

A few months later, the Rough Riders are holding up quite nicely at a respectable 17-24 that includes a recent win over the No. 9 team in their national junior college ranks. In their first year with a conference affiliation after laboring as an independent for the program’s first several seasons, they are 8-12 and in line for a trip to the postseason tournament.

CANYON, Texas — New Mexico Highlands women’s track and field athletes Danisha Phipps (heptathlon) and Sheneika Rochester (100-meter dash) each moved into the national top ten with their performances at the West Texas A&M Open in Canyon, Texas over the past weekend.

One of the more dramatic finishes of the day in this past Saturday’s West Las Vegas Middle School Invite came in the boys’ 800-meter run.

A late surge by West’s Miguel Coca gave him a split-second, photo-finish win over Memorial’s Leandro Garduño — or did it?

Garduño’s mother Maria questioned the official outcome of the race, producing home video and still images that appear to show her son finishing just ahead of Coca.