COLLEGE COACH of the Year – Keitha Adams, UTEP women’s basketball coach. What she’s done with the Miners’ women’s team since taking over the program in 2001 is truly amazing: Three league championships, including both the Conference USA league and tournament championships last spring. Small wonder she was recently signed to a six-year contract.
COLLEGE ATHLETE of the Year – Kayla Thornton. From the moment this 6-foot-1 young lady stepped onto the UTEP basketball court she had greatness written all over her. And she hasn’t disappointed. Coach Keitha Adams calls her one of the best players she’s ever coached.
HIGH SCHOOL COACH of the Year – Marcus Graham of Burges High School. His inserting of running back Aaron Jones’ twin brother, Alvin, at quarterback during the season was a brilliant move. The Mustangs went unbeaten until the third round of the state playoffs.
HIGH SCHOOL Athlete of the Year – Aaron Jones of Burges High School. One of the best running backs in Texas, what he did in the playoffs against the toughest opposition the school faced all year (gaining over 600 yards) was of historic proportions.
MEDIA PERSON of the Year – Steve Kaplowitz. There has never been a more versatile sports journalist in El Paso. He’s done television, radio and print media. His sports talk show on KROD radio is without equal and he writes a sports column for the weekly What’s Up that is a must read for fans. His early and constant plugging of Sean Kugler as UTEP’s next football coach was probably influential. He also emcees events, including the Sunland Gala, and runs one of the finest athletic events in the city, the El Paso Sports Expo.
SPORTS WRITER of the Year – Bret Bloomquist of the El Paso Times. He covers UTEP sports like a blanket and does it with expert use of the written word. He scooped even UTEP with the news that Sean Kugler was the new football coach of the Miners.
SPORTSCASTER of the Year – Beau Bagley. He’s been on quite a spot at KTSM-TV. But when sports director Fred Albers has been away covering PGA events he’s held the fort beautifully with hard work, talent and dedication.
MEDIA NEWCOMER of the Year – Evan Mohl of the El Paso Times. Actually, he’s not a newcomer at the newspaper. It’s just that he has emerged as another of the newspaper’s fine writers. His coverage of high school sports and other events is so smooth, readable and personable that one gets a warm feeling reading his stories.
PHOTOGRAPHER of the Year – Ruben Ramirez, chief photographer of the El Paso Times. The newspaper has so many outstanding photographers that it’s hard to single one out. In that case, one has to go to the top, the chief, because he handles and directs the department. Ramirez, chief photographer at the El Paso Herald-Post before he joined the El Paso Times, has shot many of the great sports photos that have appeared in the local daily newspapers the last 30 years himself. He’s exceptional in every sense of the word.
SPORTS FAN of the Year – Joe Gomez, who is not only one of UTEP’s biggest backers but was one of the strongest supporters of Triple A baseball and the new stadium coming to El Paso. He talked, he emailed, he phoned making sure people would vote. He was a one-man whirlwind.
Veteran sports journalist and author Ray Sanchez welcomes suggestions for his column. Contact him at (915) 584-0626, by e-mail at rayf358@yahoo.com or online at http://www.raysanchezbooks.com