The omicron variant of COVID-19 is sweeping across the nation, leading to a record-high number of cases in New Mexico and a slew of sporting cancellations.
High school sporting events are very suddenly being canceled at a rate higher than at any point since competition restarted in March as schools switch back to virtual learning.
Several local teams, including Pojoaque Valley High School, Dulce High School and Mesa Vista High School, were slated to compete in the Jan. 13-15 Santa Fe Indian School tournament, which was canceled when the school switched to virtual learning.
Pojoaque also had games canceled for Jan. 12 against Robertson’s boys team and Jan. 13 against their girls.
Pojoaque Athletic Director Elvira Crockett said she called all of the teams in the tournament to try to reschedule games, and she did not want to lose three games of the season. Most were unavailable, but she was able to create a mini tournament with Raton and Santa Fe Prep’s girls teams. All three teams played a doubleheader on Jan. 14, and Pojoaque and Raton played another game the next day.
Mesa Vista High School was scheduled to face Dulce Jan. 11 in what would have been a rematch of the Northern Rio Grande Tournament third-place game for the boys, and a fresh matchup for the girls.
That game was canceled the morning it was supposed to be played. Mesa Vista Athletic Coordinator Eric Vigil said there were COVID-19 exposures in both the boys and girls program, so Mesa Vista decided to cancel the game.
Shortly after that game was canceled, Dulce High School decided to go remote beginning Jan. 11, suspending all athletic activities, including practices, according to a post on their Facebook page, continuing until Jan. 24. Their next scheduled girls game after the Tournament was Jan. 25 against McCurdy, but a Jan. 18 boys game against Tse’ Yi’ Gai is now canceled.
Mesa Vista, meanwhile, found a replacement by entering into the Santa Rosa boys tournament. The next day, Vigil said, there was an additional positive case on the team and they pulled out of the tournament.
Escalante High School’s Jan. 15 girls basketball game against Gallup, which had been originally scheduled for Dec. 28 before being postponed due to weather, was canceled and will not be rescheduled, according to a Jan. 13 post on the Gallup Facebook page.
Española Valley High School will continue playing while in virtual learning through at least Jan. 28, but will have their games closed to fans during that time. Their Jan. 13 boys game against Santa Fe High School was canceled, and Athletic Director Matt Abeyta said that was a mutual decision due to the rise of case numbers, as was the Jan. 14 girls game against Miyamura. Their Jan. 13 girls game at Robertson was canceled unilaterally by Robertson, and Abeyta said they could not find a mutually agreeable date to reschedule.
McCurdy Charter School had a girls game against Springer Jan. 15 and both boys and girls Monday against Santa Fe Prep canceled.
Elsewhere around the state, Robertson High School and Los Alamos High School have also canceled all athletic competitions while in remote learning.