Sage Payne, a 4.1 GPA student at Onate High School and team captain in both Cross Country and Track & Field, was the 2019 winner of the NMTCCCA's Sepulveda Scholarship.

Sage has been a member of the National Honor Society for 3 years, vice president of the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), a five year Cross  Country and Track athlete and an active member and volunteer in her church.

David Nunez, Sage's coach at Onate, had this to say about the scholarship winner: "I found that Sage's strengths are her didication to academic excellence, committment, discipline, self-control, integrity, trustworthiness and conscientiousness. Sage is a goal setter and always has the attitude that nothing is impossible if you are able to put in the work and achieve it. Her intellectual potential coupled with her desire to be an outstanding role model for the sports of track and cross country is a winning combination. "

Sage had this to say about her experiences as an XC & Track athlete: "Cross country and track have taught me many physical lessons, but it has taught me countless mental lessons as well. It has taught me how to deal with trials and how to endure to the end, even if it is painful. I have had the opportunity to learn how to listen to my coaches and parents, which has yielded positive results in that listening to those who want the best for me is always a good idea. Specifically, cross country has benefited me in that I will be leaving high school with a greater sense of accomplishment than I possibly would have had I not participated in these activities. I have run thousands of miles. Learning to put all that hard work into running has shown me that I can do hard things as long as I put my mind to it and work hard to accomplish these things."