Anika Newell is a Highland High School graduate and is a three-time New Mexico High School state champion winning the Class 5A girls pole vault in 2009 with a mark of 9’9”, in 2010 she took top honors in the pole vault at 10’6” and in 2011, she set the Class 5A state record at 11’6”. Newell went on to vault at Texas State where she won the Sun Belt Conference pole vault title twice and set a conference record. In 2016, she made the Canadian Olympic team as her mother was born in Canada.
Newell has made two trips to the Olympic stage. She attended the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 and in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro she placed 29th in the women’s pole vault, clearing 13’7”. On the Team Canada website, Newell credits her dad, Tim, for where she is as an athlete. “I am the athlete I am because of him.”
Larry Chavez is the 112th inductee into the NMAA Hall of Fame, with a career in education that spanned over 38 years. He devoted his entire career to the youth of New Mexico.....
Former New Mexico State volunteer assistant track and field coach Rachel Dincoff reached the pinnacle of her event...