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By Don Eskins Eight Carlsbad High School Cavegirls have been named to the 2026 All-District 4/5A Softball Team. Leading the Cavern City’s barrage of talented players named to this year’s team was junior Katrina Ortega. Ortega, named to the All-District First Team as a pitcher, was also selected as the District 4/5A Player of the Year. As CHS’s number one hurler, Ortega was 5-2 during conference play. While inside the circle, she registered a minuscule ERA of just 1.02, allowi

By Don Eskins Carlsbad High linkster Chevy Thompson, who has played his way onto the All-District 4/5A Golf Team for the past three years, is on his way to compete at the next level. The former Caveman and 2026 graduate of CHS made it official on Tuesday, May 19, by signing a letter of intent to tee it up with the University of the Southwest Mustangs during the 2026-27 school year. USW, located in Hobbs, is an NAIA school that competes in the Red River Athletic Conference. Th

By Don Eskins Carlsbad High came up just short of realizing their dream to bring a state championship back to the Cavern City in 2026, following an 11-2 loss to the second-seeded 27-4 Cleveland Storm during semifinal round action of the Class 5A New Mexico State Baseball Tournament in Albuquerque on Friday, May 15. Riding high and hopeful after upsetting the third-seeded 25-4 La Cueva Bears 10-2 during quarterfinal round play on Thursday, May 14, the Cavemen, seeded sixth, co

By Don Eskins Senior Cavegirl shot puter Atria Wells, to nobody’s surprise, made the most noise for the Carlsbad High School Track and Field program at the Class 5A state meet, which took place in Albuquerque on Friday and Saturday, May. 15-16. Wells launched the 8.8-pound shot 39’ 08.25,” nearly four feet further than Rio Rancho runner-up Sarah Martinez’s throw of 35’09.25,” to claim the Class 5A State Championship. No stranger to the podium, Well’s victory marked the second

By Don Eskins The Carlsbad Cavemen participated in the NMAA’s Individual and Team State Tennis Tournament in Albuquerque on May 6-9. Although the CHS boys failed to pick up a victory in singles or doubles play, they did down the Rio Rancho Rams 5-4 in the first round of team competition before losing to La Cueva 0-6 in the quarterfinals. “This year’s tournament was really tough. But our boys played hard and fought the opposition to the very last match,” said CHS assistant coa

By Don Eskins The Carlsbad Cavegirls carded a 756 to finish sixth at the Class 5A Girls State Golf Tournament in Las Cruces on Monday and Tuesday, May 11-12. Organ Mountain, 16 strokes better than the runner-up La Cueva Bears, who recorded a two-day total of 671, fired a 655 to claim this year’s state title. For the Cavegirls, there was much more to contend with than just the seven other teams that had assembled in the City of Crosses with hopes of winning this year’s state t

By Don Eskins A 4-1 loss to the second-seeded 21-5 Alamogordo Tigers on Friday, May 8, during opening round play of the NMAA Class 5A State Softball Tournament, brought an abrupt end to the 2026 season for the Carlsbad Cavegirls. With the loss, CHS closed out the year with a record of 14-13. In conference play, as the District 4/5A runner-up, they were 9-3. The Cavegirls, seeded 15th, jumped out in front of the Tigers 1-0 at the top of the first inning. But Alamo answered wit

By Don Eskins Carlsbad High, seeded sixth for this year’s state baseball tournament, swept the 11th-seeded Organ Mt. Knights 9-2, 4-3, in Round 1 of the NMAA’s Big Dance on Friday and Saturday, May 8-9, in the Cavern City. With the sweep, the 18-10 Cavemen advanced to the quarterfinal round of the state playoffs to do battle with the third-seeded, 25-3, La Cueva Bears in Albuquerque on Thursday, May 14. Due to deadline restraints, results of the game will be reported in the F

By Don Eskins Carlsbad High School’s Cavemen and Cavegirl track and field teams will be in Albuquerque on Friday and Saturday, May 15-16, to compete in the NMAA’s Class 5A State Tournament. Twenty-two athletes—11 Cavemen and 11 Cavegirls—will compete at the meet. “Track is a long season (12 weeks), and it’s during the spring. We usually see several athletes fall off as the season goes on,” said CHS head coach Charles Millar. “To qualify for state takes a lot of hard work and

By Don Eskins The Cavemen and Cavegirl tennis teams competed in the District 4/5A Individual Tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 28-29, in Hobbs. Participants competed in either singles or doubles at the tournament. Those placing among the top three, in either category, qualified for state. Following the first day of competition, four Cavemen had punched their tickets to the New Mexico Big Dance. In singles play, CHS’s Lucas Bluth, the 2026 District 4/5A champion, plac

By Don Eskins On Thursday, April 23, former Caveman point guard Zee Huerta signed a letter of intent to play collegiate basketball for the New Mexico Highlands Cowboys during the 2026-27 school year. Highlands, located in Las Vegas, is an NCAA Division II school that competes in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Association. During 2025-26, the Cowboys posted a season record of 13-19 and were 11-9 in conference play. A pillar in this year’s Cavemen drive to get to the state playoff

By Don Eskins Monday, May 4, is a big day for Carlsbad High’s golfers, and with good reason. “Our District 4/5A tournament tees off on May 4 in Clovis. It’s the meet we’ve been preparing for all year,” said CHS head golf coach Brian Jones. “But, while we all want to win this year’s district title, the tournament is about a lot more than just that. It also offers an avenue for our team and kids to get to state. “The winning team gets an automatic berth in the state tournament.