Another Face for CHS’s Mt. Guadalupe

Bits and Pieces by Don Eskins

A while back, Carlsbad Local Sports ran an editorial on coaches at Carlsbad High. The article asked: If CHS had a Mt. Rushmore of Iconic Cavemen and Cavegirl coaches, who should be on it?

As Mt. Rushmore is located in South Dakota, the Local decided to look for something a little closer to home. We found it a short distance from Carlsbad, Mt. Guadalupe, and what could be more fitting.

Three names to put on our Mt. Guadalupe popped up right away.

Those names were Coach Ralph Bowyer, with 13 state championships (eight in football, three in track, and two in basketball); John Tigert, with 11 state softball championships; and Tom Forni, with six state titles in baseball and one national championship, as recognized by a Baseball Magazine.

But, as we all know, Mt. Rushmore has four iconic faces on it: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt.

Knowing that, we asked Local readers who they felt should be the fourth face on our Mt. Guadalupe.

Marilyn Moore Responds

Shortly after posting our article, we received this email from CHS graduate Marylin Moore:

Dear Editor,

“I would like to submit Coach Ron Woodard as the fourth face on Mt. Guadalupe. Coach Woodard had the most successful gymnastics teams, male and female, in the state for several years (late 1960s – 1970s).

Under his leadership, CHS collected both team and individual state championships. But not only did he coach gymnastics, but he also coached volleyball, basketball, baseball, and football throughout his tenure with Carlsbad Schools.

It was sad when the school district had to drop the gymnastics program. Many of Coach Woodard’s athletes went on to college with scholarships in the sport.

Please do a further investigation on his achievements and give him sincere consideration for the honor of being the fourth face of ‘Iconic CHS Coaches on Mt. Guadalupe.’ Thank you.

Sincerely,

Marilyn K. Moore.

For me, Marilyn’s email hit home for a couple of very good reasons.

First, I got to coach football with Ron for several years. During our time together, no one worked harder or cared more about our players than him. Upbeat and optimistic, he was always a joy to be around. And, just for the record, he loved Carlsbad dearly.

Secondly, I’ve known Marilyn for quite some time. As a matter of fact, I knew her when she was Marilyn Inman. I also played Cavemen baseball and roomed with her brother Gary in college.

As Gary’s friend, I also got to know her father, Woody; mother, Velma; brother, Larry, who played Cavemen football and then moved on to play at Baylor; and her sister, Ginger, who, as best as I can remember, although not certain, also competed in gymnastics under coach Woodard.

And, might I add, the Inman family was special. As I see it, their presence and involvement in the community helped to make Carlsbad a much better place to call home.

On Coach Ron Woodard

During the early 1960s and 70s, Woodard worked hard to build CHS’s gymnastics program into one of the most dominant in New Mexico. However, his efforts were short-lived. During the mid-70s, the NMAA dropped gymnastics from its list of interscholastic athletics.

Due to the fact that gymnastics in New Mexico was short-lived and that it was phased off the list of NMAA activities some 50 years ago, finding information on Coach Woodard’s overall success has been difficult.

However, the Net did have these things to report on his tenure at CHS.

“Historically, high school gymnastics records from the early 1970s are sparse; however, contemporary news archives confirm that Coach Ron Woodard led Carlsbad High School’s gymnastics teams during a highly successful era for the sport in New Mexico.

Woodard was highly regarded for his ability to develop young talent. During the 1960s and 1970s, he successfully managed and built competitive squads for both the boys’ and girls’ gymnastics programs, often turning young, sophomore-dominated rosters into formidable regional competitors.

Under Coach Woodard’s leadership, the Carlsbad girls’ gymnastics team reached the pinnacle of New Mexico high school sports, capturing the state championship title in the early 1970s (standing as the defending state champions by the 1972–1973 season).

In the early 1970s, under the tutelage of coach Woodard, Katrina Childers was a standout star for the Carlsbad Cavegirls. She won three consecutive New Mexico high school individual gymnastics all-around state championship titles from 1971 to 1973.

Her incredible three-peat performance remains cemented as a state record in the official National Federation of State High School Association’s (NFHS) Record Book.

Coach Woodard passed away in July of 2018. He is remembered warmly by former students and athletes as a dedicated mentor, an excellent teacher, and a leader who always had a smile on his face.”

Special People

For CHS graduates everywhere, especially us old-timers, it’s always enlightening when the names of those people we’ve known, or spent time with at some point in our lives, just pop up.

Names that have impacted our very being, names that often bring back warm memories of a very special time in our lives—names like Coach Ron Woodard.

RIP, old friend.