Six student athletes signed National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) letters of intent to compete for ENMU-Ruidoso Branch Community College this fall semester.
Ruidoso High School Student Brayden Rocha, Mescalero High School Student Westly Wayne Sago and Isaac Magana of Ruidoso signed the NJCAA letter of intent to compete on the Cross Country team for Head Coach Micah Bray.
Rocha of Mescalero is the son of Alice Tahnito. His mother is a graduate of ENMU-Ruidoso and he plans to get an associate degree in business and minor in culinary arts.
Sago is the son of Ewell Fossum of Mescalero. His family is from the Mescalero Apache Tribe and is Lipan, Chiricahua, Warm Springs and Ojibwe and are descendants of Manga and Victorio. He plans to study psychology at ENMU-Ruidoso.
Magana attended Desert Pride Academy High School in Anthony, N.M. and was previously enrolled in ENMU-Ruidoso information systems cybersecurity program and plans to continue on with that program.
Two El Paso, Texas students from Bowie High School, Lucas Gael Hernandez-Serrano and Valeria Jazmin Guerrero, both signed NJCAA letters of intent to compete on the Golf Team for Head Golf Coach Darrell Turnipseed.
Hernandez-Serrano is the son of Vanessa Serrano Valle. He plans to study criminal justice and looks forward to the opportunity to golf for ENMU-Ruidoso.
Guerreo is the daughter of Arturo Guerreo and Rosa Ceniceios. She is a member of the National Honor Society and plans to study nursing.
David Sanchez of Ruidoso signed the NIRA letter of intent to compete in bull riding on the College Rodeo Team for Head Rodeo Coach Chelsea DeMott. Sanchez will be studying for his electrical certificate. He is the son of Mathew and Teresa Sanchez. He is engaged to Skyler Romero and has a daughter Scarlet. He is the Casper Baca Bull Riding Champion two years in a row. He attended the National Junior High and High School Finals Rodeo five years in a row.
In the spring of 2023, the locally elected ENMU-Ruidoso Branch Community College Board and the ENMU Board of Regents approved for the College to bring on three athletic sports teams, men’s and women’s cross country, golf and rodeo. The College applied and was approved for NIRA membership the summer of 2023 and received initial approval from NJCAA in December of 2022. The cross country and golf teams will compete in the NJCAA Region 5 and the rodeo team will compete in the NIRA Grand Canyon Region.
