The Demon tennis team has become one of the most successful sports teams at Santa Fe High. The foundation for this was laid five years ago, when certain key players, now seniors, joined the team as eighth graders.
The boys’ team were District Champions in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and competed at state. This year, they placed second in Districts, yet still made it to state, where doubles team Luis Flores and Humza Mahmuth became State champions in their final season.
A student from Academy for Technology and the Classics, Humza, who represented the SFHS team for five years as the number one, says, “One of the best parts of joining the tennis team was making strong bonds with the boys team, becoming more competitive, and being active.” Humza, who got the Davis Scholarship, will go to the University of Denver to study Business Analytics. “I’m excited to start a new journey of my life in a different state, pursuing what I love,” he said.
Luis, one of the strongest players on the team, said, “One of my biggest successes during my high school tennis career was winning Districts four years in a row in doubles and winning Districts three years in a row as a team,” he said. Luis wants to major in American Sign Language and interpreting at UNM. “Sadly, I won’t be in tennis in college,” he said.
The girls’ tennis team has also been successful, winning Districts in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
This reporter is the number one on the girls’ team, having played high school tennis since eighth grade. She won Districts Individuals three years in a row alongside her doubles partner Carmen Valentino, and won third in the State tournament in 2022 and 2024. This reporter is sad that she won’t be playing high school tennis anymore, but she is excited to start a new chapter of her life as a nursing student at UNM.
Not every senior has been playing high school tennis since eighth grade. Zephyr Rosen, a senior at ATC, joined the team this spring, yet made it to state in third place in Individuals alongside his doubles partner Marco Salazar. Zephyr said, “I felt disappointed that I let the team down coming in late into the tennis season, but I’m glad that I made the right decision to join.” He would like to play tennis during the summer to improve his game, and he would like to keep some of the connections he made during the season. Zephyr said, “I’m going to Canada, the University of British Columbia, to do Urban Forestry and hang out with some trees.”
Marco Salazar joined the tennis team in his junior year because he was tired of participating in ROTC, which he had done since his freshman year. “The best part of joining the tennis team was getting to eat after the matches with the team and spending more time with my friends,” he said. He is sad that he missed two years of playing, but he enjoyed every bit of playing in his two seasons. “I probably could have done better if I’d played longer,” he said. He is going to UNM to major in mechanical engineering.
Head coach Bonnie Rogers is sad to see these seniors leave the team. “I feel sad because I’ve been with [some of] them for five years and seen them grow up to become amazing tennis players,” she said. She wants the players to not forget how to play tennis because “it’s their roots, and they should never forget where they came from.”
