Ally Martinez won back-to-back individual district golf championships.
Russell Huffman | El Defensor Chieftain

One can only wonder what might have happened if Socorro senior and multi-sport athlete Ally Martinez had decided to pick up some other activities earlier. Still, the back-to-back district golf champion doesn’t worry about what might have been.

Wrestling coach Joel Partridge encouraged Martinez to come out for wrestling this season, and the first-year grappler made her way into the state tournament.

Two years ago, Martinez started fooling around with the triple jump, which also meant she needed to juggle her schedule because she was a top player on the golf team. The increase didn’t stop her from being a first-year qualifier in track while helping the Lady Warriors win a back-to-back state championship on the links.

Taking on other sports was a relatively easy decision for Martinez to make.

“I like to stay active and just do as much as I can stay busy,” Martinez said. “I’ve been playing golf since I was 4.”

Martinez’s love of golf came from her grandpa Lloyd Martinez, who got her started in the game, and before long, her father, Josh, was also picking up clubs and playing.

Despite her picking up different sports, golf has remained Martinez’s biggest priority. As the defending district champion, she found herself a target for other players to focus on at the district tournament.

“It was a rough start at the beginning, but I just kept my cool and kept it all together. I pulled through in the end,” Martinez said.

She has done the same when it came time to consider her golfing at the collegiate level, and Martinez signed with Trinidad State College in Colorado on May 10. After her college graduation, Martinez has hopes of owning her own business.

“I wanted to go somewhere out of state, and Trinidad is also a small town. It’s a junior college. Nothing too big,” Martinez said.

Playing at the next level is something Martinez put on her checklist of goals a long time ago.

“I think it was in middle school when I started thinking about playing college golf,” Martinez said.

Splitting time between two spring sports hasn’t diverted Martinez away from her leadership role, and along with her fellow seniors, she has “co-captained” the team.

“We work at picking the others up. A lot of other players tend to talk negatively, and we are just trying to keep them on a positive track,” Martinez said. “Golf is about 80 percent mental out there, so it’s important to be in a good frame of mind. You have to find out little tricks that will help you, such as counting your steps between shots and looking at the scenery. Keep taking a deep breath”

Russell Huffman | Assistant Editor