Sights and Sounds: 8Gradys Elite 150 Combine In Albuquerque

About 75 talented New Mexico prospects representing the classes of 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 attended Saturday’s Elite 150 Combine at the 8Gradys Performance Center in north Albuquerque. The four-hour combine was divided into 3 parts: Individual testing, warmup and drills and 1-on-1 competition. Some of the top players in New Mexico High School football participated in the combine. Lea County athletes dominated the post-combine awards with Hobbs WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137921" first="Kaden" last="Trevino"]</strong> capturing Overall MVP honors and Best Offensive Skills Award. Trevino picked up his first offer 11 days ago from Eastern New Mexico. But Trevino wasn’t the only Hobbs player to shine on Saturday. Fellow Eagles 2023 WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="269534" first="Ethan" last="Vanlandingham"]</strong> won the award for Fastest 5-10-5 Drill, while 2024 OL <strong>Joshua Ray</strong> captured Best Offensive Lineman honors. Ray is 6-foot-4, 290 pounds and definitely looks (and plays) like a major college prospect even though he still has two more high school seasons left in his prep career. 2023 Lovington OL <strong>Brennen Garcia</strong> took home Best Defensive Line honors, while 2023 Alamogordo standout <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138069" first="Ryan" last="Stovall"]</strong> earned the Best Defensive Skills award, cementing southeast New Mexico’s iron grip on the combine. Albuquerque High DB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="269966" first="Jabulani" last="Cooper"]</strong>, offered by Eastern New Mexico, New Mexico Highlands and Western New Mexico within a 48-hour period earlier this month following an impressive performance at ENMU’s camp in Albuquerque, was the combine’s fastest player with a laser timed clocking of 4.5 seconds in the 40. Cooper edged out 2024 Belen RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="274725" first="Diego" last="Avila"]</strong> and 2026 (rising freshman) La Cueva WR <strong>Tanner Montano</strong> in a 3-man race for the title of Fastest Camper. Avila rushed for 584 yards and 7 TD as a Belen sophomore last season, while Montano showed he’ll likely be one of the state’s top 2026 prospects with his top end speed and emerging WR skills. He’ll just be a freshmen this fall but looks ready now to contribute to the varsity. Besides finishing just a shade behind Cooper in the 40, Avila won the awards for highest vertical jump and longest broad jump, arguably earning him the title of the Combine’s best all-around athlete. Other prominent New Mexico prospects participating in the Elite 150 Combine included 2023 Sandia QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="269568" first="Dalen" last="Moyer"]</strong>, 2023 Artesia QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137932" first="Payton" last="Deans"]</strong>, 2024 Los Lunas DB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="274991" first="Jason" last="Ussery"]</strong>, 2024 Lovington QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="275459" first="Wyatt" last="Gomez"]</strong>, 2023 Cibola WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="274792" first="Marcus" last="Wilson"]</strong> (D1 offers in basketball), 2023 Belen WR <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="335471" first="Elijah" last="Romero"]</strong>, 2025 La Cueva QB <strong>Cameron Dyer</strong> (he’ll be [player_tooltip player_id="137862" first="Aidan" last="Armenta"]’s backup this season before presumably taking over as the starter for 2023 and 2024), 2024 Roswell RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="340165" first="Bryce" last="Sanchez"]</strong>, 2024 La Cueva TE <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="274718" first="Cruz" last="Markham"]</strong>, 2023 Cibola TE <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="137935" first="Brayden" last="Mummert"]</strong>, 2023 Rio Rancho LB/DB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="269511" first="Chris" last="Montoya"], </strong>2024 Albuquerque OL<strong> T.J. McCarthy </strong>and 2023 Highland OL/DL <strong>Aaron Loya</strong>. <strong>Elite 150 Combine/Camp Awards</strong>: Overall Combine MVP: [player_tooltip player_id="137921" first="Kaden" last="Trevino"], Hobbs WR Best Offensive Skills: [player_tooltip player_id="137921" first="Kaden" last="Trevino"], Hobbs WR Offensive Line MVP: Joshua Ray, Hobbs Defensive Line MVP: Brennen Garcia, Lovington Best Defensive Skills: [player_tooltip player_id="138069" first="Ryan" last="Stovall"], Alamogordo Fastest 40 Yard Dash: [player_tooltip player_id="269966" first="Jabulani" last="Cooper"], Albuquerque DB Fastest 5-10-5 Drill: [player_tooltip player_id="269534" first="Ethan" last="Vanlandingham"], Hobbs WR Fastest L Drill: John Williams, Manzano RB/LB Highest Vertical Jump: [player_tooltip player_id="274725" first="Diego" last="Avila"], Belen RB Longest Broad Jump: [player_tooltip player_id="274725" first="Diego" last="Avila"], Belen RB <strong>Video 1: Warmup and Drills</strong> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPbOfngG_VA <strong>Video 2: WR vs. DB, 1x1 Competition</strong> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ToG3j1SB8w <strong>Video 3: OL vs. DL, 1x1  Competition</strong> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJzwsQLVxFs <strong>Video 4: [player_tooltip player_id="269966" first="Jabulani" last="Cooper"] runs the 40</strong> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc7omaSZL0U <strong>Video 5: [player_tooltip player_id="269966" first="Jabulani" last="Cooper"] wins Fastest Camper Race </strong> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBZCuo0ZOi4 <strong>Video 6: Post-Combine Awards</strong> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MI0qpv69-g <strong>Combine/Camp Overall MVP: [player_tooltip player_id="137921" first="Kaden" last="Trevino"]</strong> <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2022/06/Screenshot-2022-06-25-at-17-11-31-1-8Gradys-Elite-150-Combine-Hobbs-WR-Kaden-Trevino-wins-Overall-Camp-MVP-honors-June-25.-YouTube-crop-473x311-1656198783.png"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-370486" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2022/06/Screenshot-2022-06-25-at-17-11-31-1-8Gradys-Elite-150-Combine-Hobbs-WR-Kaden-Trevino-wins-Overall-Camp-MVP-honors-June-25.-YouTube-crop-473x311-1656198783-300x197.png" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> &nbsp;