New Mexico

New Mexico teen to compete on 'American Ninja Warrior'

Published

2 years ago

June 3, 2024

New Mexico teen to compete on 'American Ninja Warrior'

A local teen is representing New Mexico on a national stage – she is competing on season 16 of “American Ninja Warrior.”

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A local teen is representing New Mexico on a national stage – she is competing on season 16 of “American Ninja Warrior.”

Out of a pool of 75,000 people who applied to be on the show, 19-year-old Ixchel Valentino was one of over 100 selected to actually compete.

Valentino calls herself “the Nerdy Ninja.” When she’s not hanging, flying, or doing flips while training at Ninja Force Gym, she spends time with robots.

“I’ve been competing in robotics since I was five years old,” she said. “Doing anything and everything from programming to building to promoting our teams.”

Valentino says competing in both events are pretty similar.

“Competing in both athletics and academics, I’ve found that the mindset for both aspects of, I guess nerdy and athletic is very, very common. You have to find that middle ground for your mindset to be able to get in the game mode, you have to block out all the distractions and stay super focused,” she said.

For Valentino, the sky is the limit – even when you have a fear of heights.

“I have like this fight or flight kind of reflex. And I’m so scared. I just, I want to, like, crawl back down,” she said.

She uses that fear as fuel.

“I can use that fight or flight as fuel. I can use it as more energy to compete. And it kind of pushes me to do things that I wouldn’t normally be comfortable doing if it wasn’t in a competition setting,” Valentino said.

She’s hoping to beat the odds, no matter how stacked they are.

“Trying to get on from that 75,000 pool, I guess you get a 0.26% chance of getting on. That is like crazy,” Valentino said.

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New Mexico

New Mexico veteran cemetery coming to Carlsbad via $8M in federal funds – Carlsbad Current-Argus

Published

37 minutes ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

New Mexico veteran cemetery coming to Carlsbad via M in federal funds – Carlsbad Current-Argus

Mack Dyer salutes the American Flag during a ceremony, Feb. 25, 2026 at the American Legion in Carlsbad. Adrian Hedden | Carlsbad Current-Argus

Adrian Hedden Carlsbad Current-Argusachedden@currentargus.com Mack Dyer served for 21 years in the U.S. Army. He fought in Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and Operation Iraqi…

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New Mexico

New Mexico spoils Nevada’s Senior Day as Lobos leave Reno with 63-56 win

Published

13 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

New Mexico spoils Nevada’s Senior Day as Lobos leave Reno with 63-56 win

The Nevada women’s basketball team dropped its final home contest of the 2025-26 season on Saturday with New Mexico spoiling Senior Day and pushing past the Wolf Pack for a 63-56 win.

The Wolf Pack led 36-34 at halftime behind a hot-shooting start. Skylar Durley, Imbie Jones and Ahrray Young each had six points as Nevada shot 14-of-25 from the field (56%). But things cooled off in the second half, with the Lobos outscoring the Wolf Pack 19-13 in the third quarter to take a four-point lead into the fourth. Nevada’s shooting woes only worsened in the final period when it made just three field goals, including none in the final four minutes.

Durley led Nevada with 16 points and six rebounds. Young finished with 10 points, three rebounds and three assists. The Wolf Pack made just one three-pointer out of its nine attempts.

The loss drops Nevada to 9-20 overall, 5-14 within the Mountain West Conference. The Wolf Pack now heads to Utah State for Tuesday’s regular-season finale before opening the Mountain West Tournament play next Saturday in Las Vegas.

Watch our coverage of the game below.

Highlights and reaction from Nevada’s loss to New Mexico.

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