In the latter half 2024, two Montezuma-Cortez High School alumni received Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference player of the week honors.
Dimery Plewe, a junior on Fort Lewis College’s women’s golf team, was named the RMAC women’s golfer of the week in October, while Avery Wright, a junior at the Colorado School of Mines for track and field, received the RMAC women’s field athlete of the week honor in December.
After graduating from Montezuma-Cortez High School, Plewe served a mission in Hungary with the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before her collegiate golf career really got underway. It was during her time in Hungary that she fully realized her passion for golf.
“I was able to go to two driving ranges while serving,” Plewe said. “It was a long time away from golf, but I loved what I was doing over there, and it helped me realize that I did want to come back and golf and take it to another level.”
Golfing has been part of her life since childhood.
“I grew up golfing with my family, but have only participated in competitive golf for five years,” Plewe said. “I love golfing with my family and the time that it allows us to spend together.”
During high school, Plewe golfed for two years. She made it to the state championships both years, placing eighth her junior year. Because of COVID-19, Plewe didn’t compete her senior year.
After returning from Hungary, Plewe wanted to compete and win tournaments. While she was speaking with colleges, she met Shea Sena, Fort Lewis’s coach.
“He was new to the program but familiar with my golf game. I told him my personal goals, and he shared his vision for the team, and they really clicked,” Plewe said. “He was excited about it, which really made a difference to me. I felt like I could achieve my goals here at Fort Lewis and help the team reach theirs as well.”
Before golfing for Fort Lewis, Plewe golfed for Idaho State University for two years.
At the Nick Turner Invitational at Hillcrest Golf Club this fall, Plewe became the first Fort Lewis women’s golfer to win a tournament since 2015. Plewe’s 1-over-145 for the tournament was a career best.
As she finishes up her junior year as a Skyhawk, Plewe said her goal is to perform well enough at the championship tournament to be able to continue competing in the postseason.
“I am really glad that I was able to get my first win as a Skyhawk, and I definitely want to chase more of those this spring. As an individual I want to perform well enough at the RMAC Championship to get into postseason,” Plewe said. “As a team we have the ability to be in the mix for tournaments, and we want to break the Fort Lewis team record for a score on a tournament.”
Plewe added that she was honored to be named RMAC’s golfer of the week after her win at the Nick Turner Invitational.
“Being named RMAC golfer of the week after our last tournament was exciting. It was a good way to go into the offseason with a win at our home tournament and then being named golfer of the week,” Plewe said. “I worked hard all fall to get my golf game back to where I could compete after not playing in so long. It was a great reward to see the work pay off and get excited for our spring season.”
Plewe’s sister, Kiselya (Plewe) Salcedo, also recently joined the Skyhawks team as an assistant coach.
Wright, a junior at the Colorado School of Mines, began competing as a heptathlete and pentathlete for the Orediggers after her graduation from MCHS. She has already qualified for the spring 2025 NCAA championships in the pentathlon and 60-meter hurdles.
The pentathlon is an indoor event that combines 60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and an 800-meter race over the course of one day, while the heptathlon is an outdoor event that combines the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meter long jump, javelin and the 800.
Though Wright was primarily a sprinter in high school, she said that she told the coach at the School of Mines that she wanted to try something new. Once she arrived at Mines, she began training in the heptathlon and pentathlon.
“I could always jump pretty well, and I was pretty strong,” Wright said. “I honestly just wanted to try everything and see how it went. … I love it so much. Every day is a new day, and the variety is amazing. … Looking back, it’s so crazy to think that I couldn’t even hurdle or throw, and now here I am qualified for nationals in hurdling.”
Wright began running in elementary school in Dolores but officially started track in sixth grade at the Dolores Middle School.
Though she also played sports like volleyball and basketball, the individual and team aspect of track combined is what ultimately caused her to choose track as the sport to pursue at the collegiate level.
She emphasized the variety in the team and training help keep her motivated to train and improve herself.
“It’s a blast. I love it,” Wright said. “It’s very long practices, like two hours a day. Sometimes, I’ve had four-hour practices, but we break it up. Tomorrow, I’ll throw in the morning for an hour and then I’ll go long jump in the afternoon. It changes almost every day.”
Along with qualifying for nationals, Wright also recently broke her pentathlon (5,852 points) and 60-meter hurdle (8.52 seconds) school records. She first broke these records in December 2023.
“Having those two records and my heptathlon record outdoors are really proud accomplishments, and winning the individual RMAC title and the RMAC titles with my friends,” Wright said. “We, the women’s team, won conference the last few years, which is really exciting. We won the first-ever conference title (for Mines) indoors in 2023.”
Looking at the remainder of her junior year, Wright shared that she hopes to have fun, keep improving and become a first-team All-American, which is top eight in the nation. As for goals further in the future, Wright said she is just trusting God’s plan.
“I hope to become first team All-American,” Wright said. “I think that's one definite goal in mind, and I think another is to just have a blast with it. I know it kind of seems like a silly goal, but I always compete my best and I always enjoy it when I have fun. I love what I do. I'd love to keep enjoying it, and keep scratching some records off and just putting my name on the Mine’s record board. … I know life has something in store for me, and so does God, so I’m just trusting the plan and the process, and I’ll just see where he takes me.”
