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Cibola’s three-straight softball championships in Class 5A are the most recent entry in a long history of being competitive at the highest level of prep sports.
Find out where else the Cougars have broken through in the Roll Call of State Championships below…
Softball
2009…Cougars grab third straight title by beating Carlsbad second year in a row. Final: Cibola 3, Carlsbad 0
2008…Cibola coach Gene Victor’s crew repeats as Class 5A champion by romping over Carlsbad 10-3
2007…Led by sophomore pitcher Missy Martinez, Coogs win first softball championship with a 2-1 victory over Sandia
Volleyball
1981…Cibola and coach Laverne Atler complete a perfect 20-0 campaign by sweeping Highland in the Class 4A championship match
1974…In second year of state volleyball tournament history, the Cougars are champs by edging Hobbs in finale
Baseball
1983…Cibola breaks through for first baseball championship as the Cougars romp over Albuquerque High 13-1 in 4A title game
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And now, a word from our Sponsor…
“Ole!” greets drive-through customers from the speaker box.
If that’s the case, it can only be one business: Taco Box.
From frijole burritos to Spanish fries to pig-in-a-panchos, and quite nearly everything in-between, the restaurant has been serving up its eclectic menu for 40 years.
According to owner Tom Martin, the number one seller is the simple-and-tasty frijole burrito while tacos, chalupas and cheese sticks follow closely in popularity.
A popular side item are Spanish fries, a Taco Box-invented title for another potato-based munchie (any guesses?). Martin says his restaurant has only occasionally ventured into making regular french fries and the attempts have ultimately always been futile with the Taco Box customer base.
“I always joke that I don’t make french fries so I can help keep McDonald’s in business,” Martin says.
Other items also remain popular to an extent even though not officially on the menu board anymore – a testament to the loyalty of the typical Taco Box consumer.
The Mexi-Burger was on the menu back in the early 1980s and still gets ordered today. By those in the know, at any rate.
“There’s probably at least a dozen different items over the years like that,” Martin says. “We took it off, just because of space, but we still make ‘em. We probably sell as many as we did when they were on the menu.”
Martin lists breakfast tacos, frijole tacos, guacamole tacos as other such “underground” items. And that’s not to mention the vast array of drink combinations, utilizing the different soft drinks and flavorings, that have actually never been listed on the big board at Taco Box.
Martin, raised in Cleveland and a graduate from Cornell University in New York, ventured west after college and tried his hand with the Taco Box brand. He took over Taco Box on June 1, 1970.
Remembering his first foray into Mexican food, Martin has an oft-repeated story with some variation or another.
“I never had a taco until I was 21. I remember having a mild green chile taco and I thought I was going to die,” Martin recalls.
After having a tastebud-adjustment and following countless tacos served to his customers at Taco Box, it’s safe to say one thing about the guy who originally thought he’d be in the Land of Enchantment for “a couple of years.”
Well Tom, you’re a New Mexican now.
