Meet the Preps | All about high school sports in El Paso

Great hire for Socorro football program

For 11 years, Polo Gonzalez was the offensive coordinator for city powerhouse Montwood, which enjoyed success not only in town but proved to be a tough team in the state playoffs. 

Now the 52-year-old Gonzalez finally gets his chance to lead a program after he was hired to be the new coach at Socorro. It's going to be a challenge for Gonzalez at Socorro, which has a recent trend of head coaches jumping ship. 

But Gonzalez helped lead one of the city's best offenses year in and year out. He's a veteran coach, who players respect and love to play for. He often gets the very best out of his players and he'll do the same at Socorro. 

Gonzalez was long overdue to get a head coaching job and he'll bring some stability to the Bulldogs program and with that stability don't be surprised to see a few more wins. 

Burges' Jacques to sign with Houston

Burges catcher Brandon Jacques will sign to play baseball for the University of Houston on Thursday. Jacques helped the Mustangs to a District 1-4A championship this season.

Chapin's postseason softball game to be broadcast on Friday, May 17

ONLINE BROADCAST, Friday May 17: Texas HS Girls Softball Class 4A regional semifinals:

6 p.m.  HS Softball  Chapin vs. Aledo   http://www.tsrnsports.com

Montwood's Erives to sign with Arizona State

Montwood pitcher Eder Erives will sign with Arizona State on Monday. Erives helped lead the Rams to the District 1-5A title this year and had two postseason victories against Amarillo Tascosa in the bidistrict round and against Fossil Ridge in the area round. 

Good pickup for University of Houston

Franklin distance runner Brian Barraza signed with Houston on Tuesday. The talented Barraza was the El Paso Times' All-City Cross Country Runner of the Year in the fall. He had a strong performance at the cross country meet and also qualified for the Class 5A state track and field meet in the 3,200 meters. 

Barraza is one of the best distance runners to come out of El Paso in recent years. The longer the distance, the better it seems for Barraza, who is strong in the steeplechase as well. Barraza competed at a high level during his career as a Cougar and once he matures and gets stronger, I believe he'll have a good college career. 

Barraza got better every year in high school but I don't believe he's reached his ceiling yet and his best days are ahead of him as a distance runner. 

Newman to sign with Lobos

El Dorado's Lauren Newman will sign with the University of New Mexico women's basketball program on Friday. Newman helped lead Aztecs to 1-5A playoffs this year. Also had interest from Boise State and New Orleans. 

Chapin softball ranked No. 5

The Chapin softball team is ranked No. 5 in the state by the Texas Girls Coaches Association. Meanwhile, Chapin's next opponent in the Class 4A softball playoffs, Aledo, is ranked No. 10. Chapin and Aledo play on Friday in Odessa in the regional semifinals. It is the first time in school history that Chapin will play in the regional semis. 

Montwood pitcher Eder Erives

Montwood senior pitcher Eder Erives has been offered a scholarship by the Pac 12's Arizona State. Erives helped lead Montwood to the District 1-5A title this year and won two games in the state playoffs, collecting 23 strikeouts in the process.