Redefining an Athlete - Dionna Montoya
6/3/2009
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Merriam-Webster's
suc-cess n 1: work you put into what you're trying to succeed in 2: practices 3: what you want out of something 4: how determined you are 5: how hard you want to work
Dionna Montoya
Words.
Merriam-Webster's publishes its version annually, while Dionna Montoya practices hers daily. And until Dionna experiences her defining moment, she will continue to live by her definitions of another's words that best describe who she is, what she strives for, how to reach what eludes her grasp.
Dionna's chockablock bio, though, is universal in any language.
It reads like this:
She is 17, the daughter of Denise and Steve Montoya, the younger sister of Kevin, 23, and Jessica, 20.
She is a senior-to-be at Pojoaque Valley High School, a 4.1 student on a 4.0 grade-point-average scale, and a member of National Honor Society.
She is vice-president of the student body, a member of the student senate, part of the Link Crew that welcomes incoming freshmen, a member of Big Brothers, Big Sisters.
She sang the National Anthem more than once, took part in a workout video with Jessica, wants to study nursing in college, just like Jess, a University of New Mexico junior-to-be who forfeited a spot on the Lobos volleyball team to pursue a nursing degree.
She stands 5-foot-6, owns four varsity letters in track, three in basketball, two in volleyball, contributed to three state championships, repeated as Class AAA state track champion at 800 meters.
She is The New Mexican's 2008-2009 Athlete of the Year for Girls based on her nonpareil season.
per-fec-tion n 1: the quality or state of being perfect: as a: freedom from fault or defect: flawlessness b: maturity c: the quality or state of being saintly 2 a: an exemplification of supreme excellence b: an unsurpassable degree of accuracy or excellence 3: the act or process of perfecting
Merriam-Webster's
per-fec-tion n 1: 31-0
Dionna Montoya
It isn't the first time perfection brushed "The Valley" and touched the Elkettes.
In 1998, Pojoaque Valley finished 28-0 en route to capturing the school's first state basketball championship.
Back then, the landscape was sectioned into four classifications — not the current five — and those Elkettes were an offensive hurricane powered by Cristal and Sonrisa Garcia, identical twin terrors, and Kim Richardson, the center of attention, in what comprised a perfect storm.
In March, the Elkettes went three better, winning the school's third state title in girls basketball, the second straight, and setting a school record for most consecutive victories at 35, which includes the final four wins of 2008.
Unlike '98, Pojoaque Valley was not an offensive juggernaut. Defense was its forte and Dionna was Minister of Defense.
"She wreaks havoc on offenses," says Lanse Carter, Pojoaque Valley head coach. "Offenses have a hard time getting from one 3-point line to another against her. They have to be thinking about her all the time. Where is she at? Where is she coming from?
"She'll come from behind, or tie balls up. She'll get a tip, or change an angle of passes. She never stops coming at you, and our defense gets so infectious because of her.
"She's a smarter defender. She's stronger and she's longer. She knows how to defend the ball better and she knows the angles on the floor and how best to defend them. She's more devastating once the ball gets by her, and that's not said about too many."
Dionna takes pride in her defense. Still, she sees lots of room for improvement, even in a season that featured zero losses.
"Even after we won state, I still felt I could have done better, I could have contributed more," she says. "I could have good defensive games, but then I wasn't happy with my offense, or my shooting. I was happier with how I played in the state games last year. This year, I felt like I didn't do what I wanted.
"Others can tell me I played an awesome game, but to me, it wasn't what I wanted. I know I didn't reach that goal that I wanted."
The goal wasn't 31-0. It didn't enter the locker room until the season reached 20-0.
"That's when it hit us," Dionna says. "We just went strong, went hard."
So, 31-0 is the best?
As far as school records, yes.
But 28-0 concedes nothing.
Matt Martinez, the head coach of 28-0, is athletic director at Pojoaque Valley. You know whom he's backing.
Carter wasn't around for 28-0, but he's watched video. He's impressed by 28-0, but not enough to sell out 31-0.
Dionna once played pick-up basketball against Cristal. She even drained a 3-pointer. Unless the past becomes present, no one will ever know if 31-0's better is better than 28-0's better.
It's kept people debating, if not daydreaming.
Here's one scenario:
"It would be a close game," Dionna says. "In the end, we'd win by two at the buzzer."
The question of who hit the winning shot goes unasked.
Dionna is a veteran of perfection. Her basketball teams in sixth and seventh grade went undefeated, as did her track teams in seventh and eighth grade. It was after her eighth-grade track season that Dionna made her first appearance at the state track meet and collected her first medal, a fourth in the 400 relay.
"I'm really proud of those years," she says. "They were so much fun."
lead-er-ship n 1: the office or position of a leader 2: capacity to lead 3: the act or an instance of leading 4: leaders
Merriam-Webster's
lead-er-ship n 1: 2008 Class AAA State Basketball Tournament 2: practice 3: locker room
Dionna Montoya
There is an ice cream flavor that best describes the past two state championship basketball seasons in "The Valley" and it isn't Peaches and Cream.
Try Rocky Road.
This season, there was the in-season walk out by a starter and her return. Last year, there was the dismissal of two players from the state tournament.
Carter dreaded walking into that hotel room after the players were sent home. He had just finished his matter-of-fact announcement to the remaining Elkettes when a voice carried from the back corner.
"Don't worry. Everything's going to be all right. We got this."
It was Dionna's voice.
The action figure became Speaker of the House.
"It was one of those cold stares that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up," Carter says. "You felt her sincerity in that statement. The next day the team rose to the occasion."
Dionna says little in uniform. She doesn't have to. Her actions resonate loudly.
"She expects a lot out of the people around her," Carter says, "but at the same time, she leads by example so much that people want to follow her effort level. She inspires the people around her to play harder."
There is a time for show, and there is a time for tell.
"In the locker room, she is not afraid to be a leader," Carter says. "More than any other one, she's not afraid to stand on her own two legs and say what's right and wrong. If she's not happy, they're going to know about it, and it's usually for a pretty darn good reason. She expects a lot out of you as a coach, too. One of the reasons we as coaches here in Pojoaque put in a lot of time is because of kids like her."
en-e-my n 1: one that is antagonistic to another; esp: one seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound an opponent 2: something harmful or deadly 3 a: a military adversary b: a hostile unit or force
Merriam-Webster's
en-e-my n 1: Dionna Montoya
Dionna Montoya
"I am my own worst enemy. Definitely."
There. Dionna said it. For the record.
"I beat myself up sometimes. Especially, after a game."
It's the one side few witness.
"They don't see the crying," Denise Montoya says. "She's really hard on herself. She brings it home, and it's hard."
Not just on a mother.
"She's so hard on herself," Jessica Montoya says. "Everybody else sees something different in her than she does. She's so amazing in everything she does, but she beats herself up way too much. Like in track. She beats her record but gets second place, and she thinks she lets everyone down."
Nobody's keeping score.
Not teammates.
Not family.
Not coaches.
Only Dionna increases the degree of difficulty. Sometimes it's to her detriment.
"Dionna wants to be the best at everything she does," Brian Ainsworth, Pojoaque Valley head volleyball coach, says. "When there is that little bit of failure, she puts even more pressure on herself. When she learns how to funnel that into calm, she's going to take her game to the next level at whatever she does.
"How you overcome that failure sets your destiny. Once she learns that, she's going to be perfect."
That work in progress is a little closer to completion inside Dionna because of last month's Class AAA State Track and Field Championships.
Montoya arrived as defending state champion in the long jump. But after the first two rounds, she was in jeopardy of missing the finals.
Gulp!
"I was so freaked out," Montoya says. "I've never been in that situation."
Perspective was in order. It came from her father, who wrestled in high school and college, and poured that passion into coaching.
"I told her to just try to get into the finals and go from there," Steve Montoya says.
After scratching on her first two attempts, Dionna landed 15 feet, 10 inches away from where she took off on the final jump of the preliminaries. It got her to finals. Once there, she improved her distance to 16-10, which was three-quarters of an inch short of a second straight state title. The consolation was teammate Kim Babicke took first.
Ainsworth, who believes track is Dionna's best sport, calls her one of the best athletes he's ever coached. He also includes current volleyball teammate Miquella Lovato and Jessica Montoya in that conversation. He first noticed Dionna when she was in seventh grade.
"Her athleticism just stood out," Ainsworth says. "She got to a lot of balls that others could not."
So, what other insights has he gleaned since then? That few can measure themselves against her as an athlete, and even less can equal her heart and her passion.
"They work hard for you every day," Ainsworth says of the Montoya sisters. "They put their best effort forward. Their parents instilled great values in those kids. I've coached a lot of athletes over the years and their passion to be the best has never been matched by any other kid I've coached."
drive n 7 a: an urgent, basic or instinctive need; a motivating physiological condition of an organism b: an impelling culturally acquired concern, interest, or longing c: dynamic quality
Merriam-Webster's
drive n 1: volleyball 2: 400 meters 3: long jump 4: Lubbock, Texas 5: North Carolina
Dionna Montoya
Dionna craves what Jessica already has — and no, it's not her clothes — a state championship in volleyball.
Jessica won hers as a senior. Dionna shared in the celebration, accompanying the team as its manager. It's the only volleyball final she's been to. The Elkettes suffered successive upsets in the past two state semifinals.
"I didn't perform like I wanted," Dionna says, referring to the November loss to Las Vegas Robertson, only the second in a 23-2 season. "As much as I want to, I can't go back and change it. I have to take what happened and learn from it.
"The energy, the chemistry, it just wasn't there. We didn't click that day. Something triggered it and I still can't figure out why. What made it worse was the fact that we had beaten them the four previous times."
Dionna isn't one for excuses. And she offered none for running second in the 400 meters and finishing as the runner-up in the long jump at state.
"I had it," she says of the 400, which she lost by .06 of a second to Ruidoso's Amber Gardner.
Gardner also beat Dionna to the finish line in 2008, this time by .40 of a second.
What Dionna didn't reveal in May was the fact that she was pulling double duty in track and AAU basketball, after joining the New Mexico Heat Elite, a team based in Albuquerque. The Heat Elite traveled to Lubbock for practice and competed in North Carolina.
That wasn't all. Dionna contracted strep throat after returning from North Carolina.
Dionna competed in exactly three track meets during the regular season. The only time she worked on the long jump was during the meet. Still, she returned with gold medals in the 800 and as a member of the 1,600 relay, was a silver medalist in the 400 and long jump, and ran a leg on the third-place 800 relay.
Without those contributions, plus the other eight state-qualifiers, including Babicke, the high-point individual, the Elkettes would not have captured the school's first state championship in track.
"You can't say one's more or one's less, because 31-0 was also a record and they both made history in their own way," Dionna says of the basketball and track championships.
"I would have to say track was a little bit different feeling because we had already won state before in basketball and I already had that feeling. Winning for track was another great feeling. It was just incredible to see that we could do it with nine girls. That was the amazing part."
Her track spikes aren't in her closet. Not after an invitation was extended to compete in today's Great Southwest Track and Field Classic in Albuquerque. She qualified for the 800 and will run a leg on New Mexico's 1,600 relay.
"I was so excited when I got invited," Dionna says of the meet, which invites the elite from Colorado, Arizona, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, Utah, Texas and Oklahoma for a finals-only Who's Who. "I really hope to drop my time in the 800."
AAU, which takes her to Portland, Chicago and Tennessee in July, also is another step up in competition. When Dionna competed in North Carolina, it returned an old memory.
"It was like being in eighth grade again," she says. "It's such a different level. The girls are so much more intense and so much more advanced. They're quick, too. They make me look slow.
"It's difficult. But it's only going to make me get better."
Is AAU a preview of coming attractions?
Dionna hopes so.
"I love all my sports," she says, "but I really want to play basketball at the next level. You can contribute in so many different ways. It's just a sport I've always loved."
look n 1 a: the act of looking b: glance 2 a: the expression of the countenance
Merriam-Webster's
look n 1: The Look 2: Denise Montoya
Dionna Montoya
No one is immune from "The Look."
"We all run out of the house together when she gets it," Steve Montoya says of Denise, his wife of 27 years, the woman he fell in love with at first sight, the woman he built — literally — a home for.
Like mother, like daughters?
"We all have it, those two have it the worse," Jessica says with a laugh. "I don't use it often. I'm the nice one. She definitely gives the dirtier look."
Carter has seen it.
Teammates have, too.
"I try to send a message through my look," Dionna says, trying to soften its harshness. "One thing I don't like is when we mess around in practice. When you come to practice, you really need to have that focus."
Even Dionna has been on the receiving end inside Ben Luján Gymnasium.
"I remember one time I looked in the crowd and my mom was giving me 'The Look'," Dionna says.
"I didn't say a word," Denise counters.
She doesn't have to, does she, Steve?
girl n 1 a: a female child b: a young unmarried woman
Merriam-Webster's
girl n 1: eyelash curler
Dionna Montoya
From the Corrida de Española at age 4, a one-mile road race in which Dionna became a pink blur with a finishing kick, to the triathlons, purple belt in karate and gymnastics of her youth, there is every-bit-of girl underneath the sweat and sinew of an athlete.
Carter learned just how much during the state basketball tournament.
"We had come home after that quarterfinal game against Socorro, which I believe was a Tuesday, had our practice that next day and were going to come in that Wednesday night and stay at a hotel in Albuquerque," Carter says. "On the bus ride, I heard 'D' arguing with her sister on the phone about needing a certain type of eyelash curler. We were heading to Olive Garden to eat and I told 'D' we would just stop at the mall there in Santa Fe.
"It wasn't the right mall."
Of course not.
"So, once we got to Albuquerque, we arranged for coach (Michelle) Ortiz and five girls to go to the mall," Carter says. "I just wanted 'D' happy so she can just be 'D' on the court the next day. It all worked out."
"Who told you that?"
Thankfully, there is no look behind the question. Just a smile, her constant companion away from the action.
"It's high tech," Dionna says in defense of the eyelash curler and girls-need-to-be-girls. "I needed it. I knew my vision would be a lot clearer."
There is another side to the story, right Jessica?
"She calls me panicking, asking me to go to Sephora and get it for her," Jessica says of the exclusive store at Coronado Center. "I tell her, 'I'm in class. I can't just leave.' Plus, I have practice and I can't just miss work. I told her I had two, but she wanted a new one."
Was Dionna being a brat?
Jessica laughs at the question without responding. She's still not off the hook. What about the infamous intrasquad scrimmage, when Jessica was a senior and Dionna was a freshman?
Uh-oh! Another bat out of the cave of secrets.
Jessica was a starter. Dionna was not. That pitted them opposite each other. Two girls, one basketball. You know where this is heading and it isn't sugar and spice and everything nice.
Neither called "dibs" on a loose ball. That's where the confrontation began.
"I accidentally threw her down and everybody just looked at us, like, 'Oh My God'," Dionna says.
Jessica's recollection differs.
"I thought I took the ball away from her," she says. "But we were on the floor, fighting for the ball and I cussed at her. We were so pissed off at each other that I might have said the 'B' word."
Jessica wasn't kidding.
"I was scared to go back home with her, just put it that way," Dionna says.
It's the only time they've fought. Well, unless one raids the other's closet.
"She's my best friend," Dionna says. "I look up to my sister so much. I want to succeed like she's succeeded."
The feeling is soul deep.
"I'm so proud of her," Jessica says. "I know she's going to go far. I hope I've set a good example for her. I try to make every game, but I forget about watching the game and I just watch her. She's amazing."
Dionna couldn't do it alone.
There is her faith.
"A lot of things I put in God's hands," she says. "He's given me the abilities to do all of this."
There are mom and dad.
There are Jessica and Kevin, who tutors her in math as well as life.
There are her coaches and her friends.
There's her "Grandpa Joe," who passed away in December.
There are relatives scattered between her home in Española and Denver, where her father was raised.
"Without that support, I would never have excelled in what I have," Dionna says. "I can't thank my family enough for being there for me, for having faith in me, and for helping me every step of the way. I'm so thankful for everything I have."
sat-is-fied vb 3 a: to make happy; please
b: to gratify to the full ; appease 4 a: convince
b: to put an end to (doubt or uncertainty): dispel
Merriam-Webster's
sat-is-fied vb 1: twelfth of never 2: hell freezes over 3: not in this lifetime
Dionna Montoya
"I always, always want to be better," Dionna says. "I think I started training when I was 6, but I'm still hungry for more. Oh no, I don't think I'll ever be satisfied."
Dionna Montoya never asks for more than she's willing to give.
Ever.
"You only live once, and I'm just trying to make the best out of everything," she says.
So far, she has.
But if it is true, that good enough is the enemy of great, then Dionna Montoya never will be good enough.
At least, not by her own definition.