Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Amber Campbell, formerly of Tucumcari, was a three-time Olympian in the hammer throw.
Amber Campbell, a former Tucumcari resident, was among eight people named Saturday to the Class of 2023 for the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame.
Campbell, 42, who said she gained her love for sports as a child in Tucumcari, was a USA Olympian in 2008, 2012 and 2016 in the hammer throw.
At Coastal Carolina University, she was a five-time NCAA All-American in the weight throw, hammer throw, shot put and discus. She won 11 national track titles and was a two-time Pan American Games medalist.
At Tucumcari, she qualified as an eighth-grader at the Class 3A State Track and Field Championships in the shot put and discus. She also played on the middle school's volleyball and basketball teams.
"It sparked my love for athletics," she told the Quay County Sun in 2008. "There was always something to do, even if it was only kickball in front of the house. There was always a game to participate in. I played softball on the Little League team. It sparked my interest."
After spending 12 years in Tucumcari, her family moved to Indianapolis, and Campbell graduated from Pike High School there.
Campbell serves as a senior community organizer with the Charleston Area Justice Ministry in Charleston, South Carolina.
With her husband Jamie Moore, they have a 2-year-old son, Jamison, and a 13-year-old daughter Lauryn. This month, they will welcome another son to the family.
Others who were chosen for the Hall of Fame were:
-- George Brooks, a member of an NCAA champion ski team and longtime coach of the University of New Mexico's ski program.
-- Charlie Criss, the first New Mexico State University basketball player to earn All-America honors and a former NBA player.
-- Larry Hays, a Dora native who coached college baseball and softball for many years, including at Texas Tech University.
-- Jim Marshall, a longtime college baseball coach, including at New Mexico Highlands University.
-- Frank Maestas, one of the first Latino sports writers in the nation in the 1960s, including at the Albuquerque Journal.
-- Glover Quin, a defensive standout at UNM football who played 10 seasons in the NFL with the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions.
-- Klaus Weber, a longtime coach at UNM in cross-country skiing, soccer and tennis.
The eight will be inducted during a banquet on June 23 at the Albuquerque Convention Center. More information and tickets can be found at nmshof.org.