Littlejohn takes post at Borger

It’s been a long time for Mike Littlejohn in eastern New Mexico, but the former Texico volleyball coach is headed to Borger, Texas, to take over the Lady Bulldogs’ program next fall.

Littlejohn, 52, was released from his coaching duties at Texico little more than a month after the Lady Wolverines went undefeated and won their second consecutive Class 2A state championship. A native of Portales, Littlejohn was Texico’s coach for 29 years — a span that included six state titles.

“While he’s been there, he’s had a great winning percentage and it’s hard to argue six state championships,” Borger athletic director Tim Anuszkiewicz said. “Our biggest concern was to find a coach that had experience and success in playoff situations — in state tournaments and big games. Coach Littlejohn has coached in a lot of those types of games.”

A Class 3A school, Borger’s volleyball program has been on an upswing over the last two years, according to Anuszkiewicz. The Lady Bulldogs were 29-10 under coach Cara Adams and advanced to the regional semifinals, losing to a team that reached the state finals.

“They looked good,” Littlejohn said. “They looked like they had a good team coming back. Their coach left because she had a couple of small kids and is gonna have another this summer and she just needed to get out of it.

“I talked to (Anuszkiewicz) and he was very impressive. The school system seemed very good.”

Under Littlejohn, Texico won Class 1A state titles in 1980, 1984 and 1985. After moving up to 2A, the Lady Wolverines grabbed more championships in 2001, 2006 and 2007. Littlejohn-coached squads have also made it to state title matches on five other occasions.

When he was released from his volleyball coaching duties, Littlejohn said that he was told that the school wanted to go in another direction. Texico school officials made no comment on the decision to let Littlejohn go.

“The town’s about the size of Portales, although they have about 30-to-40 students less than Portales,” Littlejohn said of Borger. “They took us around to all the places and it was, like, ‘Dang, this is a lot bigger than it looks.’”