A year after the Ignacio Bobcats girls qualified for the 2020 CHSAA Class 2A State Championships in Colorado Springs, it should come as little surprise that head coach Daniel Holley would request that the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede would appear on the team’s 2021 schedule.
After all, it’s known as the prestate meet because it’s held on the same Norris-Penrose Event Center course.
And with two meets – including Friday’s season-opening Boggy Draw Bear Chase, hosted by Dolores just north of town – slated prior to the Sept. 3 spectacle, the Bobcats start the season with two top runners. San Juan Basin League Girls’ Runner-of-the-Year, current sophomore Maci Barnes and potential four-time State qualifier senior Avaleena Nanaeto should be hitting their stride when the time comes to see how they compare early on against Colorado’s best.
“We have a pretty strong core of girls returning this year,” Holley said Wednesday evening. “I think they’re really cohesive as a unit, and they’re learning how to work and run together, how to strategize as a team. So I’m looking forward to seeing that development.”
Despite having lost Charlize Valdez and Vanessa Gonzales to graduation, depth shouldn’t be an issue for Ignacio. Sophomores Moriah and Zoey Ashley are back, as are classmates Darlyn Lechuga-Mendoza and Lauren deKay, giving Holley and assistant Alizabeth Williams reason to start planning for Fall 2023.
Juniors Harmony Reynolds and Laci Brunson, who saw plenty of action during the spring track and field season, are on the roster, though the skipper did not say whether either or both might dual-sport with volleyball. And senior Alannah Gomez will return return from last year’s Region IV-conquering state squad.
“She’s going to be one to really watch. She’s … a real leader on this team. I’m excited to watch her race,” said Holley. “She did have an injury in soccer, but was able to heal and rehab and she’s been running just fine with us all summer.”
“We haven’t done a time trial or anything yet,” he added, “but she’s looking really strong in her runs.”
But for all the Ignacio Lady Bobcats’ success last fall, it could come as a surprise that Holley actually sounded even more hyped about the fact that not only did he in 2020 oversee IHS’ first boys team in decades, but that he’ll have a second this fall.
“Absolutely … it’s amazing,” he said. “I think it’s incredible that (Ignacio High’s) program started as a girls team, and just through their ability to … get it done, we’ve now got a boys team that can compete and find out the joys of running.”
Undoubtedly mentally prepared for the return of multiple 2020 harriers back to the football field, from whence they came when COVID-19 concerns last fall delayed and threatened to cancel the gridiron season, Holley will look to returning junior Eppie and returning sophomore Phillip Quintana to set the fellows’ pace.
“Those boys are looking great,” Holley said. “They got a lot of summer training in that they didn’t get last year, and I’m expecting them to be leaders on the team, help some of the younger and inexperienced boys into form.”
Returning sophomores Corey Gomez and Gabe Cox will be full-time varsity after debuting last year as junior varsity runners, with emerging track-and-field distance runner Camron Cooper, now also a sophomore, rounding out a crew currently numbering five.
“You know, there’s a lot of anxiousness around getting started, letting everybody see just how well does our summer training compare to what other teams have done,” said Holley. “We love going up to Dolores, running on that Boggy Draw trail; while some kids are hopping on the golf courses and running super-fast times, they get a chance to go work on a true cross-country course with elevation and true dirt.”
The third annual Chase’s high school varsity features will begin with the girls at 5 p.m. and the boys at 5:30.
