Coronado cross country coach Melanie Martinez has one goal for her boys squad this season: reach the postseason.
“I would love to make it to state as a team this year for the boys,” she said. “Last year, I only had one boy make it, so I would love to make it as an actual team.”
Junior Eli Martinez is the team leader and is that one athlete who qualified for the state meet last season and finished 144th in a time of 21 minutes, 49.9 seconds.
And the heart of the team is three seniors who have been team members since the eighth grade: Santos Martinez, Loniso Vialpondo and Marcos Chacon.
“When they were in eighth grade, they went to Jemez for district and they took second place,” Melanie Martinez said. “They just stuck to it. They’ve come a long way. Every meet they usually PR (personal record).”
She has a particular fondness for Chacon as he’s persevered, much like a character in the cross country movie, “McFarland,” who wasn’t the top runner, but constantly battled to be better.
“We call him our Danny Diaz,” Melanie Martinez said with a laugh in reference to the movie character. “As an eighth grader, he wasn’t very fast and now he’s starting to get faster. He came in under 30 (minutes) for the first time at our last meet and I was so proud of him.”
The team also has a few basketball players who are using cross country as a way to build their fitness levels for the hoops season, she said, which is just fine because the training is worthwhile across all sports.
As a matter of fact, Melanie Martinez has been trying to spread that word around, particularly for the girls, who are struggling with a lack of numbers.
Junior Josilen Lovato is the only girls’ runner at the moment and has been on the team since she was in eighth grade.
“I would love for her to make it to state,” Melanie Martinez said. “We’re working with her to get her to state.”
But finding teammates has also been a big goal, Melanie Martinez said.
“I’ve tried talking to the coaches, letting them know it helps with conditioning,” she said. “Volleyball, basketball. But the girls don’t want to run. I’m trying to recruit them from middle school and even younger so that they enjoy running. I have one middle schooler and I’m trying to get more.”