Del Valdez was a community leader, and a longtime teacher at Española Valley as well as the cross country and track coach, among other sports.
After his passing in November 2022, Española Valley renamed its cross country meet in his honor. Instead of the Sundevil Invitational, this year, runners competed in the Del Valdez Memorial Invite (the meet had at one point been known as the Del Valdez Invite). Valdez’s signature is also on the high school’s basketball court, and stayed during the floor redesign last year.
Española Valley hosted a season-opening cross-country meet on its home course on Sept. 1, a unique three-lap sandy track around the back of the school. Throughout the day, runners competed with summer heat that reached close to 95 degrees.
“It just drains my energy while I run,” said Mesa Vista freshman Andres Valdez. “The sand was tough today.”
In the girls race, it was Española Valley at the top. Junior Hailey Renteria took first place, in just over 22 minutes, and sophomore Neveah Cachora was not far behind in third. The two have developed a pattern of running together in races for as long as possible.
“It feels good again to be back,” Cachora said. “Really glad we got to experience how to work together a lot more, and how to communicate when we’re on the course together.
“I’m glad that we started the first meet here,” Renteria said.
The two runners motivate each other throughout the race, pushing the other to keep going.
“I didn’t really know what to expect, but I worked hard,” Renteria said. “It seems like there’s more expectations. But I feel more motivated for all the other meets. Now I know I can get first.”
Ignacio, Colo. took first place in the boys team race, with Pojoaque fourth, Mesa Vista fifth and Española sixth. Taos freshman Billy Romero won the overall race at 18:49.
Pojoaque was led by Matteo Nagle, who finished in seventh place with a time of 20 minutes, 45 seconds. Matias Tiede and Dalian Lopez were in 14th and 16th.
For Mesa Vista, Valdez was the top boys finisher in 13th place at 21 minutes, 6 seconds. He beat out teammate and fellow freshman Ezequiel Nevarez, who finished 20th at 22:04. A year ago, Nevarez finished fourth at the Española race. But he said he is still working on getting back to 100 percent after fracturing his ankle over the summer.
Valdez had ran well behind his friend Nevarez for most of the 2022 season. Now, he is much improved.
“I ran a little bit over the summer, and I’m seeing how it paid off,” Valdez said. “Last year, I ran a 24 for my first meet.” This year, he was about three minutes faster.
The Trojans may have one of the few courses with greater difficulty than Española, with more sand and bigger hills. So those athletes feel prepared when they run anywhere else. And that also gives Valdez and Nevarez the chance to compete against each other.
“We push each other,” Valdez said. “If he’s in front of me, I push myself to catch him. And if I’m in front of him, he pushes himself to catch me.”
Mesa Vista has set a goal of a state championship this year, and believes they can get there after finishing sixth in 2022.
Española’s top finisher was freshman Elijah Martinez, who finished eighth at 20:48. Senior Daniel Sanchez did not finish the race after a cramp.
“That was a hard race,” Martinez said. “I always struggle a bit with my confidence, but I got that today. I was ready to take on whoever. And I knew it was probably going to hurt me, but I didn’t care.”