It’s just the third year back for the McCurdy cross country program after the sport was previously cut in 2010, but expectations are high for new head coach Cecilia Brown.
“Just seeing the excitement around the kids, knowing we have a chance of doing really well (is why I’m excited to be here),” she said. “We don’t have a lot of seniors, so there is a lot of hope for the future.”
Brown is taking over for former coach Scott Valdez after she previously worked as the Bobcats’ elementary and middle school cross country coach.
There’s no place the 1997 McCurdy graduate would rather be.
“McCurdy is family,” she said. “I was practically raised on this campus. My mom worked here, my grandmother worked here. This is home to me.”
Both McCurdy’s girls and boys teams failed to qualify for the state meet in 2016 and 2017 in the program’s first two seasons back, but Jayme Bustos did qualify individually for the girls in 2017.
Brown said the girls team is her stronger group and will be led by the junior Bustos and sophomore Jeneva Serrano.
“There’s no doubt that they are my top returning runners,” Brown said about the pair. “There’s also a few eighth-graders I might pull up that I have in mind. I have two that are sticking with my top two runners.”
Those eighth-graders are Emma Lovato and Missy Yordy.
“They’re part of the group of eighth-graders that have run with me since they were fourth-graders,” Brown said. “They’re part of that group that I’ve been bringing up so I’m expecting big things from them.”
The boys team took a bit of a hit after last year’s leading runner Alain Jayme moved to Maryland; he was the only Bobcat who qualified individually for state last season,
“We’re trying to fill that void,” Brown said. “I’m not actually sure who my top runner is going to be, but I also have Andres Martinez and Isaiah Abeyta. I’m hoping some more of the basketball players come out, ‘cause I know their coach makes them run.”
Aside from Martinez, two other basketball players on the roster are seniors Ubaldo Barela and Kemmer Croff. Brown’s son, Kodi Rodriguez, will be a freshman and is expected to contend for one of the top spots.
McCurdy will compete in District 2-A/2A, which has a total of nine teams, including powerhouse Pecos High School and annual contender, the Academy for Technology and the Classics.
The top-six teams in each district will advance to the state meet in Rio Rancho as opposed to the top-four, which was the previous qualification.
“I expect, and our goal is for the girls to be pretty high in districts,” Brown said. “The boys should be in there too. Our plan is to take both teams to state, that’s our goal.”