’Cats to commence ’25 season in Dolores 

His team will be hosting a Class 2A regional later this fall. 

But second-year head coach Kent Gillin seemingly wants to prepare Ignacio’s cross-country runners for such a situation as soon as possible, scheduling one fairly familiar event to get the 2025 season underway, but then two high-intensity stops almost assured to give him a good assessment of where his ’Cats stand and what improvements will be needed. 

“So we have, this season, six boys – potentially seven – and then one new girl who’s a freshman,” he said following practice Monday evening, Aug. 18. “Alyssa (Atencio) went back to volleyball this year, I think to close out her senior year, and Ireland (Cates) is the freshman. She wanted to do something (this fall), so she chose cross-country – I think a lot of this is building that fitness level up for wrestling. She has the determination and grit of a wrestler; we’re working to refine her cross-country skills and athleticism.” 

“And really, the boys’ team looks awesome this year,” Gillin continued. “Trace Crane is a senior taking on the leadership role, and I would say he’s absolutely poised to take it on; the kids very much look up to him, especially our younger freshmen, and that’s been great to watch.” 

2024 All-San Juan Basin League pick James Martin, another senior this fall, also returns to support as well as push the reigning SJBL Boys’ Runner-of-the-Year and Honorable Mention All-2A selection. 

“Great dude and phenomenal runner,” said Gillin. “And he had a busy summer of, like, backcountry hiking and stuff – I don’t know how much running he was doing – but he’s stepped right back into it. I mean, to say he ‘lost a step’ would be … . It’s just amazing he could pick up right where he left off. So strong last year, and this should be another strong season for James.” 

“We had a strong showing last year – a really strong showing – at regionals, and we went to State. And all the kids that placed are coming back,” he said. 

Except for one who after starring as a freshman, then establishing himself as a football talent his sophomore year, reportedly would have returned as a junior: Cayson Burcham. 

“His family moved to Idaho. I understood he was committed to coming back to cross-country instead of doing football again, and that’s kind of, like, one of my regrets; I never got to coach this kid,” Gillin said. “My understanding was he’s just as good as they come and would have been a great complement for our team … . So, yeah, losing Cayson sucks.” 

But another veteran’s progression intrigues the skipper even more. 

“I would say … Thunder Windy Boy improved the most from the beginning of last year to the end – both his speed and his grit and ability to overcome,” stated Gillin. “He can be his own worst enemy in his head, and he powered through that, finished the season tremendously strong. If he can pick up where he left off and just build upon that, he’s going to be one of our strongest runners this year by far. And it’ll roll into basketball, roll into track – he’s a kid who says ‘No’ to nothing, and is so coachable.” 

Ignacio, as well as most – if not all – of the SJBL, will first see action on Saturday, August 23, at Dolores’ Boggy Draw Bear Chase, with the high-school races kicking things off at 8:30 a.m. After the smaller-scale rust-buster, however, IHS will then travel to Centennial for 5A Arapahoe’s Warrior Invitational – an event first held in 1966 – on the 29th. 

“That weekend … we decided if we’re not going to stay local, we might as well go big! And this has some of the best squads on the Front Range, especially Denver, and I think it’ll be a really great test early in the season,” Gillin said. “Both to have our kids compete against larger 4A, 5A schools to demonstrate, like, ‘You kids can compete with the best,’ but also to be humbled a little early so they’re still hungry for the rest of the season.” 

Varsity boys’ action upon the deKoevend Park course is tentatively scheduled for 5:40 p.m., with the varsity girls’ feature – a run-7, score-5 system applies to both – following at 6. ‘Open’ freshman/sophomore boys’ and girls’ races will actually get the evening going at 4 p.m., and ‘open’ junior/senior boys’ and girls’ races will follow at 4:50. 

Last season’s Warrior included 191 finishers in the boys’ varsity race and 183 in the girls’, with 28 title-eligible teams competing in the former and 25 in the latter. 

The ’Cats will then start preparing for the 32nd Joe I. Vigil Open in Alamosa on Saturday, Sept. 6. That spectacle will certainly have extra importance to the running community; Dr. Vigil passed away on July 19 at age 95; meet-hosting Adams State University undoubtedly will pay tribute at Cattails Golf Course to the distance-running coach and innovator. 

“I imagine that there will be,” said Gillin. “We’ll take that to heart but also when the time comes, they’ll put their heads down and run … the best races they can. And Alamosa (High) … we haven’t been to their turf, but with their runners they really punch above their weight class as far as the size of school they are. They consistently have a great team, and I think it’ll be a great test really early in the season that we can build off of.” 

Following the ‘University’ open men’s and women’s races, beginning at 8:35 a.m., the high-school girls’ feature is set for 9:40, with the boys’ following at 10:15 and middle-school action then starting at 10:45. 

Ignacio will then dash to Bayfield the following Saturday for the BHS Invitational, then compete on the 20th at Montezuma-Cortez’s Panther Invite and close out September on the 27th at Pagosa Springs’ McGinn Memorial Cross-Country Challenge. 

“I’m stoked already; it’s such a great group,” Gillin said. “My wife and I just had a kid – we’ve got a two-month-old – and we had to have a long talk about if I was going to do this again, just because it is a time commitment, and I think whatever she’d have said I’d have been okay with. But she recognized how much I’d enjoyed doing this last year, how great this team is, and I think she understood that it’s important … for us to be out there taking this on. I really give her a lot of credit for giving me latitude to coach again; this is something I really wanted to do, and it’s fun watching these kids grow and push themselves.”