Coyotes cross country head coach Gabriel Vidal said he is happy with where the boys and girls teams are right now for the most part, amid summer training sessions ahead of the 2026 season.
“We’ve been going at it for about six weeks and have been meeting in the mornings,” Vidal said. “We’ve had a pretty good girls’ group, but our boys’ group is a little smaller than anticipated. We’re hoping that we’ll have a few more boys join once the school year starts.”
Vidal said summer training has been beneficial for his runners.
“The summer gives the kids the opportunity to learn how their bodies work and respond to running,” Vidal said. “They get to learn how to wake up early and get some food inside them to get themselves prepared for practices or races.”
Top runners
Seniors Audrey Perry, Mackenzie Hoover, Christyanna Ruiz, and junior Oliviyana Contreras are the top runners for the girls’ team, according to Vidal.
He said senior Christian Orozco, junior Emmanuel Arambula, and sophomores Christian Hernandez and Gage Garcia are athletes from the boys’ team to keep an eye on.
Darius Mendoza and Giselle Leyva are key losses from last year’s teams.
Vidal said the teams performed well last season but wants to see improvement in the district race this year, especially with many returners.
“Both teams had great years last year, but unfortunately came up short in the district races,” Vidal said. “I’m hoping they remember how that felt and use it as fuel to perform better this time around.”
Meets
The Coyotes will first take part in a meet at Ned Houk Park in Clovis at 8 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 22.
They will also compete in the New Mexico Military Institute Invitational at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, on Old Airport Road. They follow this up by hosting the Pecos Valley Invitational at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Enchanted Lands Disc Golf Course.
Another big meet they will participate in is the Coach Mo & Marquise Memorial Invitational at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, at Jaycee Park in Artesia.
The District 4-5A Meet takes place at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, at Ned Houk Park. The State 5A XC Meet will be held at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, at Albuquerque Academy High School.
In total, Roswell will take part in eight regular season meets, followed by the district and state competitions.
Vidal said he is excited for the teams to compete.
“I’m looking forward to them having the chance to be out there and do the best they can,” Vidal said.
Marshall Mecham can be reached at (915) 232-1793 or on X @mecham_marshall.
Mecham serves with the New Mexico Local News Fellowship, which places emerging journalists in newsrooms across the state. Learn more at www.newmexicolocalnewsfellowships.org.
