Bringing back the spirit of running

Navajo Pine’s Thompson named coach of the year

FRUITLAND, N.M.

When Kyleigh Thompson took over the Navajo Pine boys’ cross-country team, state titles were far from her mind.

She had earned two state titles as a Navajo Pine alumna, in two different sports. Thompson is a 2011 graduate of Navajo Pine.

“The older I got and matured, I realized how much my community in Navajo needed people to coach,” she said. “I thought, ‘I can help my community, give back to my community with what they gave me.”

Thompson’s desire to give back earned her the New Mexico High School Coaches Association’s Boys Cross Country Coach of the Year last week.

She was the only Native American named coach of the year by the association for all sports for 2019.

Thompson, 26, who led Navajo Pine to back-to-back state titles and a third-place finish, said she didn’t realize what the award meant.

Her husband, Sean Manuelito, Navajo Pine’s athletic director, explained its significance.

“He was the one who was, like, ‘You’re coach of the year for the entire state of New Mexico,’” she said. “It was just a lot of excitement and I couldn’t win this without the boys. It may have my name on the plaque but, behind it, it’s the boys that put in the work.”

She transferred from Gallup High in 2008 at the start of her high school career and was an avid cross-country runner.

She was coached by Tim Host and helped the team win a state title in 2008. She also helped the girls’ basketball team to a state title in 2011.

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