Tohatchi boys return veteran squad

GALLUP

A second-place finish at state was quite the milestone for the Tohatchi boys’ cross-country team.

The Cougars finished behind Albuquerque Cottonwood Classical at the 3A state championships last year. It was the program’s first state trophy in decades and the Cougars are looking to build off that success with a veteran squad.

“These boys are determined to do better,” longtime coach Fern Spencer said. “Even in practice, they want to do more, and they want to do better. They know who’s out there. They want to beat Cottonwood Classical.”

The Spencer-coached team returns everyone that brought home the red trophy, which includes three incoming seniors in Melvin Scott Jr., Jimmy Chavez III and Nicholas Yazzie.

The Cougars also return sophomore Jared Peterson, and junior Rodney Joe.

The three Tohatchi seniors finished in the top 10 during last week’s countywide scrimmage at the Gallup Sports Complex with Scott winning the race and Chavez taking third.

“It feels good to finish first in my first race this year,” Scott said. “It builds my confidence for the rest of the year.”

Admittedly, Scott said he had some concerns coming into the season, as he will lead the Cougars to the first meet on Friday when his team hosts the Náshdóítsoh Cougar meet, which will feature over a dozen teams.

“I was a little worried about (this) week’s race,” he said. “I wasn’t sure how I would do but I feel a lot better since I won this scrimmage.”

The meet on Friday will include a pair of 3A juggernauts with Santa Fe Indian School and Zuni taking part. Due to COVID-19 concerns, both programs didn’t have a cross-country season last year.

Scott said it’s good that they’ll see some tough competition at the first meet of the season, as it will serve as a proverbial measuring stick on where they stack up against some of the top programs in the state.

“It’s going to be tough,” he said. “I just hope that we can compete.”

Nonetheless, he feels that this year’s team is on a quest to do great things.

“I think we have a really good team this year,” he said. “We can go all the way if we all put in the work. Hopefully, we can bring back another trophy at state.”

Like his teammate, Chavez is also enthusiastic about the upcoming season.

“We’re ready for this,” he said. “We came out of the offseason ready. We came back in shape and I think we can be one of the top teams in the state. We all want this.”

In addition to their home meet, Spencer will have her squad compete in two high-profile races out of state when the Cougars take part in the Flagstaff and Chinle invites next month.

“We want to challenge our kids,” the Tohatchi coach said. “It’s just like basketball to where you pick places that they’ve never been before. We’re going to see what the competition is like on that side.

“We’re hoping to learn from that and build on that for state,” she said.

In last year’s abbreviated season, Tohatchi won the district title over Crownpoint, Newcomb and Thoreau.

This year, the district welcomes back three members, as Navajo Prep, Wingate and Zuni re-enter the fray. (Because of COVID-19 concerns, the three programs did not participate in fall sports.)

“Our district is going to be competitive,” Spencer said. “It’s going to be a challenge and the kids know that because Zuni is going to be on top of their game and Navajo Prep always has some good runners.

“Crownpoint is going to be tough too,” she continued. “It’s going to be a fight for that top spot. It’s going to be like that statewide.”

Going into this past week’s practice slate, Spencer has 14 boys and four girls on the cross-country team.

“We’re still waiting for a couple of girls to come out,” she said. “We’re waiting on their physicals.”

On the girls’ team, the Lady Cougars return freshmen runners WynterRose Sheka and Janay Peterson as well as senior Jada Peterson and sophomore Brooke Badonie.

Last year, Sheka was the lone runner to get a state medal on the girls’ side as she placed 10th overall.

Spencer said she’s looking forward to the season, which will go the full 12 weeks. Due to several delays caused by the global pandemic, the New Mexico Activities Association had to shorten last season to only six weeks.

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