NMMI Sports Press
With last year’s top runner Sierra Walker now competing for the NMMI junior college team, youth is the key for Colt cross country this season. And while a large crowd of early-season hopefuls has winnowed down to just 15 heading into the season opener, head coach Jan Olesinski is happy with those he has.
“Most of the new kids had never run before, so daily running was really tough. But we have 11 boys and four girls,” he said.
The four Lady Colts are led by the lone senior returner on the squad, Andrea Anchondo.
“She should be one of our strongest runners. We’ll see (at Lovington),” the coach said.
Rounding out the girls team are three sophomores, all from New Mexico: Gillian Chmielarczyk, a newcomer from Lamy.; Domniarre Notah, from Moriarty; and freshman Jay Cee Payne, out of Artesia.
The Colt squad is young as well, but Olesinski has high hopes for three returners and one newcomer.
“We have Jeremy Piñon, Nathan de la Cerda and Ryan Cuellar back from last year, so they’re supposed to be my top runners this year. We’ll see. In addition to the old cadets, I have two or three new cadets who kind of look like they’re good runners.”
De La Cerda and Piñon are both sophomores who improved each meet last season. Cuellar is a junior who also had a good season, and Olesinski is hoping that success will continue for the trio.
Two other returning sophomores hoping to better their times and finishes, are Brandon Guerrero and Laurence Miles.
“Last year they did a great job despite it being the first year of running for most of them,” the coach said of his returners. “They weren’t guys who came in as champions; they were guys who I hope as seniors will be top runners at state. They’re still young this year so they’ve got a long way to go. Running is not something you can instantly teach. It involves taking thousands of steps and takes time. So I hope they stay in school, they stay with the team and by the time they’re seniors they’ll enjoy their successes.”
Newcomers include senior Spencer Mayadag, a Roswell native; juniors Daniel Person, Austin, Texas, and Teslin Stecher, Mancos, Colo.; and freshmen Miguel Luna, Alto, N.M., and Henry Dewey IV, Tijeras, N.M.. Olesinski is especially excited about Stecher, who he thinks could lead the pack.
“He looks like he’s very strong,” the coach said. “I think he’ll be my best runner, and I think he’ll be a top runner in this area.”
That’s saying a lot, considering NMMI usually competes against 5A and 6A schools in the regular season, and how tough District 3/4-4A traditionally is. Even without powerhouse East Mountain in the mix — they moved out of the district after one year — Hope Christian, Silver, Ruidoso, Cobre, Moriarty and even Socorro always contenders.
Which makes it hard to say just how many Colts might be able to qualify for state.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Olesinski said. “Because we qualify mostly by places, you don’t have to a great time if your district isn’t very strong. But if you have a strong district where there are good runners, it’ll be a lot tougher. I think we can qualify maybe two, one girl and one boy. Who knows? Maybe more. Because the returning runners are doing a great job so maybe they’ll step up and we’ll qualify a team.”
They’ll get to see just how well they’ll do beginning today at Lovington, followed by the NMMI Invitational Sept. 9, then meets in Capitan and Artesia before returning to Roswell for the Pecos Valley Invite Oct. 7. After that it’s the Hobbs Invitational, a very late-season city meet Oct. 21 and the district meet in Moriarty Oct. 27.
This season, Olesinski and first-time assistant coach and wife Marisha Olesinski — she’s coached track and basketball, but never XC before — will be splitting the coaching duties. Several conflicts with the Lady Bronco schedule will have Marisha on the road with the Colts while Jan is with the college squad.
But no matter who’s at the helm, the coaching duo only want one thing from their team: a strong effort.
“I hope everyone will stay healthy and do their best,” Jan Olesinski said. “If they stay healthy and do their best they will be great. They’ll have great results. And winning is not the most important thing. It’s important to have a great team.”