The Coaches

Mustang

See Also: Coach Dan, Coach Atvars

Denis Villeneuve

My name is Denis Villeneuve and I have been teaching and coaching at Redmond since 1984. I am a National Board Certified teacher and chairman of the Social Studies Department.

I have been running for over 30 years and I have run over 55,000 miles. As a Master's runner, I placed 2nd in the Nation in 8K Cross Country and third in the Nation in the 5K and 10K on the Track. I have been coaching distance runners for over 25 years.

At Redmond I teach A.P. U.S. History, A.P. Psychology, and Psychology. I have been married for 26 years and we have 3 children: Andrew (21), Nathan (18), and Melissa (16).

I have the knowledge and experience to guide any runner to a positive and successful experience.

Dan Contreras

My name is Dan Contreras and I'm proud to be a part of the Mustang XC coaching staff. I graduated from RHS in 1992 after spending 3 wonderful years competing on the XC and track teams.

My favorite memory of running for Villeneuve was my senior year when we placed 2nd at the state meet after coming in to the race ranked 9th. That was by far the coolest thing I've ever been a part of on a running team. Those memories are so fresh, my friends and I still talk about those special moments today!

After graduating from RHS, I attended Western Washington University and earned a Bachelors degree in Communications in 1997. I ran XC and Track for 2 years at WWU. Unfortunately, I was plagued by injuries and my collegiate running career was cut short.

Today, I work in Bellevue for Excell-Data as a Staffing Consultant Specialist, mainly filling contract positions at Microsoft. I've been married for 7 years to my lovely wife, Andi, and we have two young sons, Ryan (5) and Cameron (2). Today, I run about 25+ miles per week and participate in road races about once a month. I'm a huge fan of prep/college/pro XC and T&F and follow the sport weekly via the Internet.

Kate Atvars

Hi, I am Kate Atvars, a math teacher here at RHS. This is my 4th year of coaching (my first with cross country!).

In high school I focused on the shorter distances and the hurdles and used Cross Country to keep in shape for the track season.

Currently I consider myself to be a "recreational" distance runner. I do sprint triathlons, 5ks, 10ks, and half marathons (at a s l o w pace).

I am looking forward to being a part of this fantastic program and helping every athlete reach their goals.