The El Paso High community mourned the death of cross country coach, Nathan Casillas, who passed away from a sudden heart attack on Oct. 8.

Remembered by everyone who met him as a warm, friendly person, the community gathered at R.R. Jones stadium on Oct. 12 for a memorial.

“I’m pretty sure everyone knows the best parts of him, but he just cared a lot about everyone, even if they weren’t his students,” daughter of Nathan, Mia Casillas, said.

The cross country team held practice the morning of his passing, but something was different that day.

“I saw him the morning of his passing, and he usually follows us in his truck whenever we run to Madeline Park or anywhere outside the school. But he didn’t follow us that day because he said he wasn’t feeling too good. So one of the parents ran with us,” team captain, Calista Sakellakos said.

Later that day, Casillas passed unexpectedly, news that were shocking to his students.

“I was at the mall and a senior that graduated last year, who did track, texted me and said ‘I heard Coach Casillas died.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, no, that’s not true. I just saw him this morning,’ so I went on with my day, and then I got a call from three of the cross country runners asking me if he died. And I was like, ‘No, I don’t think he did’,” Calista said.

Casillas had been with the program as an assistant under Danny McKillip who passed away in July. Under Casillas, who took over in 2011, the boys team won their first regional championship in 2023, their first since 1997. That earned Casillas El Paso Times’ Boys Cross Country Coach of the Year honors.

His runners remember the motivation he would provide for them even when he was tested.

“He was a nice coach to have around. He was encouraging, but at times he was if you got him mad, he would get mad, but he would give us pep talks at the line.

He would pray for us at the line,” Calista said.

He also had a great sense of humor, as one runner remembers particularly.

“He was always cracking jokes and making fun of you in the best way possible,” co-captain, Ulysses O’Rourke, said. “I remember his laugh. It wasn’t a laugh as

much as a chuckle. He would lean back and like an old person, chuckle and make jokes.”

Ulysses also reflects on important life lessons he learned from him.

“He just knew he enjoyed life. Coach Casillas probably could have done a lot of things, and he chose to be a high school coach because that’s what he wanted. He liked running, and he just did what made him happy and seemed to be very happy,” Ulysses said.

As s father of two, coach Casillas cultivated an environment with his team around unity.

“Coach Casillas is that he had two children that he really loved and cared for, but looking at how he treated them and realizing that he treated all of us like his children too, being in cross country with him felt more than just teammates and a team. It felt like a family, because he was always there for all of us,” Calista said.

Mia said he felt the same way about the team.

“He really enjoyed being a coach for track and cross country. That was his biggest love,” Mia said.“His favorite thing in life was being a coach and being able to

teach people like his love for running and try to get them to understand it, too.”