Navajo Pine, Rehoboth Christian harriers improve PRs at state meet

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Nov 16, 2023 | News |

ALBUQUERQUE – There were some personal growth and achievement shown by Navajo Pine’s Gentry Arthur and Rehoboth Christian’s Emily Garcia.

The two seniors improved their personal best recorded times on the Albuquerque Academy state course during the New Mexico Class A-2A state meet on Saturday.

Of the two, Gentry shaved off 32 seconds from his previous best as the Navajo Pine harrier took fifth place in the boys race, running a time of 16:50.9.

Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Rehoboth Christian senior Emily Garcia (second from left) placed fourth overall in the New Mexico Class A-2A state cross country meet. She is pictured here with Chesterton Academy runner Cecilia Campos (664), Laguna Acoma harrier Mia Smith (707) and Penasco’s Charnelle Gonzales (760).

“I ran a good race,” Arthur said. “I stayed strong in the last mile and then I took off. I’m really happy that I broke 17 (minutes) today.

“My teammates really pushed me and so did my coaches,” Arthur added. “I’m really happy with what I did today.”

The Navajo Pine boys took 20th overall with 474 points.

Gentry said his strategy was to go out smooth for the first two miles. During the last mile, he started to make his move and in that final stretch he paced himself with Laguna Acoma runner Sheldon Cheromiah.

“I broke free from him and I kept my pace,” Gentry said as Cheromiah trailed eight seconds back for sixth place at 16:58.14.

This was Gentry’s second state medal as he placed ninth last season.

In the small school girls race, Garcia bettered her state meet course by roughly 29 seconds. On Saturday, she ran a 20:17.27 and placed fourth overall.

“I’m very happy with my time,” Garcia said. “It’s better than what I ran (four) weeks ago at the Extravaganza.”

The Rehoboth harrier said she’s had a tough 12 months. At last year’s state meet, she lost her footing and fell just outside the stadium after leading for much of the race. She lost the lead as three other runners passed her and she ended up placing fourth overall.

“I’ve had to overcome that,” Garcia said. “I just want to thank all of my coaches and the people around me who encouraged me to get this far.”

During the race, Garcia stayed in contention for a top 5 finish.

“I was catching people, and they were catching me,” she said, “so it was an intense race. We were really close, and I could see them in my eyesight.”

The Rehoboth girls just missed making the podium with a fourth place finish, losing the third-place trophy by five points.

Santa Fe’s ATC won the state meet with 61 points followed by Albuquerque Legacy Academy (84), Roswell Gateway Christian (159), Rehoboth (164) and Laguna Acoma (180).

“We’ve all grown to be such a close-knit family with the boys and girls teams,” Garcia said. “To be here with my team is such a blessing because they’re all so young. They have so much potential.”