AIA Division Track Championships:
3 area athletes win gold

GLENDALE, Ariz.

The Arizona Interscholastic Association concluded its divisional track championships on Saturday with Chinle’s Janessa Segay, Page’s Symond Martin and Greyhills Academy’s Benjamin Miera capturing gold in their respective long-distance races.

The latter two won a pair of division crowns during the two-day divisional track meets.

At Red Mountain High School in Mesa, Ariz., Miera won the 1600- and 3200-meter races in the AIA Division V Championships. The Greyhills Academy senior captured his first title on Friday night as he set a new PR in the 3200 with a time of 9:33.44.

“I really wanted to win that race because last year I went out too quickly,” Miera said. “I didn’t want to overdo it, so I stuck with the top group.”

By running a more strategic race, Miera outkicked Round Valley’s Preston Myers and Arete Prep’s Max Bruns in the final lap with Myers placing second at 9:37.69 while Bruns took third at 9:39.76.

Miera won Saturday’s 1600 in 4:26.35, as he held off a late charge by Chandler Prep’s Josef Iker for the win.

“I didn’t lead the race until the last 600 meters,” Miera said. “The race between me and Josef, I ran a split of 1:02, and I remember feeling the burn around 300 meters left.

“He was still on me, and I tried to drop him, but he still stuck with me,” he added. “I wouldn’t have run a 62-second lap if it weren’t for him pushing me.”

At Deer Valley High School in Glendale, Arizona, Martin successfully defended his Division IV crowns in the 1600 and 3200.

The Page junior ran the two-mile race on Friday night, clocking in at 9:24.05 while second-place finisher Andrew Smith of Tanque Verde ran a 9:26.49. With a time of 9:29.41, Valley Christian’s Micah Newkirk took third ahead of a fourth-place effort from Page sophomore Nyall Prather.

“I just went out at a good pace,” Martin said. “I knew that I would be able to hold that pace throughout the race at a comfortable speed. I just didn’t want to go out too fast.

“I just ran fast enough to win, so that I can save enough energy for (this) weekend’s open state championships,” he added.

On Saturday night, Martin won the one-mile race in 4:17.32, using the same strategy as the 3200. Sabino’s Milo Mandolini came in second at 4:17.64 while Prather was third at 4:20.53.

“Again, it was kind of the same as the 3200, which was to go out fast enough to win the race,” Martin said. “Going into the last lap, there were still two, three guys with me so I had to pick up the pace the last 300 (meters) so they weren’t able to catch me.”

The Sand Devils added a runner-up finish in the 4×800 relay race with a time of 7:58.81 as ALA-West Foothills won gold at 7:58.55. Martin and Prather both ran a leg in that race as the rest of the team members included junior Desmond Goldtooth and sophomore Jaiden Jordan.

Heading into last weekend’s divisional meets, Martin was leading the state, regardless of division, in the 3200 and second in the 1600. The open state meet is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Mesa Community College as the AIA will invite the top 30 athletes regardless of divisions to the state meet.

“I’m going into the open state wanting to win, wanting to go out there and be the best in Arizona,” Martin said.

In the girls Division IV 3200 race, Segay took the lead for good with roughly two laps to go en route to a first-place win as she crossed the finish line in 11:07.97.

Segay, who is scheduled to compete at the state meet, beat her future collegiate teammate, Addison Bisceglie, by nearly four seconds as the Gilbert Christian senior clocked in at 11:11.58.

“The first six laps I just paced myself behind the two runners because I knew they both had the first and second fastest times.” Segay of Bisceglie and ALA-West Foothills freshman Gwendolyn LeVander. “Coming into the sixth lap, I still had a ton of energy in me, so I started to push myself.

“I told myself that I had to go if I wanted to get the placing that I wanted,” she added.

On Friday night, Segay finished as the divisional runner-up behind Bisceglie with the Gilbert Christian runner winning the four-lap race in 5:09.97 while Segay clocked in at 5:14.30.

Segay plans to run in the state meet race this weekend, but she is going to take part in her graduation commencement exercise on Saturday morning.

“I’m going to walk in my graduation, and then I’m going to travel down here to run the 3200,” she said. “I just hope that I can run a sub-11 to finish out my high school career.

“I want to try and at least podium,” she added.

In the Division III meet, Flagstaff runners Olivia Baker and Taylor Biggambler went 2-3 in the 3200 on Saturday night.

The two runners finished behind division champ Evangeline Dunckley of Saguaro, who clocked in at 11:15.12.

Baker, meanwhile, edged Biggambler for second place as the two runners crossed the finish line at 11:20.27 and 11:20.29, respectively.

“Taylor is an amazing runner, and it feels great to have her running with me,” Baker said.

“It’s like motivation for me to run with her,” Biggambler added of their symbiotic relationship. “We’re very competitive in practices, so going into races like this really helps a lot.

“We know how to race it, and we know each other very well so it’s amazing that we finished this race together,” she added.

The two runners helped Flagstaff to a second-place finish in the 4×800 relay team as the Eagles finished the race in 9:58.37 behind division champs Mica Mountain (9:45.07) and runner-up Ironwood Ridge (9:55.93).

In the 1600, Baker added a fourth-place finish with a time of 5:14.54. In that race, Biggambler missed the podium by placing fifth at 5:14.78.

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