Navajo Prep’s Elijah England overwhelms 3A field
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Navajo Prep junior Elijah England led from start to finish during the boys 3A race at the 2025 Albuquerque Academy Extravaganza on Saturday. England hit a new PR on the Academy course by running a 15:31.10.
ALBUQUERQUE
Navajo Prep harrier Elijah England is looking to write the perfect ending again.
England is eager to repeat as the New Mexico Class 3A individual state champion when the state meet commences in three weeks. On Saturday, the Navajo Prep junior overwhelmed the 3A field at the pre-state meet by covering the 5K race in blistering fashion, clocking in at 15:31.10 during the Albuquerque Academy Extravaganza.
He was the only runner at the 3A level to complete the race under 16 minutes as Santa Fe Indian School senior Brian Madalena clocked in at 16:44.04 for a distant second place. England’s teammate, Kenai Begay, placed third at 16:53.83.
“I’m just feeling great,” England said. “It’s a good personal win.”
And while he came in as the favorite, England said his plan was to start strong.
“I wanted to go out hard and just have fun, and get the adrenaline from the crowd,” he said.
With his sub-16 time, England bested his previous best by 37 seconds on the Academy course. Navajo Prep coach Stephanie Coon credits England’s summer training and their ongoing discussions for his vast improvement this season.
“He’s been working hard,” Coon said. “All summer long, he’s put in the work. Every week we’ll sit down, and we’ll talk about things that he feels that he has to work on and things that we feel like he needs to work on.”
Headed the 1-3 finish from England and Begay, Navajo Prep finished first in the team standings with 30 points. SFIS took second with 45 points followed by Tohatchi (88), East Mountain (149) and Cuba (159).
The Eagles also had two other runners that made the top 10 with sophomore Tyler Begay taking fifth and junior Deaken Begay in ninth. Sophomore Darington Ramone completed the team score with a 12th place effort.
The Navajo Prep girls also made a podium appearance with a third-place finish in the team standings. The Lady Eagles finished with 76 points behind meet winner Santa Fe Prep (33) and runner-up Cottonwood Classical Prep (68).
Freshman Emily Jim and senior Lillian Petago paced the Lady Eagles with a 10-11 finish while Kameron Dale added a 17th place effort.
“I’m pleased,” Coon said of her team’s performance. “Like I told the kids, we don’t want to put our eggs in a basket just yet; it’s too soon, so we are still working hard, and the kids know that they have things they need to work on. As coaches, we also know that we have things to work on, but overall, I’m happy with how they ran today.
“We have a mixture of seniors and freshmen,” she added. “So, for the freshman kids that ran here and kids that have never ran here, they did well, and I’m impressed with them.”
Get instant access to this story by purchasing one of our many e-edition subscriptions HERE at our Navajo Times Store.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow