3A state champs: Navajo Prep boys sweep individual, team titles

ALBUQUERQUE – It was a good day to be a member of the Navajo Prep family over the weekend.

The Eagles earned two team trophies and an individual crown at the New Mexico State Cross Country Championships in Albuquerque on crisp Saturday afternoon.

The Navajo Prep girls team started the festive day with a third-place finish in the 3A team standings. The boys capped the championships by sweeping the individual and team titles headed by the first-place finish from sophomore Elijah England.

England covered the state meet course at Albuquerque Academy in 16:08.9, becoming Prep’s first individual state champ in school history.

England came onto the track at Academy with a sensible lead as state runner-up Quin Dry of Santa Fe Prep could not make up the difference. Dry finished 14 seconds back at 16:22.4.

“No one has really beaten me with my kick,” said England, who added that he “perfected it” during the offseason after his freshman year.

“I already know to not let anyone beat me with my kick,” England said. “I had that mindset, and I just kicked in there at the end.”

Despite coming into the state meet as the favorite, Navajo Prep assistant coach Felicia James says England handled that pressure with steely confidence.

“I think Elijah is a different runner from last year,” James said. “He’s definitely a lot more patient in his races. He’s a lot more strategic and a lot smarter than he was as a freshman.

“He’s just matured over the summer,” she added.

James noted that England recognizes when to hold back and when to take off.

“He’ll sit and wait, and then he’ll know when to make his move,” James said. “He’s been racing like that all season.”

Buoyed by six runners finishing in the top 27, Navajo Prep won the state team title over Santa Fe St. Michael’s as both squads finished identical 61 points with five runners scored.

The tiebreaker came down to the sixth runner as Navajo Prep junior Brian Brandser placed 27th and finished ahead of the St. Michael’s sixth runner, Joseph Rodriquez, who placed 47th overall.

“It was close,” Navajo Prep coach Stephanie Coon said. “I don’t think we were the favorite to win it. I think they were looking at another team, but these guys were hungry.

“They were hungry when we started the preseason, and this is what they wanted.” he added. “This is what they talked about all season.”

In addition to England, Navajo Prep sophomore Kenai Begay made an appearance on the podium with a third-place finish.

Begay clocked in at 16:30.5 as he held off a late surge from Santa Fe Indian’s Matthew Valencia, who crossed the finish line in 16:31.6.

“I wasn’t hurting,” Begay said when asked about his stamina to close out the race.

Begay says he held that third spot for the entire race. And when they came around the corner on the track, Begay boxed in the Santa Fe Indian runner.

“I hugged that corner and when we went to the straightaway I started sprinting,” Begay said.

Junior MacAllen Cousens was the Eagles’ third runner as he placed 17th overall. Freshman Tyler Begay and sophomore Deaken Begay finished 20th and 25th, respectively, as the latter two runner completed Prep’s 61-point tally.

Any changes in Navajo Prep’s placement would have altered the team standings as St. Michael’s packed five runners in the top 28 headed by the 6-7 finish from seniors Jaden Perea and Everett Kuhn. The Horsemen also had junior Jeremiah Williams taking ninth-place honors.

The rest of St. Michael’s scoring members included a 13th-place effort from Marcus Crockett and a 28th finish from Sawyer Kuhn.

Incidentally, Navajo Prep’s sixth runner, Brandon Brandser, finished one spot ahead of Sawyer Kuhn, St. Michael’s fifth runner.

“He made a huge jump,” James said of Brandser. “He was struggling mentally at the beginning of the season and so we had a long talk last week. I told him that he could do it.

“He had the physical ability to run, but it he had to be there mentally,” she added.

Brandser says he got boxed in early in the race, but after the first mile he started to make his way to the front.

“That kind of got into my head,” Brandser said. “In a lot of my races, things have gotten to my head and coach has helped me get through that, so after the first mile I had to go.

“I’m just happy that we brought home that blue trophy,” he added.

Santa Fe Indian finished a close third behind Navajo Prep and St. Michael’s with 67 points as the Braves placed its five scoring members in the top 20.

Surprisingly, Zuni did not make the podium this year as the T-Birds finished in fourth place with 96 points. Zuni was led by the fifth and eighth place finish from juniors Deron Lastyano and Deshawn Soseeah.

“I think I did very good,” Lastyano said. “My teammate really pushed me and I’m proud of how this race ended.”

As for not earning a team trophy, the Zuni harrier says this one is going to hurt as the T-Birds won the five of the last six 3A state crowns.

“We’re all hurting,” Lastyano said. “This is going to give us more motivation to work harder next season.”

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