Navajo Times honors spring sports best
On Tuesday the Navajo Times awarded the recipients for the athlete and coach of the year for the spring sports season. They include, front row, from left to right: Ganado track coach Lynette Lookingback, Page softball player Keely Yazzie, Rehoboth track star Shelby Peterson, Monument Valley track standout Kaitlyn Wayne and Window Rock softball player Hannah Smiley. Back row, from left to right: Bloomfield baseball coach Frank Dehoyos, Miyamura track coach Peterson Chee, Winslow baseball player Kuster Kinlicheenie, Shiprock baseball player Abraham Hobson, Miyamura track runner Niles Thomas, Chinle track star Collins Denetdeel, Chinle baseball coach Don Kimbrough and Chinle track coach Duane Denetdeel. (Times photo – Paul Natonabah)
On Tuesday the Navajo Times awarded the recipients for the athlete and coach of the year for the spring sports season. They include, front row, from left to right: Ganado track coach Lynette Lookingback, Page softball player Keely Yazzie, Rehoboth track star Shelby Peterson, Monument Valley track standout Kaitlyn Wayne and Window Rock softball player Hannah Yazzie. Back row, from left to right: Bloomfield baseball coach Frank Dehoyos, Miyamura track coach Peterson Chee, Winslow baseball player Kuster Kinlicheenie, Shiprock baseball player Abraham Hobson, Miyamura track runner Niles Thomas, Chinle track star Collins Denetdeel, Chinle baseball coach Don Kimbrough and Chinle track coach Duane Denetdeel. (Times photo – Paul Natonabah)
On Tuesday the Navajo Times awarded the recipients for the athlete and coach of the year for the spring sports season. They include, front row, from left to right: Ganado track coach Lynette Lookingback, Page softball player Keely Yazzie, Rehoboth track star Shelby Peterson, Monument Valley track standout Kaitlyn Wayne and Window Rock softball player Hannah Smiley. Back row, from left to right: Bloomfield baseball coach Frank Dehoyos, Miyamura track coach Peterson Chee, Winslow baseball player Kuster Kinlicheenie, Shiprock baseball player Abraham Hobson, Miyamura track runner Niles Thomas, Chinle track star Collins Denetdeel, Chinle baseball coach Don Kimbrough and Chinle track coach Duane Denetdeel. (Times photo – Paul Natonabah)
WINDOW ROCK
When Peterson Chee started coaching four years ago, little did he imagine that his career would come full circle.
In 1986, Chee claimed the New Mexico big schools title as a runner for Gallup High, which earned him the Navajo Times runner of the year.
On Tuesday, he was honored as the coach of the year for the 2015 spring sports season for track and field.
In addition to Chee, the Navajo Times recognized ten athletes and six other coaches at this year’s award ceremony at the Navajo Nation Quality Inn in Window Rock.
“This is a neat that I was recognized as an athlete back then and now as a coach,” said Chee, who took over the Miyamura track program when longtime coach Steve Starkovich retired last season.
Last month, the Patriots finished fifth in the team standings during the New Mexico Class 5A state track meet on the strength of their sprinters and long distant runners.
“They did an awesome job this year,” Chee said of his pupils, which includes Niles Thomas, who was also recognized as the male athlete of the year in track.
“This shows that my hard work paid off with the miles I logged in,” Thomas said. “It’s something I’ll cherish but all of the credit goes to my coaches and my parents.”
Thomas, who went undefeated in the 1600-meter run, said he’s looking forward to his senior year next fall.
To read the full article, pick up your copy of the Navajo Times at your nearest newsstand Thursday mornings!
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Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow