Navajo Times to honor fall sports All-Stars
Navajo Times | File photo Rehoboth’s Ben Kruis (white jersey) looks ahead during the New Mexico Class 1A-4A state soccer match against Ruidoso. Kruis scored the winning goal for the Lynx as Rehoboth advanced with a 1-0 win. As Rehoboth's leading striker, Kruis made the Navajo All-Star team.
WINDOW ROCK
The response was overwhelming in our selection for the Navajo Times All-Stars for the 2015 Fall Sports season.
We received 88 nomination forms, which is a record here at the Times since I have been employed with the paper.
The feedback from the coaches made it a challenge to select our all-stars, but we feel that we have come up with a fair list of athletes who sacrifice their time and effort on-and-off the field and, more importantly, in the classroom for this occasion.
To help celebrate their achievements, we will honor the following athletes in an awards ceremony scheduled for Monday, Dec. 7 at the Phil Thomas Performing Arts Center in Shiprock with St. Michael volleyball coach Andrea Ashkie addressing our athletes as the keynote speaker. The doors will open at 9 a.m.
All listed athletes are encouraged to bring their uniform tops for a photo session, which will promptly start at 10 a.m. This event is free and open to the public. Photos and an article will be published in the Dec. 10 edition of the times.
Information 928-871-1130.
Boys’ cross-country
The recipients for our runner of the year were state champions in their respective classes.
Chinle junior Santiago Hardy won the Division III state title with a time of 15:58.50, which was the second fastest time recorded during the state meet regardless of class. In addition, Hardy was this year’s Division III, Section I champion, which qualifies him as a candidate a candidate for the USA Today’s Gatorade Runner of the Year.
A week after finishing second at the sectional meet, Many Farms senior Zhariff Lee narrowly edged Hopi sophomore Diome Talaswaima for the Division IV state title. Lee completed his race in 16:33.7, and finished three-tenths of second ahead of Talaswaima.
In New Mexico, Miyamura senior Niles Thomas overcame a rough season to claim his second consecutive Class 5A title. Thomas crossed the finish line with a blistering pace of 15:54, which was the best among all New Mexico runners.
Despite graduating a star-studded group that won 18 straight meets and two state championships, the Zuni T-Birds surprised a lot of people by winning its third consecutive title under the tutelage of longtime coach Chris Carroll.
“This year was a rebuilding year, and I only had one person from last year’s state championship team,” Carroll said. “We had to dig deep into our pockets and see what we could pull out.”
With that, Carroll was selected as our coach of the year. He shared that title with Page coach MacArthur Lane. The Sand Devil boys knocked off Chinle 61 to 65 to claim this year’s Division III state title.
In addition to the boys’ team, MacArthur coached the girls’ team to a state title. The Lady Sand Devils netted 64 points, well ahead of state runner-up Window Rock, who finished with 110 points.
Girls’ cross-country
The consensus among the area coaches was unanimous. With the success of the girls’ cross-country program, Shiprock coach Alice Kinlichee was recognized as our coach of the year.
Under her guidance, the Lady Chieftains wrestled the New Mexico Class 4A title from Taos, the defending state champs, by a mere two points in the team standing.
Shiprock senior Lacey Howe, who paced the Lady Chieftains, was also recognized as one of the Times’ runners of the year. Howe finished third overall with a time of 19:31.00.
She shares that recognition with Ganado senior Daangoiina Haven and Flagstaff senior Courtney Lewis. Lewis claimed the Arizona Division II state title with a time of 18:36.1 while Haven placed second with a time of 18:35.1 in the Division III state meet.
“Daan gave a phenomenal performance for her runner-up finish,” Ganado head coach Lynette Lookingback said. “She worked all season long to earn that honor. I was very cautious with her at the beginning of the season. With each race, she proved her strength, ambition and her love for running. I am extremely proud of her, especially to have coached her since fifth grade. She has grown so much to be not only one of the great runners in northern Arizona, but an amazing humble individual.”
Volleyball
Like the girls’ cross-country coach, Pinon guru Nellie McCurtain garnered the most votes for coach of the year.
McCurtain coached the Lady Eagles to the Arizona Division V title with a four-set win over Tonopah Valley to cap a perfect 21-0 record, albeit their record excludes regular season tournaments.
McCurtain shares that honor with Tohatchi coach Edwin Brown, who guided his team to the New Mexico state playoffs after a 12-year hiatus.
“It was awesome. We had a fabulous season,” Brown said, following their 1-1 outing in the Class 3A state bracket. “I was pleased. They stepped up one step higher than we normally play; the girls notched up three times than what they were doing.”
Pinon senior Raquel Archie and Navajo Prep senior LeShauntai Adams were named the Times’ players of the year.
Archie finished the year with 449 kills, 319 digs, 128 blocks and 39 aces. Adams, meanwhile, led the Eagles with the most kills. She was voted the team’s MVP, and this past season she picked up her third all-district award.
Football
In football, the Chinle Wildcats and Monument Valley Mustangs both had successful seasons by earning 10 wins for the year.
With that, Chinle coach Tim Su’e Su’e Liufau was named coach of the year while senior quarterback Joshua Young and senior linebacker Trevon Holiday were named offensive and defensive player of the year in football.
For the season, Young completed 107-of-189 pass attempts for 1,601 yards and threw for 24 touchdowns.
“Without Joshua, we would not have had the success we had this season,” said Monument Valley coach Bryan Begay, who stated that Young is looking to play college football next season.
As for Holiday, he finished the year with 99 tackles, 55 solos, 43 assists, 4 tackles for losses, 4 sacks, 2 quarterback hurries, 2 interceptions, 2 pass deflections, and 2 fumble recoveries.
In New Mexico, Farmington quarterback Kody Becenti was recognized as our offensive player of the year while Nabahitchiini Nez was named our defensive player of the year.
In 11 games, Becenti completed 192-of-326 passes for 2,955 yards and threw for 26 touchdowns. For every completed pass, he averaged 15.4 yards and finished the year with a QB rating of 106.6.
As for Nez, he was a sacking machine, as he finished the year with the most sacks through Maxpreps.com with 31. For the season, he had 68 tackles and 22 quarterback hurries.
Navajo Prep coach Storm Tallbull was tabbed our coach of the year. Tallbull had planned to step away from the coaching profession to pursue a physical therapist assistant program. Instead, he led the Eagles to a 5-5 record and a state playoff berth.
Navajo Times | File photo
Rehoboth’s Ben Kruis (white jersey) looks ahead during the New Mexico Class 1A-4A state soccer match against Ruidoso. Kruis scored the winning goal for the Lynx as Rehoboth advanced with a 1-0 win. As Rehoboth’s leading striker, Kruis made the Navajo All-Star team.
Soccer
The area soccer teams did fairly well by earning state berths. Nine teams made the playoffs with the Farmington girls and boys reaching the semifinals of the New Mexico Class 5A bracket.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow