Sports | A look back at 2022
Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
Farmington's Ebony Smith screams after capturing the 132-pound state title on Feb. 19 in Rio Rancho, N.M.
(Editor’s note: For more stories that made the yearend edition pick up the Navajo Times at your local newsstands.)
WINDOW ROCK
For the Times’ yearend edition, specific attention was given to our area state champions.
There were multiple state champions in every sport, and it dominated the paper’s headlines.
Things begin in earnest with the state wrestling meet in February, with Aztec, Farmington, and the Miyamura girls winning their respective team titles.
A handful of individual wrestlers rose to the top as their hard work paid off.
In late February, the Rock Point and Alchesay girls captured the “gold ball” for basketball, and the Kirtland Central Lady Broncos notched its 20th state title the following month.
In May, the state track season produced many state champions in Arizona and New Mexico.
That same month, the Gallup softball team nabbed its first state crown in that sport.
Fast forward to November, the area saw state winners in cross country, volleyball, and football.
In rodeo, we had several world champions at the Indian National Finals Rodeo, and in the high school scene, James Arviso was crowned the national champion.
The Times has also included the exploits of Cody Jesus for the yearend edition as he took second in the aggregate race at the PBR World Finals.
The last issue of this year’s paper also includes an excerpt on Notah Begay III being inducted to the NFHS Hall of Fame, along with LA Williams lending her voice to broadcast the Phoenix Suns’ playoff run in the Diné language.
And while there were many other stories to choose from, the Times believes these were the stories that defined 2022.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow