86th Annual Chandler Rotary Invite: Page senior scores two medals in elite races

WINDOW ROCK

Page running phenom Symond Martin showed his staying power at the 86th Annual Chandler Rotary Track & Field Invitational.

Martin earned two podium appearances at the prestigious meet, winning gold in the Elite Boys 3200 and bronze in the Elite Boys 1600 during the two-day invitational.

The Sand Devil senior bested the elite field of 28 runners on Friday night, winning the Elite 3200 in 9:06.31 at Chandler High School.

“I felt really good during that race,” Martin said of the eight-lap race. “I was able to run as fast as I did without pushing too hard. That gave confidence boost knowing that I’m running at this level, and I don’t have to go all out to be there.”

Martin made his move after the fifth lap, as he stayed in front of his rivals for the rest of the race with Hamilton senior Zarian Rodriquez finishing two seconds back at 9:08.51.

“I just kind of stayed with the front of the pack, until with three laps to go,” he said of racing strategy. “That’s when I started to distance myself from the rest of the racers.”

Going into the race, Martin was looking to better his PR of 8:57.44, but there was no one willing to go out that fast. With that, it changed his racing strategy, Page coach Tim Martin said.

“We found out before the race that some key guys were not running in the race, so we kind of changed our racing plans,” Tim said. “We went into it just going for the win and he just made that look really easy. I mean, the effort was totally controlled, and he didn’t have to fight through the race.

“It just showed his strength,” he added. “He has a lot of strength right now. He just proved to everybody that he can just cruise at 9:06 and for most people it’s an all-out effort.”

The elder Martin said the field was missing some elite runners from Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Colorado.

“A kid from Nevada bypassed the race and I don’t think he ran any of the races,” the Page coach said. “We thought that he could jump in there and press Symond. When we found out that he was probably going to do all the pressing, we switched our plans and to let him go with the flow and see what happens.”

On Saturday, Symond added a third-place effort in the Elite 1600, clocking in at 4:13.21. He finished one second behind Rodriguez, the meet winner, and Flagstaff’s Alex Bland as that race went down to the wire with the Hamilton runner clocking in at 4:12.71 and Bland at 4:13.07.

“I thought I did pretty good,” Symond said. “But going into the last lap, I was a little boxed in, so I kind of had to slow down to get around them to find my position going into the last 200 meters.

“I know that I could have gone a little faster, but I just didn’t get my position during the race,” he added.

The Page distance runner missed his personal best of 4:12.91, which he set at last year’s Chandler meet.

“I came close, but I was a little off my PR,” Symond said while adding that he’s looking to break all his personal bests this year.

“I want to try and get as close to the state records as I can,” he said. “I just want to get my name in the record books, just show that I’m one of the best Arizona guys of all-time.”

According to MileSplit.com, Tuba City’s Billy Orman and Yuma Cibola’s Bernie Montoya holds the top two spots in both the 1600 and 3200. Orman set the record of 4:05.29 in the 1600 in 2011 while Montoya ran a 4:05.89 in 2013.

Montoya currently leads the 3200 with a time of 8:47.07 that he set in 2013 while Orman posted an 8:48.63 effort in 2011.

The Sand Devils also had Symond’s younger brother, Max, compete in the Elite Boys 1600 and 3200 races. In the 1600, Max finished the four-lap race in 4:24.63, which placed him 21st overall among 43 runners. In the 3200, Max placed 20th among 28 runners with a clock in time of 9:41.97.

“He was the only freshman in those races, and he ran well,” Tim Martin said of his youngest son. “The 3200 was the first time he’s ran that race and that kind of woke him up to the challenge of that race, which is pretty difficult when you have to continue to push when you’re in that zone of hurt. He’ll run faster the next time he runs it.”

Window Rock senior Bearren Kee also ran in the Elite 1600 race as he clocked in at 4:31.54.

In the Elite Boys 800, Page junior Jaiden Jordan placed sixth with a time of 1:55.01, which is the seventh fastest time recorded this season regardless of classification.

“He had a pretty good PR,” the Page coach said.

Get instant access to this story by purchasing one of our many e-edition subscriptions HERE at our Navajo Times Store.

---