Area athletes looking for podium appearance at division meet

WINDOW ROCK – The stakes remain high.

A handful of athletes are going for broke this weekend as the Arizona Interscholastic Association will host the divisional championships in all five divisions.

Those athletes are vying to qualify for the AIA State Championships, which will be held next week at Mesa Community College.

The top 30 performers throughout the year will be invited to the state meet.

“It’s super difficult to make,” Page coach Tim Martin said. “I mean, you have the entire state vying for those spots.”

Still, the Sand Devils will have at least one athlete competing next week as Page sophomore Symond Martin has posted the fourth and fifth fastest times in the 3200- and 1600-meter races statewide this year.

In the two-mile race, Symond has a season-best of 9:16.13 and in the mile, he clocked in at 4:15.64.

“Symond missed state by one spot last year, so he’s pretty stoked about making it automatically this year in both running events,” his dad Tim Martin said.

The younger Martin is seeded No. 1 for both events in the Division IV meet as that championship gets underway Friday at Red Mountain High School in Mesa, Arizona.

“I’m going in there to win,” Symond said. “I want to get the Division IV championship titles before I run at the state meet.”

As for strategies, Symond plans to follow a strict regime for the two long distance races.

“I have a set pace that I’m going to follow,” he said. “I just need to stick with that pace. If they want to run ahead of me, I’ll let them, but I know that in that last lap I can outkick them.

“I just have to follow my pace,” he added.

Symond earned divisional qualifications in the 800 and 4×800 relay race but he’s going to forego those races.

“I don’t want to be too tired for my two big races,” Symond said. “I want to be rested up for those races and not focus on other races.”

Besides Symond, the Page team has five girls and three other boys competing at the divisional meet. Those athletes will be contending for a podium appearance as the top four athletes will earn medals.

Page senior Sofia Cambridge is seeded No. 1 in the girls 400 at 58.63 seconds while Jade Reid has the second fastest time in the 3200 (11:42.81).

“Sofia is looking forward to winning the 400,” coach Martin said. “She’s definitely running at her best, and Jade is focused on winning the 3200.”

The Page coach also has high hopes for senior Kaydence Tsinigine, who qualified in the 200 and long jump.

“She’s ranked No. 4 in the long jump going in,” Martin said. “She’s going to go after that podium finish and hopefully she gets there.”

The Chinle track team is looking for a top finish from junior distance runner Janessa Segay. She enters the divisional meet as the top seed in 3200 (11:13.38) and third in the 1600 (5:22.80).

Her teammate, Reshila Curley, is seeded fifth in the 3200 at 11:56.58.

“Janessa is focused on winning her races,” Chinle coach Santiago Hardy said. “She knows it’s going to be a competitive race.”

Segay is already qualified for the state meet in the 3200, and Hardy is hoping that she meets the list in the 1600.

“She has the potential to make it to state in the mile,” Hardy said of his pupil.

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