Chinle, Window Rock harriers win Hopi Invite

POLACCA, Ariz. – In a similar fashion Chinle senior Janessa Segay and Window Rock junior Bearren Kee dominated the field at Tuesday’s Rick Baker Invite.

The two harriers led from start to finish at the 5K meet hosted by Hopi High School.

“The race was pretty good; it was just pretty hot,” Segay said. “Going into the race I kind of had a positive mindset … and everyone was probably (expecting) me to win, so I was like I had to do my best.”

In his race, Kee credited his offseason regimen as he set the pace early.

“I’ve been doing a lot of summer training, so it really paid off,” Kee said. “My original plan was to pace behind someone, but the pace was kind of slow, so I took it from the start.

“I felt pretty comfortable throughout the race, so I stayed in the lead the whole time,” he added. “I kept pushing myself throughout the race.”

Results for the Hopi Invite were not available as the Navajo Times went to print on Wednesday afternoon.

Of the two, Kee is a two-time Hopi meet winner albeit he won his first title in the middle school race when he was in eighth grade.

“My freshman and sophomore years were kind of iffy,” Kee said. “I really didn’t do too good my last two years, but with all the seniors that graduated last year I was there to take over the lead.”

Segay, meanwhile, was a first-time winner. Before this year, her best finish came during her sophomore year when she placed third overall. Last season, the Chinle harrier didn’t finish her race as she suffered a panic attack.

Segay felt a bit nervous going into Tuesday’s race with last year’s incident still in the back of her mind.

“I think I got as far as the two-mile mark,” she said of last year’s race. “I felt like I couldn’t run anymore, like something was holding me back. I just didn’t feel like myself, so I didn’t finish the race.”

Despite those early nerves, Segay stayed positive as she made her move early in the race.

“I just tried to have a good mindset throughout the whole race,” she said. “At times, people have bad mindsets but having that positive mindset helped out a lot.”

Chinle coach Shaniya Smith felt that her pupil ran a gutsy race despite having some ill feelings about last year’s race.

“I told her that she needs redemption,” Smith said. “Last year she didn’t finish and this year she needed to redeem herself and she did that.

“She came out strong and she really listened to her body, and she ran at her threshold pace,” Smith added. “She’s going to have a real promising year as long as she stays healthy, she stays focused and pays attention to detail.”

On Saturday, most of the teams that competed at the Hopi meet will take part in the Peaks Invite at Buffalo Park in Flagstaff. The Window Rock boys team is competing in the Summit race, which is the top-tier varsity race.

“I’m planning on getting first or runner-up,” Kee said. “I know Page will be there and I’m going to try and stay behind (Sand Devil runner Symond Martin) or in front of him.”

The Window Rock runner has some big shoes to fill as he’s seeking to duplicate the same feat his older brother, Ryan, did in 2022. The older Kee sibling won Peaks as a junior in the Summit race with a time of 17:30.40.

“There is no pressure at all,” Bearren said. “I’m just going to try and push myself.”

The Chinle Wildcats are also entered in Saturday’s meet in Flagstaff. The Wildcats will compete in the boys and girls Ascent races.

“We’re going to put everything on the table and see where our kids stand out,” Chinle’s Smith said of the Flagstaff meet.

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