Diné javelin thrower earns All-American status

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Jun 20, 2024 | Track & Field |

By Santiago Ramos Jr.
Special to the Times

GRANTS — Navajo javelin thrower Craig Runge earned All-American honors during the recent National Junior College Athletic Association Track and Field Outdoor Nationals in West Monroe, Louisiana.

Representing Mesa Community College, the 21-year-old Runge, finished fourth in the javelin with a throw of 60.16 meters (197 feet 4 inches) during the NJCAA Track and Field Outdoor Nationals that were held May 16-18 at the Brown Stadium at the University of Louisiana-Monroe. With his fourth-place finish, Runge earned All-American honors.

“It was great to be an All-American,” said Runge, who will return to Mesa C.C. for a second year of school. . “I would love to throw 200 feet. After next year I want to go to a four-year college but I’m not sure where.”

After high school in Spokane, Wash., Runge took two years off from track due to COVID. In the fall of 2023, Runge and his brother Bradley moved to Chandler, Ariz.

“We both decided to give track a chance again,” said Runge. “For most of the year at Mesa Community College pole vault was my main focus. It was my first year ever doing pole vault and I started to enjoy it a lot. However I did javelin on the side.”

Runge’s best throw was 182 feet heading into Nationals, a distance that had him ranked seventh entering the meet.

“Nationals were bittersweet for me because I didn’t pole vault as well as I wanted to and my brother Bradley was ranked third in the decathlon,” said Runge. “He could barely finish his first day because he got injured. Even though Nationals wasn’t turning out how I would have liked, I still had to throw the javelin on the last day.”

On his first throw, Runge posted a personal best.

“I got on the runway for my first throw and all I was thinking was to be aggressive and put everything I had on the first throw,” said Runge, who likes to watch German Olympic javelin thrower Thomas Roehler. “I ended up throwing a big personal record of 60.16 meters or 197 feet 4 inches.

“It was great to end the meet on a big positive after doing poorly in the pole vault and my brother being injured.”

Runge grew up in Spokane, where he started throwing the javelin at Mountainside Middle School. At Spokane High School, Runge did the running events in track.

“I continued to run but it was when I started to learn the javelin event,” said Runge, the grandson of the late Larry McClanahan and Linda McClanahan of Window Rock. “My coach, Jeanne Heifer, taught me the fundamentals and helped me do well my freshman and sophomore years. My best throw in high school was 171 feet 11 inches.”

Runge credited his late grandfather, Larry McClanahan, for his strong upbringing.

“I was deeply influenced by my grandpa who was a full-blooded Navajo from the Salt Clan. He was fluent in the Navajo language and grew up in Window Rock, Ariz.”

After leaving for college, McClanahan achieved the rank of 10th degree black belt. He performed karate demonstrations calling it “Karate for Christ”.

“His passion for God, competition, and physical activity was evident throughout his life,” Runge said of his grandfather. “He spent over 30 years coaching sports in Northern California, instilling a relentless drive to win in his five children, including my mother.

“Although our families love for competition is evident, our love for fry bread is equally strong,” Runge said with a laugh. “Surrounded by my aunties wearing their turquoise jewelry in the kitchen, I often found myself shaping dough in anticipation of the hot oil and the tacos that followed. I take immense pride in my heritage of talented artists and a rich history of passionate strength that continues to inspire me.”