DuBoise to defend 3200-meter state title
FORT DEFIANCE
The competition will be challenging during Friday and Saturday’s Arizona high school Division III track & field state championships.
Competition begins on Friday with preliminaries and finals in some events at Mesa Community College.
Window Rock junior ace distance runner Chamique DuBoise is the 3200-meter defending state champion. During last year’s state meet, DuBoise completed the grueling race in 11:16.92. Her PR is 11:13.63.
Earlier this season at the Chandler Rotary Elite Invitational, DuBoise was clocked in 11:15.82.
Window Rock head track & field coach Ryan Dodson said DuBoise has been racing great and should she execute her racing strategy, she will set a new personal record (PR) at the state championships.
Dodson said a goal for Window Rock this year was to have them improve each week.
“If they improve their mark by one inch or by one second that is a successful season,” Dodson said. “We train to compete at our best at the end of the season. I believe many of my athletes will run their best times or jumps or throw their furthest this weekend. Most of my athletes who didn’t qualify hit a PR at Snowflake or the Lupe Acevedo Relays.”
Elicia Kee qualified in the shot put and discus. Dodson said Kee has been improving her marks every week.
“Her discus goal is to throw over 100 feet,” he said. “Discus is her favorite event. Her spin technique has become more explosive. In the shot put I expect her to be over 32 feet. This would be a PR for her.”
DuBoise is a triple threat at the state meet in the middle and long distance events. DuBoise qualified in the 800, 1600 and 3200 meters.
“Chamique has gone through about seven different training cycles since the start of the school year,” Dodson said. “This spring we have gone through two cycles to ensure that she does not get injured and will run some personal bests at the state meet. Going into her last meet we want to ensure that she is confident in her splits and achieves a new PR in her events.
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