Flagstaff duo ready for divisional, state meets

WINSLOW

The 2026 track season has been nothing but momentum building for Flagstaff seniors Taylor Biggambler and Elijah Talkalai.

The two athletes have been working on their running forms and it’s paying dividends as they enter next week’s Arizona Interscholastic Association Division III Championships ranked high in their respective events. The division meet will be held May 8-9 at Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix.

Biggambler leads her Division III peers in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:13.43, which she set during the Scottsdale Distance Classic on April 2.

She is also seeded second in the 1600 (5:09.03) and sixth in the 800 (2:20.06) with the latter being set during last Friday’s 93rd Annual Winslow Track & Field Invitational.

In that two-lap race, Biggambler trailed Ganado’s Damira Allen and Alchesay’s Peyton Parker heading into the final lap. It was there that Biggambler found another gear.

“I feel really good, and I’m feeling confident,” Biggambler said. “From the beginning of the season, I wasn’t feeling so good confident-wise, but knowing that I can push in that last lap and close the way I wanted has given me a confidence boost.”

Last season, Biggambler took third in the 3200 at the divisional meet with a time of 11:20.29. With that, she qualified for the AIA State Track & Field Championships the following week where she hit a PR of 11:07.83.

She also ran the 1600 at state, too, as she hit a PR of 5:07.81.

“Technically, I did run the 1600 at state but I got lucky since I was the first alternate,” she said.

Of the three events, Biggambler believes she can make the podium in the 1600 and 3200.

“I really want to become the Divisional III champ in the 3200,” Biggambler said. “I want to try and go for the 1600, but I think the 3200 is going to be my favorite.”

Talkalai

Talkalai has posted the second fastest time in the 800 in Division III boys with a time of 1:55.43, which he set at the Scottsdale Distance Classic on April 2. He also currently ranked No. 9 in the 1600 (4:27.14) and No. 16 in the 400 (50.41).

At Winslow’s meet, he finished first in the 400 with a time of 50.80 seconds, which was a personal best before he reset that on Tuesday with a 50.41 effort at the Mustang Stampede the Final Rush Last Chance Meet at Sunrise Mountain High School in Peoria, Arizona.

“The whole point of this race was to go sub-50,” Talkalai said at last week’s Winslow meet. “The past two races have literally just been wind. I just can’t get that last 100 meters down because it’s so windy.

“This race I went out really hard the first 100 and used the wind as much as I could so that I could slingshot around,” he said. “I was hoping to come go through like 24-25 (split time) and try to get under 50 but I went 25-25 for this race.”

When asked about resetting his PR, the Flagstaff harrier says he’s on track to hit his peak for the upcoming divisional and the open state track meet the following weekend.

“I’m really excited because I’ve just been running these 400s to get better at the 800,” Talkalai said. “I haven’t been able to run a full 800 yet because I’m just focused more toward divisional and state.

“I want to able to compete and win the 800 at state,” he added. “That’s my main goal. I’m trying to go 1:51 and be one of the top runners in the country in the 800.”

And while it’s not official, Talkalai says he’s hit 1:54 during his splint time on the Flagstaff boys 4×800 relay team. The Eagles are seeded No. 10 at 8:31.46 as the top 16 relay teams will earn bids to the divisional meet.

“I’ve done it on the relays before,” he said. “I think I can do that again because of the raw speed I have.”

The schedule for the Division III meet has been posted on the AIA website and if Talkalai were to do all his events he would run into a crunch doing all the events he’s qualified in.

His schedule will start with the 4×800 relay team, followed by the prelims in the open 400, the open 800 finals and then the 4×400 prelims on the first day.

“I could do both but they’re less than an hour apart,” Talkalai said of the two open events. “I want to be fresh for the 800, but I also want to do the 400 and get into the finals for 400.

“I’ve got to choose, but I think I could possibly be in medal contention for the 400 in our division too.”

As for the 1600, the Flagstaff runner is looking to opt out of that race at the division meet even though he’s qualified.

“I’ve talked to my coaches about it and it’s really not my thing this year because I just wanted to do middle distances and get better at it,” Talkalai said. “But, I mean, I still could run the 1600 because I’m still ranked (ninth) for the divisional. But I’m not going to medal in that.”

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