Gallup’s Theodore Roundface wins home meet in tight finish

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Oct 3, 2022 | Track & Field |

CHURCH ROCK, N.M.

The boys varsity race at the Gallup Curtis Williams Invitational on Saturday produced a tight finish with just five-tenths of a second separating Gallup runner Theodore Roundface and second place finisher Devin Lansing of Navajo Prep.

The Gallup runner was clocked in at 16 minutes, 39.06 seconds, while Lansing was timed in at 16:39.58.

“It was really good, and I really wanted to win,” Roundface said.

The Gallup harrier had to chase Lansing in the final meters of the 5K race, and at the very end, he maneuvered his way to the top in a photo finish.

“I had to wait for a perfect moment for me to go around him,” Roundface said. “I knew he would only focus on the finish line, so I went around him, and I started pumping my arms.”

Miyamura running sensation Lorianna Piestewa won easily in the girls race, besting the field with a 20:16.76 effort.

“I’m very happy with how I’m running right now,” Piestewa said. “I’m doing a lot better than last year, and the year before.

“I’m just trying to keep up with the rest of the girls in the state,” she added. “I’m trying to stay in that top pack.”

Piestewa, who finished ahead of second-place finisher Nicole Tsosie by 25 seconds, was shooting under the 20-minute mark.

“I’m getting close,” Piestewa said. “I think I slowed down a little bit on the sand today, so that affected me a lot.”

In the team standings, the Zuni Thunderbird boys squad won the meet with 41 points over Gallup as the Bengals finished with 63 markers.

Meanwhile, the Gallup girls got a stiff challenge from Navajo Prep, with the Lady Bengals winning the meet with 55 points while Navajo Prep tallied 62.

For a more in-depth story about the Gallup meet, pick up Thursday’s Navajo Times at your local newsstand.