Ganado girls repeat as 3A North champions: Chinle harrier shatters course record
Special to the Times | Reginald Chee
Chinle Lady Wildcat Janessa Segay shattered the course record at the 3A North Championships on Saturday. Segay clocked in at 19:04.7 on the 5K course at Lake View Primary School in Page.
WINDOW ROCK – The Ganado girls cross country team took care of business defending its 3A North Region crown.
Ganado placed six runners in the top 10, with five scoring, at the regional meet held Saturday in Page. The Lady Hornets finished with a team score of 23 points.
Special to the Times | Reginald Chee
Ganado’s Chanel Harding (left) and Mia Jesus helped the Lady Hornets to a first-place finish in the team standings. Ganado repeated as the 3A North champions with a team score of 23 points in Page Saturday morning.
“We’ve been pushing, and we’ve been working hard for this,” Ganado coach Elaina Vann said. “Since we won it last year, the girls were looking forward to regaining this title again, so we’re happy with that.”
Individually, Chinle senior Janessa Segay was just as dominant as she shattered the course record by 67 seconds with a winning time of 19:04.7.
“It felt really nice to finish with that time, but honestly I thought I was going to run in the 20s,” Segay said. “But as I was coming close to the finish line I saw 18:50 (on the clock display), and it freaked me out.”
Segay bested the previous course record of 20:11 that was set in 2022 by former teammate Temyra Bia, who graduated in 2023.
“Janessa Segay absolutely crushed the course record,” Page coach Tim Martin said. “In my opinion, she should be a state contender for the state championships. Man, she looked really good. I’m excited to see what she can do at the state championships.”
Ganado junior Damira Allen also eclipsed the previous course record as she finished 48 seconds behind Segay, clocking in at 19:52.3. Last season, Allen won the regional crown, and she lost the Division III state title by one-tenth of a second.
“She’s been working on cutting her time from last year’s performance,” Vann said of Allen. “Her goal is to go back to state and have another shot at possibly coming in first. That is what she’s working on.”
Following Allen, a slew of Ganado runners crossed the finish line headed by the fourth- and fifth-place finish from junior Jasah McIntosh and freshman Charmel Jodie.
Freshman Mia Jesus came in seventh ahead of the ninth- and 10th-place from sophomore Chanel Harding and freshman Kacey Parker.
The Hornets also received a 14th-place effort from freshman Taylor Dedman.
For full results: http://wingfootfinish.com/result_details.cfm?ResultsID=1243.
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