LA girls capture 8 individual titles at district meet

Posted by Quentin Jodie | May 4, 2023 | Track & Field |

WINDOW ROCK
The 1-2-3 punch of Tayla Vicenti, Anika Lopez-Montano and Alessia Cheromiah helped the Laguna Acoma girls track team to the team title at the District 1-2A meet.

The three athletes captured eight individual titles as the Lady Hawks finished with 118 points at the four-team district meet held April 28 at Laguna Acoma High School.

In a two-way tie for second place, Rehoboth Christian and Dulce scored 74 points each and Navajo Pine tallied 14.

“I’m really happy with how they performed,” Laguna Acoma coach Daniel Otero said. “We don’t have a whole lot of girls, but we have a solid group of girls. You know, they scored in several events.”

Vicenti led the team by claiming four district titles as the junior won the 800, 1600 and 3200 and the high jump.

She clocked in at 2:44.31 in the 800, 6:29.20 in the 1600 and 14:35.68 in the 3200. In the high jump she cleared 4-0.

“She was the high point person,” Otero said, while adding that his long distance runner is likely to make a podium appearance at this week’s Class 2A state meet.

“She should place in the three distances if she runs well, and runs smart,” Otero said.
Lopez-Montano and Cheromiah won two district crowns with the former taking gold in the open 100 at 14.03 and long jump with a distance of 13-10.50.

“I’ve been trying to get her out for track for years and years,” Otero said of Lopez-Montano. “She didn’t come out until this year, but I’m glad that she did because we all knew that she was pretty fast.”

As for Cheromiah, she earned the shot put crown with a 25-01 effort and she won the 400 meters with a time of 1:12.73.

The LA 4×200 relay team also placed first with a time of 2:06.96 while the 4×100 took second.

Otero is sending eight athletes to state and based on the 2A rankings he said it’s going to be a huge task to get them on the podium.

“They’re gonna have to really step it up for them to place,” the LA coach said.