McIntosh sisters lead Ganado harriers

GANADO

After following in the shadow of former Ganado long distance ace Daan Haven for two years, junior Janaya McIntosh has worked hard to become the Hornets’ frontrunner.

McIntosh naturally assumed the position of frontrunner since Haven graduated. Haven earned a scholarship and is currently competing at Arizona State running with the Sun Devils.

Joining Janaya in the limelight is her younger sister, freshman Jayla McIntosh. Jayla worked hard during the summ

er and has become Ganado’s number two runner.

Janaya and Jayla’s natural talent, work ethic, and blood line stems from their father, John McIntosh, who was a former cross-country and track standout at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Janaya has competed in four cross-country meets this fall. Jayla suffered an ankle injury and did not compete at Monument Valley’s Twilight cross-country meet last Friday night.

“After four cross-country meets, I feel that I am being very competitive and my times are improving each week,” Janaya said. “I have improved my times at the Hopi meet and Peaks invitational from previous seasons, so I feel that I am a stronger runner this season.”

Competing against an intimidating group of runners, she finished third at Hopi, fourth at Peaks Invitational in Flagstaff, second at the Chinle Invitational and runner-up at the Monument Valley Twilight meet.

Janaya said despite finishing among the top four at various meets this year, she believes there is room for improvement.

“To improve my performance, I am going to monitor my speed work times, eat properly and get plenty of rest, so I can have good workouts at practice,” she said. “Another key is not overworking my body and remaining injury-free throughout the season.”

Focused and determined, Janaya said she has personal goals to accomplish. Among them, she said she wants to improve her times. A personal goal is to break 19 minutes and be competitive among the top runners at the state meet.

“I believe I can attain my personal goal if I stay focused on my workouts and run at a high intensity to prepare my body for a fast race pace,” she said. “As my body prepares for this, I believe my times will go down and I can break 19 minutes.”

Janaya said the team has been working on reducing their overall pack time, between the first and fifth runners.

“In order to accomplish this goal, the team must work together at practice by encouraging, supporting, and pushing one another,” she said. “Another team goal is to improve our times each week as a team. If we run smart each week and remain injury-free, we should be able to attain this goal.”

She said every season the team goal is to qualify for state, with the ultimate goal of winning the state championship. She said the goal can be accomplished if the team remains healthy and run to their fullest potential.

---