Náshdóítsoh meet: Cross-country off to fast start at Tohatchi

TOHATCHI

The first cross-country meet of the 2022 season proved to be a slugfest as the Zuni boys and Navajo Prep girls eked out the team titles at the Náshdóítsoh meet on Friday.

Zuni won the meet with 52 points, edging Navajo Prep by a mere 5 points.

Navajo Prep finished with 47 points in the girls’ race, while second-place Gallup tallied 53 markers.

“This is a good season opener for the boys and girls,” Navajo Prep coach Stephanie Zahne Coon said. “Our first race looks promising, but anything can happen between now and the state meet.

“We can’t get comfortable,” she added. “We just have to continue to work hard and see what happens.”

Zuni coach Chris Carroll didn’t put that much stock into Friday’s meet, dubbing the first race of the year “a cobweb meet.”

“We’re getting all of the cobwebs out, and we’re kind of feeling out what’s going on,” he said. “The first meet of the year, I know the kids are nervous, and they got different feelings.

“I’ve talked to some, and their minds are not into it yet,” he said. “We just have to get our rhythm back.”

Individually, Gallup junior Theodore Roundface and Miyamura’s Lorianna Piestewa came in first in their respective races.

Piestewa won easily by covering the 3.1-mile course in 22 minutes, 2.71 seconds, with second-place finisher Nicole Tsosie of Navajo Prep clocking in at 22:54.93.

Appreciating the elements

Roundface got a stiff challenge in the boys’ race as he topped the field in 18:11.52 and won the meet over Tohatchi’s Briley Dauphinais by more than six seconds.

“I knew he was going to put in some surges, so we were going back and forth,” Roundface said of the Tohatchi runner. “He was just as tired as I was, but I felt like I had a little more in my tank.”

With the area being dumped by two rainstorms before the start of the meet, runners had to overcome obstacles to complete the race. They had to contend with pockets of standing water and mud.

“The mud really slowed us down,” Roundface said. “The mud made it harder for us to find a good pace.”

Piestewa, on the other hand, appreciated the elements on Friday.

“I think it made the course a lot more adventurous,” she said. “It’s the same course as last year, and it gave me a reason to work my legs harder, and it gave me a reason to push it and have fun.”

Admittedly, the Miyamura runner said she almost fell into the water several times.

Tsosie said the conditions made it a little more challenging.

“It’s mostly the mud because you can slip and slide,” the Navajo Prep harrier said. “We had to run through the mud, especially toward the end. The extra weight on our shoes weighed us down.

“I almost lost my shoes,” she added.

Besides Tsosie, the Lady Eagles placed two other runners in the top six, with freshman Kameron Dale taking fourth and Ronalda Begay finishing sixth.

To complete the team score, Navajo Prep had Hailey Thomas and McKenzie Ashley-Willie place 20th and 21st, respectively.

“We just got to close that gap,” Coon said. “We need to bring everyone else up.”

For its runner-up finish, Gallup was led by Merisha Long, who placed eighth. The Bengals then put its subsequent four runners in the No. 11 to 14 slots, with senior Payton Johnson finishing ahead of teammates Raven Two, Jaymi Watson, and Talia Blackgoat.

“Overall, that is what we’ve been working on,” Benally said as the team finished with 1:42 pack time. “We got to get as close as we can. And just like former hall of fame coach Curtis Williams used to say, ‘You gotta reach out and touch someone. And it’s gotta be your teammate.'”

Wingate placed two runners in the top 10 to garner third in team standings, headed by the fifth-place finish from sophomore Telecia Tom and the 10th showing from freshman Keira Casamero.

The Lady Bears ended up with 63 points ahead of Zuni (104), Crownpoint (111), and Miyamura (116).

Zuni got Shania Chavez on the podium with a seventh-place finish.

“I was really impressed by my No. 1 girl,” Carroll said of Chavez. “I mean, her smile was as big as Cheshire cat. That’s great, and she’s starting to feel that confidence.”

Emily Garcia led Rehoboth Christian as she took third overall, while Crownpoint got a ninth-place effort from junior Tara Tsosie.

The Lady Lynx was short one runner to field a team.

Boys

En route to its team title, the T-Birds got a fourth-place finish from junior Andrew Romancito, seventh from senior AJ Lastyano, and 10th from senior Mekai Begay.

“My No. 1 runner actually finished seventh today,” Carroll said. “But it was great for Andrew to run where he was today.

“Again, we’re gonna flip-flop places all the time, and that’s Thunderbird cross-country,” the Zuni coach said.

Juniors Kiohn Duran and Derek Zunie completed the team score by placing 13th and 18th overall.

Navajo Prep, meanwhile, got a third-place finish from Devin Lansing and an eighth place showing from Aaron Mike for its runner-up finish.

The Eagles were also paced by freshmen twins Jacob and Ethan Malluburn as they finished 14th and 15th, respectively. Dylan Lansing was too far behind, coming in 17th to complete the team score.

“We used this race as a feeler,” Coon said. “We want to get a feel of what everyone else is doing, and once again, our district is very competitive.

“Zuni is very competitive, and they’re tough to beat,” she added. “Tohatchi and Newcomb are right up there too.”

Tohatchi placed fourth overall with a team score of 122 and finished behind Zuni, ’Prep, and Gallup with the Bengals scoring 77 points.

With 131 markers, Miyamura placed fifth ahead of Rehoboth (146), Wingate (173), Thoreau (194), and Crownpoint (252).

Individually, the top 10 runners include Gallup freshman Sage Livingston (fifth), Rehoboth’s Charles Lynch (sixth), and Thoreau’s Ian Silversmith (ninth).

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