Navajo Prep sending 23 track athletes to state

KIRTLAND, N.M.

The Navajo Prep track team is sending 23 athletes to the New Mexico Class 3A state track meet, which gets underway on Friday at the UNM Track-Soccer Complex in Albuquerque.

Most of those athletes earned their qualifications during Saturday’s District 1-3A track meet at Kirtland Central High School as the top two finishers advanced to state.

In the team standings, the Navajo Prep boys won the district crown by amassing 147 points while the Lady Eagles garnered third with 78 markers.

“This is the meet that we strive for,” Navajo Prep coach Lenny Esson said. “It’s the pinnacle of our season, you know, for us to be healthy and for us to peak at the right time. Our boys did very well, and I believe many of our girls PRd today.

“They threw their personal best or jumped their personal best at this meet,” he added.

The Navajo Prep boys dominated 100- and 200-meter races with sophomore Iosefo Mauga and senior Macallen Cousens going 1-2 in both races.

“I felt like I got out (of the blocks) really good,” Mauga said of his 200 race, where he clocked in at 23.90 seconds. “Mac really helps me push. I feel like we really pushed each other to win that race.”

In the 100, the Navajo Prep speedster captured gold with a winning time of 11.93 seconds with Cousens clocking in at 11.95. In the 200, Cousens took second at 23.98.

“I think I did alright,” Cousens said. “It wasn’t too bad. I felt pretty good, and it was a good day to run”

With it being his senior season, Cousens is focused on enjoying his final year of competition at the state meet.

“Being it my last year, I don’t have any grand expectations,” Cousens said. “I just want to soak it in and enjoy it. It’s my last opportunity to be able to compete at a state level. I want to take my time and suck it in before it’s over.”

In the distance running, Navajo Prep took the top two spots in the 800, 1600 and 3200 races.

Junior Elijah England won the 800 in 1:59.75 while teammate Darington Ramone took second at 2:06.18.

Ramone took gold in the 1600 with a winning time of 4:40.64, which was nearly two seconds faster than Kenai Begay’s time of 4:42.77.

In the two-mile race, Kenai won the race in 10:19.74 while teammate Deaken Begay placed second at 10:39.63.

Esson believes his distance runners have the best chance to make the podium headed by England, who is seeded No. 1 in all three races at the 3A level.

In mid-March, England ran a 9:31.19 during the Chandler Rotary Invitational for his best time in 3200. He set his PRs in the 800 and 1600 at the Marilyn Sepulveda Meet of Champions on April 13 where he ran a 1:57.12 in the 800 for a fourth place finish and a 4:18.66 in the 1600 for first.

“I just want to dominate by time and really just use the atmosphere and adrenaline from the crowd to push me to my limits,” said England is looking to defend his state crowns in the 1600 and 3200 races.

With the second fastest time of 10:06.21 in the 3200, Kenai is aiming to go a sub-10 in the two-mile race that is scheduled for Friday afternoon.

“My times this year has been consistent, but for state I’m going to try and break 10,” said Kenai, who finished second to England during last year’s state meet.

In the relay races, Navajo Prep won the 4×100 (47.39), 4×400 (3:40.72), 4×800 (8:41.12) and sprint medley (3:55.85).

In the field events, Mauga added a first-place finish of 18-09.50 while junior thrower Shayden Hatathle won a pair of district titles in the shot put and discus events. His throws were 40-10.25 and 103-10, respectively.

“Shayden Hatathle did well in the field events for us,” Esson said.

In the girls meet, junior Nataya Serrano won the long jump (16-00) and the 100 (13.82) and 200 (28.55) races.

Of the three events, she beat her previous best in the long jump by 11 inches and 0.45 seconds in the 200.

“Most of my events were really close together and some of them were like back-to-back, but I think I did pretty good for what it was,” Serrano said of her performance.

In the relay race, she ran a leg first leg of the medley team that placed second with a time of 4:59.10 as the Eagles finished behind Tohatchi which had a winning time of 4:47.84.

Navajo Prep also came up short to Tohatchi for the 4×800 crown with the Lady Cougars winning in 11:02.33 while the Eagles clocked in at 11:35.18.

Other state qualifiers for Navajo Prep include senior Carla Claunch and freshman Emily Whitedog. The two athletes placed second with Claunch clocking in at 1:09.18 in the 400 and Whitedog registering a 6:15.45 effort in the 1600.

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