Navajo Prep’s Elijah England takes top spot at Extravaganza meet

ALBUQUERQUE – The individual title in the 3A boys race came down to the last 200 meters.

Navajo Prep’s Elijah England had enough in the tank to outlast Cottonwood Classical harrier Shane Yara at the finish line during the Albuquerque Academy Extravaganza on Saturday as England covered the 5K course in 16:27.37, winning the race by a mere 2.24 seconds.

The flat course on the Academy campus will be the site of the New Mexico state cross-country championships, which is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 9 in Albuquerque.

England acknowledged the race could have gone either way as he battled Yara and Santa Fe Indian’s Matthew Valencia for the top spot as Valencia finished 4.82 seconds back.

“We were running stride for stride for most of the race, and then I kicked it in the last 200 meters,” said England, who returned to the Navajo Prep starting lineup after a one-week hiatus.

Yara and Valencia stayed on England’s hip for the entire race as Yara clocked in at 16:29.61 while Valencia finished with a time of 16:31.19.

“This was like a trial run, and I just paced myself with those two runners,” England said. “But I really wanted to win this race, so I just kicked it in there at the end. I just let my natural abilities take me throughout the race.”

After sitting out its last meet at Zuni, England came out with renewed focus for the Extravaganza meet.

“My coach gave me a break, and I rested up a bit,” England said.

In addition to England, Navajo Prep coach Stephanie Coon also sat out junior Macallen Cousens at the Zuni meet.

“I did that to see how the other boys would do in a race situation by themselves,” Coon said. “They did well; they took first at Zuni.”

The two runners competed Saturday at the Extravaganza, helping Navajo Prep to a third-place finish in the team standings.

Santa Fe St. Michael’s surprised the field as the Horsemen packed its five scoring members in the top 14 as they finished first with 45 team points. Santa Fe Indian School racked up 61 points for second while Navajo Prep finished with 70.

The Eagles placed its five runners in the top 21 with sophomore Kenai Begay placing ninth followed by freshman Tyler Begay (19th), Cousens (20th), and junior Dylan Roper (21st).

And although this was the first time Navajo Prep saw the two Santa Fe schools, Coon is hoping their results will serve as a wake-up call.

“The boys got to witness what St. Michael’s and Santa Fe Indian were doing today, and the one thing we have to work on is our pack running,” Coon said. “I think they understand what we to do, so I’m hoping it’s going to click with them because we got a couple of weeks to work on that.”

Like most coaches, Coon agrees that the dynamics of the state meet is likely to change while adding that Zuni, the defending 3A state champions, did not compete on Saturday.

“You can never underestimate them,” Coon said of Zuni. “They’re in our district and sometimes schools, including us, underestimate them. It’s going to be anybody’s race and the boys are aware of that.”

Girls

The Navajo Prep girls squad took fourth at the Academy meet, finishing with a team score of 126 points as the runners in that race had to contend with rain.

Santa Fe Prep won the meet with 23 followed by Cottonwood Classical (86) and Santa Fe’s ATC (96).

“I think we could have placed higher,” Coon said. “I think running in the cold was a factor. When we got here we didn’t have much time to get warmed up.”

Prep was led by the 16th-place finish from junior Kameron Dale. The Eagles also received a 24th-place effort from junior Lillian Petago while senior Lailah McGary, senior Hailey Thomas, and junior Carla Claunch placed 39th, 40th, and 42nd, respectively.

“I know the girls are disappointed, but I think we can bounce back from this,” Coon said. “We just had on those races where we lost, and part of that had to do with the weather. That is what happens at races, and we just need to prepare for the next couple of weeks.”

Navajo Prep will be at Saturday’s Bronco Ridge Runner Invite in Kirtland before competing in the District 1-3A meet, which will be held in Tohatchi on Nov. 1.

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