Page boys capture championship, girls finish fourth in Nevada

FORT DEFIANCE

Racing in a pack produces outstanding results.

Page placed four of their five runners in the top 15 positions and their fifth runner in 29th place to post a first place victory in the boys’ division at the Larry Burgess Invitational in Boulder City, Nevada.

Page chalked up an impressive 62 points to win the team title. Green Valley, Utah was a distant second, netting 97 points among the 24 schools competing in the prestigious invitational.

Page head coach Mac Lane said the boys ran better as a pack this past Saturday.

“Overall, they showed improvement from the Hopi meet,” Lane said. “I felt they ran very well. I’m proud of the total effort each team member put in on.”

Lane said the varsity team cleared very well in the beginning. He said there were over 40 teams on the starting line so it was very crowded.

“There are 2 divisions (large school and small school) but everyone started together,” Lane said. “The front four Bowen Martin, Dorian Daw, Justin Billy and Allen Fowler were able to run as a pack through the first half of the race.”

The field of runners consisted of 154 runners. Martin garnered fourth place, touring the 5K course in 15:24. Daw copped eighth place, negotiating the terrain in 15:38 ahead of Billy (15:43). Allen Fowler claimed 15th place with a 16:06 showing. Morgan Fowler finished 29th place, turning in a 16:34.

Jerron Yazzie completed the race in 17:09, crossing the finish line in 53rd place. Jacob Secody was clocked in at 17:27 for 63rd place.

“We faced off with all the schools from Las Vegas, Nevada, two schools from Utah (Cedar and Hurricane) and even one or two from California,” Lane said.

Mariah Yazzie was the Lady Sand Devils’ top finisher, crossing the finish line in fourth place. Yazzie was clocked in 18:25. Kloe Littleman claimed 16th place with a 19:41 showing. Victoria Tenpenny was timed in at 19:50, finishing 22nd place. Sofia Bryan posted a 20-minute time, completing the race in 28th place. Tripper Tate finished the race in 20:44, crossing the finish line in 41st place.

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