Penny McKnight Invitational: Local athletes earn state qualifications

AZTEC, N.M.

The Penny McKnight Invitational on Friday qualified 19 athletes and four relay teams for next month’s state meet.

At the Aztec High-hosted meet, Crownpoint senior Navarro Burnside earned double state qualifications in Class 3A as he captured gold in both the discus and shot put.

Burnside won the shot put with a 44-feet, 7-inch effort, and in the discus, his best throw was 130-feet, 1-inch, beating out 19 other throwers.

“I feel like I can throw a lot further,” Burnside said. “I still have to work on myself.”

As the 3A state shot-put champion, the Crownpoint senior said he’s looking to defend his state title.

“I’m trying to get higher and get better than everyone else,” he said.

In addition to those two disciplines, Burnside is looking to make state in the javelin. On Friday, he took third overall with a throw of 137-04, which is a new PR.

Other local state qualifiers included Miyamura senior Tayan Benson and Tohatchi sophomore Jared Peterson, as both runners battled in the 800-meter race.

Benson edged Peterson at the finish line for first place, with the Miyamura runner winning in 2 minutes, 2.65 seconds, while Peterson was clocked at 2:03.32.

Benson qualified for the 4A state meet and Peterson for 3A state meet.

“I was leading from the gun,” Benson said. “And then, about 200 meters into the last lap, he came out from behind me and tried to make a move.

“I ended up kicking it in the last 100 meters,” he added. “It was a good race, and he wanted a race, and I gave him a race. Props to him because he’s a good runner.”

The Miyamura senior said he’s coming off some leg issues, so he felt that he could have run faster.

“It’s been kind of a down week for me,” he said. “I’ve been dealing with the leg problem, so this is definitely not the representation of what good of a shape I’m in.”

Benson said he’s close to competing at an optimal level than the previous two seasons as he was bogged down with injuries.

“I’ve struggled with injuries the past two years, so this is the first time I’ve gotten in an entire preseason of solid training without getting injured,” he said. “I’m finally seeing the fruits of that. I’m starting to see what kind of potential I have as a runner.”

He set a season-high of 4:31.90 at the Farmington Invitational on Mar. 26, which qualified him for state.

He is looking to qualify in the 3200-meter run on Saturday at the Harry Hays Invitational in Bloomfield.

“I plan on racing it this weekend,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get qualified and run a sub 10 minutes.”

Benson has also qualified for the medley relay team, running the 800-meter portion of the race.

In the girls’ 1,600-meter run, Kirtland Central senior Aisha Ramone met the 4A state qualification mark with a 5:35.51 effort.

“I beat the state qualification mark by one second,” Ramone said, who is aiming to hit a new personal record this season.

“My goal is to get at least 5:10 or lower,” she said.

With it being her second week of practice, Ramone said it’s going to take her some time to work on hitting that new PR.

“I won’t see any progression for another two weeks,” she said. “It feels good to qualify by one second. Now I have to put in more work.”

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