Year in review: School sports, local events, rodeos highlighted 2023
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Snowflake's Devin Kinlicheenie captured the crown in the 215-pound weight class at the 58th Annual Doc Wright Invite in this file photo on Jan. 14, 2023.
WINDOW ROCK – With the new year upon us, it’s time to unveil some of the top sports stories from 2023.
In the past the Navajo Times revealed a top 10 list, but for this year’s issue we are going with a different format. Instead, we are providing our readers a list of stories that made news for each month.
January
In girls basketball, Window Rock opened the new year by winning the Platinum Division at the Epic Tourneys New Year’s Classic down in the Valley.
The Lady Scouts took the 16-team tournament by beating some solid squads at the 6A, 5A and 4A levels. That experience helped Window Rock to a final four finish in the Arizona 3A state playoffs the following month.
In New Mexico, the Farmington Lady Scorpions handed the Kirtland Central girls their first loss of the young season with a 52-43 win. Both squads later made the state playoffs with Farmington reaching the Class 5A quarterfinals while KC played in the 4A state finals for the second year in a row in mid-March.
In the first Arizona Interscholastic Association statewide power ranking polls, the Monument Valley boys and girls basketball teams earned the distinction of being the second-best squads in the 3A Conference.
The following month, the MV girls advanced to the state quarterfinals before bowing out of the tournament to Chinle, while the Mustang boys lost to Chandler Valley Christian in the state finals.
The Doc Wright Invitational provided a backdrop on who were the area’s top wrestlers. At the 58th annual event, Snowflake wrestler Devin Kinlicheenie won his weight class at 215 pounds, becoming the first in his family to win that prestigious tournament.
The Aztec wrestling program also produced a pair of champions with Bryson Valdez winning the 133-pound title while Makayla Munoz took the girls 145-pound crown in New Mexico.
Those three wrestlers finished out the year as state champions.
(To read the rest of the year-end edition pick up today’s Navajo Times at your local newsstands.)
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