Jaques, Quigley win Heartbreak Classic

By Quentin Jodie
Navajo Times

NAVAJO, N.M., Sept. 29, 2011

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(Times photo - Paul Natonabah)

TOP: Window Rock's Yanabah Jaques leads from the start to the finish during the Navajo Pine Invitational Sept. 24 at Navajo. N.M. Jaques' time was 22:29.

BOTTOM: Valley's Corey Quigley came in first with a time of 18:26 at Navajo Pine Invitational Sept. 24 in Navajo, N.M.




Since 1986 the Heartbreak Classic has left runners gasping for air.

Five hills will definitely do that to you, but after tackling the 3.1-mile course there seems to be a sense of gratification.

At least that was the response from Window Rock's Yanibah Jaques and Corey Quigley of Sanders Valley as both runners won their respective races at Saturday morning's meet.

"It's a challenge, but with the right training you'll be able to tackle it and come out strong," Jaques said, who was clocked at 22:29. "I notice that I do much better with courses that have obstacles like this one."

The junior standout was ecstatic as she finished 46 seconds ahead of Valley's Chelena Betoney.

"Last year she was faster than me," Jaques said. "I ran against her a lot and my goal was to catch up to her."

This was Jaques' third win of the year. She won the Hopi Invite last month and three weeks ago she won the Scouts' home meet.

Incidentally, this was Quigley's third win of the year as he is a perfect 3 for 3 having won the Window Rock and Many Farms meets.

"That got me tired," Quigley said about the Heartbreak Classic's first steep incline. "It took me a while to pick up my pace after I got on top of the hill. The Navajo Pine runners were already down the hill."

Quigley was referring to Arvin Curley and Kevin Hardy as the two runners led the Warriors to a first place finish with 61 points in the seven team invite. Window Rock came in next with 63 well ahead of Sanders, who finished 108. Crownpoint, Pine Hill, Tohatchi and Tse Yi Gai didn't have enough runners to complete a team.

In the girls' race, the Lady Warriors packed five runners in the top 11 to win the meet with 35 points. Window Rock held off Valley for second place with 48 points. The Lady Pirates finished with 50 points.



Navajo Pine got a third place effort from junior Shelby Lee, who crossed the finish line in 23:38. Kristen Quigley (23:44) of Valley broke up a string of Navajo Pine runners by placing fourth.

The Lady Warriors picked up the next two spots with Demetria Clichee (23:50) finishing ahead of Nikki Johnson (24:45). Junior Kaitlin Chee (26:42) and Amanda Curley (27:30) rounded out the team score by finishing 10th and 11th, respectively.

"The girls have been coming along and they have been running in packs," said first-year Navajo Pine coach Derek Begay. "When they're racing they help push each other and they looked strong today, but we're still chasing Navajo Prep."

Nonetheless, he said Saturday's win will help boost their confidence.

For Window Rock, Dylan Goodwill (25:53) was the Lady Scouts next best finisher as she placed seventh ahead of teammate Miriam Deschinee (25:54). The Scouts also had freshmen Haley Suazo (27:55) finishing 12th and Korissa Owens (31:39) in 20th place.

Valley, meanwhile, had Terri Mitchell (26:31) finish in the top nine. Bettina Swatts (29:29) and Rolanda Mitchell (30:20) completed the team score by placing 17th and 18th, respectively.

Other top 20 finishers in the girls' race included a pair of Tohatchi runners. Kimmora Bill (29:02) placed 15th ahead of Shanelle Dawes (29:10). Tiffany Belin of Crownpoint claimed the 19th spot with a 31:36.

Boys

After Quigley, Navajo Pine picked up the next two spots with Curley (18:52) finishing ahead of Hardy (19:05) for second place.

Pine Hill's Garrison Eddie was the next runner to enter the Navajo Pine High football stadium with a 19:21 effort followed by Window Rock's Lance Billie (19:57) and Tristan Jones (20:06) of Tohatchi.

Tyrell Henio of Pine Hill held off Window Rock's Taylor Began for eighth place and Rondale Begay (20:32) of Crownpoint rounded the top 10.

As for team standings, Navajo Pine also had Alvin Curley in 12th place while Colin Thompson (21st) and Terrence Lee (23rd) to round out the team score.

Window Rock had Casey Wero (20:58) in 13th, Albert Sorrell (21:16) in 16th and Rayven Joe (21:31) in 20th place.

"Arvin and Kevin looked really solid," Begay said. "I'm hoping that we can bring up our other runners up to par with them, but they're really young."

The Navajo Pine coach was pleased with the turnout. In years past the meet was held in late August, but Begay said they had to reschedule the meet to better prepare for it.

"With a new AD and a new coach we pushed it back," he said. "We looked at the schedule and with meets in Farmington and Albuquerque we wanted to meet the needs of the local teams.

"For the most part we had a good showing, but next year I'm looking to invite more teams from Arizona because they bring a different running style and a different competition," he said. "I'd like to see them at our races."

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