The Chinle High School boys’ and girls’ cross country teams won the Division Three, Section One meet at Holbrook on Friday. Winslow boys finished sixth, which was good enough to qualify to compete in the state meet. The top six teams advance to the state meet on Saturday, Nov. 5, at the Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix. Individuals who finish high enough from teams that do not place that high can also advance to the state meet.
The Chinle boys’ team finished with a low of 48 total points. Tuba City took second place with 53 points, Mingus Union took third place with 90 points, Page took fourth with 102 points, Blue Ridge took fifth with 129 points and Winslow took sixth with 159 points. Coconino was close behind Winslow with 165 points, followed by Holbrook in eighth with 186 points, Monument Valley in ninth with 240 points, Chino Valley in 10th with 274 points, Window Rock in 11th with 296 points and Show Low in 12th with 349 points.
Johnathan Yazzie of Chinle won the boys’ race in a time of 16:28. Mathew Murray of Tuba City took second only six seconds behind Yazzie and Searle Tracy of Chinle took third only four seconds behind Murray.
For Winslow High School, Cody Sangster, a senior, crossed the finish line in 13th place with a time of 17:17, followed by Milland Thomas, a sophomore, in 29th place (17:58). Milland was the ninth underclassman across the finish line. John Hoskie, a junior who was new to cross country this year, finished 33rd in 18:02. DeSean Spencer, a freshman who came off of a knee injury earlier this season, finished 41st in 18:23. He was the sixth freshman across the finish line. Lorin Greenwood, a senior who was also new to cross country this year, had a fantastic race, finishing 43rd in 18:27. The gap between Winslow’s first and fifth runners was only 70 seconds. The strong sixth and seventh runners from Winslow were Matt Honvantewa, who took 57th in 19:02, and Kevin Decker, who, despite a collarbone injury a week ago, finished 64th in 19:37.
The Chinle girls’ team won the race with a low score of 50 points, followed by Page in second with 55, Tuba City in third with 104, Mingus Union in fourth with 105 points, Blue Ridge in fifth with 155 and Window Rock in sixth with 163. These six teams will advance to the state meet. Show Low took seventh with 182 points, Winslow took eighth with 188, Coconino took ninth with 229, Chino Valley took 10th with 257, Monument Valley took 11th with 292 and Payson took 12th with 296.
Rolando Jumbo of Chinle won the girls’ race with a time of 19:05. Kailee Birdinground of Tuba City took second in 20:25 and Deriann Yazzie of Chinle took third in 20:39.
For Winslow, Aaliyah Lewis, a freshman, individually qualified for the state meet with a spectacular ninth place finish in a time of 21:16. The first through eighth place runners in the race were all juniors and seniors, making Aaliyah the first underclassman across the finish line. Rachel Montoya, a junior, took 29th place in 22:32. Danielle Dickson, the only senior on the girls’ team, finished off her high school career with a 41st place finish in a time of 23:11. Freshman Stasha Bahe took 51st in 24:09 and freshman Avrial Sheffer took 58th in 24:23. Sophomore Nicole Lee took 59th in 24:31 and Michelle Crowfeather, a junior, took 64th in 24:58.
The Lady Bulldogs had three freshmen in their top five this weekend, and six out of the seven varsity runners will return next year, which makes next season look very promising.
