Maya Smith has been selected as the Arizona Milesplit Division 4 girls athlete of the year for her dominance in the distance races. It was a work of art seeing the freshman from Northland Prep Academy freshman put distance on Scottsdale Prep's Amber Miller at the state meet. Despite her phenomenal success Maya doesn't take it for granted. “I have a lot of respect for all runner regardless of place."
How did Maya become such a dominant runner so fast? Natural talent is some of it, but she work very hard and takes advantage of her environment. Races are not won during the winter months, but they can certainly be lost them. Maya put in the miles in the cold Flagstaff winter. “It is windy and cold. It makes you a stronger runner though. I am glad I am up there since when I come down here [Phoenix area for state] I feel a lot better." That toughness was needed at the state meet. Maya harnessed the toughness earned during the cold winter training days to add the 1600 and 3200 Division titles to her cross country title from last fall.
Pushing through the cold weather in Flagstaff isn't a solo effort. Maya is very thankful for her teammates as well. “It's fun to train with my teammates. It is a pleasure. I credit my successes to them," she explained. With a positive attitude and a few state championships already earned the future looks bright for Maya. Her goal this summer are to simply stay in shape and have fun. Track fans might get a glimpse of her fitness at the Flagstaff summer series, but for now she is enjoying her titles as she should.
Honorable Mentions:
Skylar Cavanaugh: One of the better pole vaulters in the state as evidenced by her 5th finish at the Meet of Champions, Skylar was a full foot better than any other D4 vaulter this past season.
Kelby Brown: She defeated defending state champ Morgan Nelson in the 100m en route to winning state and owning the fastest short sprint times in division 4 this season.