(Martin [909] & Daw [906] secured the 4th D3 Team title for the Sand Devils.-photo by John Hays)
A Schadler Reigns Again And Page Four Peats-DIII Wrap Up
The State Championships on Saturday, were everything we had hoped for and more! The Division III Girls race was the second race of the day, with top-returner Samantha Schadler (Rio Rico, Jr.), and younger sister to last year's State Champion Allie Schadler (Rio Rico, 2017) as the favorite. Meanwhile Section winners, Mark Wogan (Saguaro, Sr.) and Bowen Martin (Page, Jr.) were eager to test their mettle for the State Title. From a team perspective, Page's Sand Devil boys were confident in their ability to claim a fourth State Championship. Salpointe Catholic's Lady Lancers hoped to accomplish the same but would have some close company with Coconino and Ganado from the north.
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(Left: Samantha Schadler handily won the D3 Girls race.-photo by John Hays)
Eager to earn her own cross-country State Championship, Schadler wasted no time in separating herself from the chase and would clinch her first cross country State Title. Ana Alvarez Tostado (Salpointe Catholic, Sr.) and her teammate Zoey Delgado (Fr.) followed in 2nd and 3rd ahead of Chinle's Alisia Honyumptewa (Jr.) and Maggie Gibbs (Cactus, Jr.) in a distant 5th.
Ganado's Janaya McIntosh (Sr.) and Jayla McIntosh (So.) finished 10th and 11th, and freshman Kayla Beck finished 17th to give their team the upper hand. Both Coconino and Salpointe Catholic took the edge for a bit with four of their scoring runners ahead of Ganado's, until Camille Uentillie (Sr.) and Shaunda Yazzie (So.) shut it down for the Hornets, accumulating 101 points. The Coconino Panthers came away with the runner-up title and Salpointe finished third as a team.
In the Division III Boys race, Page's Bowen Martin (Jr.) and Dorian Daw (Sr.) held the lead early on with Matthew Bradley (Prescott, Sr.) tagging along. Chinle's Josiah Tsosie (Sr.) and Isaiah Hunyumptewa (Jr.) followed just ahead of Roshan Miranda (Rio Rico, Fr.), Mark Wogan (Saguaro, Sr.), and Morgan Fowler (Page, Jr.). Despite enduring achilles pain Bradley would overtake the Sand Devil leaders and take the win, followed by Tsosie in 16:07. Bowen Martin placed 3rd in 16:14, and was accompanied by Daw and Fowler with 4th and 5th place finishes, respectively.
Martin, Daw and Fowler scored the critical points for the Sand Devils and Trent Holiday (Fr.) and Cullen Nockideneh (Sr.) held through for 11th and 22nd place finishes to extend Page's streak to a four-peat. Tuba City took the runner-up team title with 100 points and Chinle finished 3rd with 140 points.