Derek Tippecony
Special to The Times
Flagstaff – Sunflowers and cross country runners were celebrated Saturday at the Four Corners Invitational at Buffalo Park in Flagstaff.
“Buffalo Park is known for its sunflowers this time of year,” Flagstaff cross country coach Trina Painter said.
The bright yellow flowers were used as hair accessories for many of the Flagstaff High School athletes taking part in the competition.
“One of the moms made all these headbands for the girls on the team,” Painter said.
Flagstaff High School's Taylor Bigambler, wearing a sunflower headband, crossed the finish line with a commanding lead, taking first place with a time of 18:25.5.
Another Eagle girl, Olivia Baker, took second place in 18:54.4. Flagstaff won the team championship in the girls' three-mile run at the local meet. The Eagles had five finishers place in the top nine for a team score of 23 points. “I thought we ran great today,” Painter said. “The weather was perfect, the course was fast and I feel like we're ready to race now.”
Crosstown rival Coconinio took second place with 93 points, followed by Chinle with 100 points.
Senior Janessa Segey had the top time for the Chinle Lady Wildcats with a time of 18:54.8. “The girls played really well,” Chinle coach Shaniya Smith said of her team’s performance.
Smith is now preparing for his next race, the Desert Twilight, which will be held on Sept. 27 at Toca Stix Golf Club in Mesa, Arizona.
“We've been increasing our training volume in preparation for Twilight, so our athletes' sizes and times reflect what we've been training for,” Smith said. “We want to compete with the best athletes in the state.”
In the boys varsity competition, Chinle finished fourth with a team score of 149 points. The Wildcats finished behind tournament winner Flagstaff High School (44), runner-up Arizona University Prep (82) and third-place Desert Mountain (125).
As with the women's race, the top two finishers in the individual division were crowned winners at Flagstaff.
Defending state champion junior Alex Brand ran the three-mile course in an impressive time of 15:50.5 to take first place. His teammate Cole Troxler finished six seconds behind in 15:56.5.
Topping the list for Chinle was senior Emerson Begay, who placed 12th with a time of 17:12.8.
The Chinle High School coach had high praise for the two seniors who aim to compete at the collegiate level next year. “They have plenty of support and ability to get there,” Smith said.
Results from all 37 teams that competed in the Four Corners Invitational can be found at results.wingfootfinish.com/meets/38815/events .
