Busy past few days for Whitehorse, Mon Valley, Monticello cross country

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The Monument Valley and Whitehorse cross country teams traveled to Chinle, AZ for the annual Canyon de Chelly Invitational this past Saturday, September 7.
The strongest individual performance of the weekend belonged to Raider Elam Etsitty, who completed the Chinle Market course in 18:37 to take 26th place overall.
Teammate Jayden John was 73rd overall in his first varsity race with a time of 22:19. Hyatt Thomas took 81st in 23:20, and Tristan Black was 84th in 23:51. All three of those runners were competing in the first varsity races of their careers.
Junior Brayden John was 88th with a time of 26:51. Brayden Kinsel took 90th overall in his first varsity race with a time of 30:55, and Phoenix Chee rounded out the Whitehorse boys team in 91st with a 34:51. The Raiders were 13th as a team.
Lamyia Benally put together a very strong performance in the girls race, finishing 31st overall with a time of 24:53. Freshman Laylah Benally was 48th in her first varsity race when she crossed the line in 27:18.
Sophomore Katie Whitehair was 62nd in her first varsity race with a time of 32:07, and Rayauna Lee took 63rd in 34:51. The Lady Raiders did not register a team score at the event.
Three Monument Valley boys, all juniors, competed in the Canyon de Chelly Invite. Josiah Gipe led the way for the team with a 51st-place finish in 20:05.
Riley Stanley came home 76th with his time of 22:45, and Akacheta Shortman was 82nd overall with a time of 23:24.
Following the already busy weekend, the Whitehorse and Monticello cross country teams got the current week started with a trip to Huntington, UT for the 2024 Stewart Foster Invitational on Monday, September 9.
Whitehorse runners finished atop the individual podium while Monticello teams earned first prizes at the annual event.
Whitehorse sophomore Keiarra Martin continues to dominate and impress in every race she competes. She won the girls race, finishing 45 seconds ahead of Monticello standout Marah Long and beating the course record by 37 seconds.
Martin’s winning time of 19 minutes 22 seconds is a new personal best in the 5K and tops her own course record she set last year as a freshman at Huntington State Park by 37 seconds.
The Monticello girls team had a great race with the scoring runners finishing second, third, fourth, and fifth to win the team title.
Senior Marah Long finished the course in 20:07, Ayla Carling finished in 21:39, Lilli Burton in 22 minutes flat and Allie Carling finishing in 22:59.
The Raiders girls team finished second with Lamyia Benally and Hannah Clark coming home seventh and eighth overall and Maria Yellowman rounding out team scoring in 11th place.
In the boys race a Raider once again stood atop the podium. Following his strong performance in Chinle, Elam Etsitty ran a blistering 17:36 on the Huntington course. It’s a new personal record for the Whitehorse junior by exactly one minute.
The Monticello boys team also ran well with Kaden Pehrson finishing third, Eli Carling fourth, and Kooper Nielson fifth.
Ethan Begay was the second-fastest Raider in sixth place, with Monticello’s Aaron Gillette earning a seventh-place finish to round out team scoring for the Bucks.
The Monticello boys won the team title while Whitehorse finished third behind Wayne. Hyatt Thomas finished 13th and Riley Benallie earned 15th to round out varsity scoring for the Raiders at the meet.
Among the three teams, only Monument Valley is competing for the remainder of this week. The Cougars head to Window Rock, AZ on Saturday, September 14 for the Window Rock Invitational.