Monument Valley, Whitehorse cross country shines in Blanding

Both the Monument Valley and Whitehorse teams traveled north to compete at the John Thornton Invitational in Blanding this past Wednesday, September 22.

Although both schools were missing full teams, it didn’t stop several runners from posting top finishes on the hilly, difficult course. Overall, both schools had excellent races.

The sole female runner from Whitehorse, Heidi Thomas, posted an impressive fourth-place finish. Her outstanding race in Blanding gives Thomas her third top-five finish this season.

Thomas was followed on the girls side by Monument Valley’s Lillianna Fatt, who barely missed the top ten with a 12th-place finish. Behind Fatt, Lady Cougar teammates Taja Mwamba, Dayheona Yazzie, and Caitlyn Yazzie came home 21st, 25th, and 26th respectively.

On the boys side, Weston Manygoats of Whitehorse led the charge with a very nice second-place finish. Manygoats’s spectacular performance was only 30 seconds behind the first-place runner from Mancos.

The next runner to cross the line was Raider Keeyah Begay, who finished in 13th. He was followed by the lone Monument Valley runner in the boys race, Jerimiah Singer, who finished in 40th.

Close behind Singer and rounding out the Monument Valley team were Nicholas Pelt and Robryan Tapaha, in 42nd and 43rd place.