Local athletes win in multiple events

More than a dozen schools and athletes qualified for the Arizona state track and field meet last weekend.

There were many repeats but also many firsts.

In the 1A conference, St. Michael had four state qualifiers. Tubby McLaughlin was one of them.

A sophomore, McLaughlin ran the 3,200, 1,600 and the 800. He placed second in the 3,200 with a time of 10:28.39. He placed 6th in the 1,600 with a time of 4:56.31 and ninth in the 800 with a time of 2:14.26.

"At the beginning of the race it was pretty fast," McLaughlin said. "He (the first place runner) made the pace pretty fast. I ran out with him and stayed in second. I feel pretty good, there's pretty good competition from our conference."

He said the 1,600 and 800 weren't his best races because he simply ran out of gas, but even so his accomplishments were many this year.

In the 2A conference, Hopi runners Justin Secakuku and Kyle Silas and Pinon's Winston Yazzie had top performances in the distance events.

Silas ran the 4x800 meter relay, the 3,200 and the 1,600. In the 1,600 he placed 8th with a time of 4:47.31 and was third in the 3,200 with a time of 10:01.82. He and the other Bruins were 12th in the 4x800.

"I improved pretty much because my body matured," Silas said. "I run tougher than I have in past years."

Hopi senior Secakuku placed second in the 1,600 with a time of 4:32.87, second in the 3,200 mile with a time of 9:53.22 and his team placed 10th in the 4x400 meter relay.

Secakuku is in his second year of running track.

"This year was more competitive," Secakuku said. "I got more into it. My coach really pushed me, gave me a lot of advice to improve."

Chinle sophomore Rolonda Jumbo injured a leg early in the season while barrel racing. Running only the past four weeks, she helped her team clinch the 4x800-meter relay title with a time of 10:09.52. She placed third in the 800 with a time of 2:22.42, first in the 1,600 with a time of 5:12.37 and was first in the 3,200 with a time of 11:29.57.

"I think I did decent in the 1,600 and 800," Jumbo said. "I was just running to the best of my ability."

Chinle sophomore Johnathan Yazzie placed 11th with his team in the 4x400-meter relay, fourth in the 1,600 with a time of 4:35.09, and third in the 3,200 with a time of 9:42.59.

"The two mile I PR'd," he said, "ran a 9:40 and mile time increased by 15 seconds. This year I did way better than my last year's performance. Feel all right but I still want to do better."

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