Diné College

Cross Country takes Second at National Finals

November 12, 2011

Lake Placid, NY - As the Dine’ College Cross Country team left for Lake Placid, New York this past Wednesday neither first year coach Gavin Sosa nor the team knew exactly what to expect. They were on their way to the USCAA National Cross Country Championships—a meet that provides small colleges the opportunity to compete against each other and determine who is the best cross country team in the country. On a new course and against more competition than ever before, the runners from Dine’ College were excited for the chance to test themselves against the Nation’s best.

Race day temperatures in upstate New York hovered just above freezing as the women toed the starting line. 111 women representing more than 25 colleges charged out onto the snow-covered course. Freshmen Jennifer Williams (Tuba City High School) and Terrilleen Spencer (Chinle High School) went out conservatively and found themselves far back from the front in the first mile. But over the 6 kilometer course (approximately 3.75 miles) they worked their way through the pack, racing like veteran runners. From the first mile on they made aggressive moves, and by the end Jennifer was able to work her way up to 37th place overall with Terrilleen close behind in 48th. Both of these young ladies were excited about their races and the entire experience of Nationals. Instead of feeling intimidated by the quality of the competition that they had faced, they both immediately began talking about what work would need to be done over the next year in order to be competitive with the front-runners. With the return of these two ladies and the expectation of fielding a full women’s squad next year, the future looks promising for the Lady Warriors of Dine’ College.

At noon nearly 150 men stood on the starting line of the 8 kilometer course (approximately 5 miles). Each team hoped to challenge Spalding University, the defending National Champions, and each runner was hoping that this was their day to take down Abram Deng—the individual champion from 2010. The 7 men from Dine’ College were no different. 10 weeks of training had brought them to this point and they believed that they were capable of the upset.

To the surprise of many, the men’s race went out slowly, and Dine’ College’s Andrew Honyaktewa (Sophomore, Hopi High School) found himself in the lead with his teammates close behind. At the two mile mark, the Dine’ College Warriors looked to be in control of the race, with their top 6 runners in front of Spalding’s 5th man, and their top 5 all in the top 20. But during the second half of the race the runners from State University of New York (SUNY-ESF) made a strong move and no one was able to respond. In the end only 10 points separated first and second place, with SUNY-ESF scoring 50 points to Dine’ Colleges’ 60. Defending champion Spalding University was back in third with 74 points. Andrew finished 3rd overall, earning his second All-American honors, and his teammate Brian Keesie (Sophomore, Many Farms High School) earned his first All-American honors by placing 6th overall in this highly competitive field, moving up from a 16th place in 2010. They were followed by Adrian Herder (sophomore, Pinon High School) in 11th place, who also showed great improvement from his 30th place finish last year. Freshman Rusty Eddie Jones (Chinle High School) took 18th with teammate Darrick Joey (freshman, Chinle High School) close behind in 20th. Darnell Phillips (sophomore, Tuba City High School) placed 36th and Freshman Ambrose Chee (Pinon High School) took 56th place.

In such a close race both coaches and athletes are left with many questions about what could have been, and a year will pass before the Dine’ College Warriors will have the chance to answer them. But this group of young men and women did honor to themselves, their families, their college and their people through their commitment and sacrifice over the past several months. And they walk away from this season understanding what all runners know—that champions do not become champions when they win, but in the hours, weeks, months and years that they spend preparing for the race. The victorious performance is simply the demonstration of their championship character, and these Warriors possess such a character.