ALBUQUERQUE – Navajo Prep’s Elijah England swept all three distance races during the Class 3A state track and field championships over the weekend at the UNM Track and Soccer Complex.
On Saturday, the multi-sport state champion junior completed the three state title runs, winning the 1600-meter championship in a meet record time of 4 minutes, 18.61 seconds.
One day prior, England took full control of the proceedings, winning the 3,200 meter run with a commanding time of 9:30.30, more than 26 seconds better than his Class 3A championship run in this same event last year.
England also captured state gold in Friday’s Class 3A 800-meter run and delivered the performance of the afternoon. England crossed the finish line in 1:53.52, eclipsing the previous Class 3A state record of 1:54.46 set by Sandia Prep’s Kaden Helmka in 2021.
In capturing his third state title of the weekend in the 1,600 meter run, England also captured a second state record time, eclipsing the previous mark set by Shane Garcia of Laguna-Acoma in 1990.
In addition to England’s exploits, the Eagles boys track team was also handling their share of the load.
In the 3,200 meter race, teammates Darington Ramone took second (9:52.74), followed by Kenai Begay (9:58.52) and Tyler Begay (10:13.63). The 1-2-3-4 finish secured 19 points for Navajo Prep in a single event.
The same held true in Saturday’s 1,600 meter run. Behind England’s record-setting win, Tyler Begay finished second, with Ramone, Kenai Begay and Deaken Begay rounding out five of the top six finishers in the race.
England’s record-breaking pace left the rest of the field battling for silver. Kyle Berger of Socorro High School took second in 2:01.07, narrowly edging out St. Michael’s Sawyer Kuhn (2:01.65) and Cuba’s Julian Chavez (2:01.66).
Berger and Kuhn proved to be the most consistent challengers to the Navajo Prep juggernaut. Berger added a fifth-place finish in the 3,200 to his silver medal in the 800, while Kuhn placed sixth in the 3,200 to go along with his bronze in the 800.
England has now captured five individual state track and field titles for Navajo Prep, but the team couldn’t hold off St. Michael’s, which brought home the Class 3A team title, outscoring Navajo Prep 87.5-66. Sandia Prep High School (59), Santa Fe Indian School (50) and Santa Fe Prep (37) rounded out the top five boys Class 3A team scores.
The boys team also earned a gold medal in winning and breaking the state mark in the 4×800-meter relay race. The quartet of Tyler Begay, Kenai Begay, Ramone, and Deaken Begay clocked a blistering 8:14.66 to capture the Class 3A championship. The performance shattered the previous state record of 8:20.29, set by Ruidoso just one year ago, by nearly six seconds.
The victory required every bit of that record-breaking pace, as Santa Fe Indian School pushed the Eagles until the very end. The Braves also finished well under the old state mark, taking second place in 8:14.94—less than three-tenths of a second behind Navajo Prep.
In the Class 3A girls long jump, junior Nataya Serrano battled through a tight competition to secure a runner-up finish. Serrano posted a mark of 16 feet, 2¼ inches to take the silver medal. She was narrowly edged out by Santa Fe Prep’s Marley Belyeu, who claimed the state title with a jump of 16-3½.
On the boys’ side, junior Shayden Hatathle delivered a scoring performance in the shot put. Hatathle finished fourth with a top toss of 41 feet, 9 inches. The event was dominated by Cuba’s Richard Lovato, who took the crown with a mark of 45-6¼.
Zack Salazar of St. Michael’s finished second (42-8), while Robertson’s Max Flure (41-10½) just managed to stay ahead of Hatathle to claim third.