ALBUQUERQUE -- Paint and prayers are part of Steven
Johnson's prerace preparation.
The paint is to honor his Navajo ancestors. The prayers are for
his parents, who died in a car crash near Gallup four years ago.
Johnson did them all proud Saturday.
The junior at Santa Fe Indian School pulled off an impressive
triple, winning the 3,200, 1,600 and 800 meter races at the Class
3A boys meet.
His face streaked with reddish paint, the 17-year-old used a
blistering kick on the final lap in each race to reel in the
front-runner. He won the 3,200 on Friday and added the 1,600 and
800 on Saturday.
La Cueva, Albuquerque Academy and Lovington won the team titles
in the boys 5A, 4A and 3A meets.
For La Cueva, its the ninth team title in the last 10 years.
It's Albuquerque Academy's fifth straight and the second in a row
for Lovington.
La Cueva, whose streak of titles was halted last year by
Highland, scored 75 points. Alamogordo was a close second with 65
points and Eldorado third with 51.
No such close call for Albuquerque Academy, which ran away with
the 4A team title with 109 points. Los Alamos was second with 81
points and St. Pius third with 55. Aztec finished fourth with 49
points.
Lovington edged St. Michael's in 3A with 67 points to St.
Michael's 59. The runner-up finish marks the first time St.
Michael's has won a trophy in boys track. Grants was third with 55
points and Ruidoso fourth with 50.
In the 3A boys 1,600, Johnson ran second behind Ruidoso's Fabian
Olvera through the first three laps. Shiprock's Almanis Begay
sprinted into the lead with about 300 meters to go and briefly
appeared ready to run away with it. But Johnson steadily closed the
gap, took the lead as they turned for home and was pulling away at
the tape.
"He freaked me out, I thought he had it, but I guess he just
died out" Johnson said of Begay's run to the lead.
Johnson won the 1,600 in a time of 4:43.93, then came back later
in the day to win the 800. He was third and appeared to be beaten
with about 200 meters to go, but again his speed down the final
straightaway was enough. He won that race in 2:04.81, with
Celestino Caballero of Grants second and James Hart of St.
Michael's third.
Johnson didn't expect to win all three races this weekend. He
had only the seventh best time in the 3,200 and had slower times
coming into the state meet than Caballero and Cobre's Joel Corral
in the 800.
"I was pretty scared again just like all my other races,"
Johnson said. "I don't even know how that kick came."
It probably had something to do with the fact Johnson has been
working out with the SFIS sprinters.
Johnson said the paint he and other Native American runners wear
is part of their culture.
"It reminds me to run strong, how our ancestors used to run,"
he said.
Johnson said with his parents gone, other family members provide
him with emotional support, but his parents are always on his mind.
"I pray for my parents before a race," he said.
Ed Aragon, a member of Santo Domingo Pueblo, helps coach Johnson
-- on his running and his ancestry. He says the paint provides
Native American runners with "strength within."
"It goes back to our spiritualness. It represents our
ancestors," Aragon said. "Running is a spiritual prayer for us."
Albuquerque Academy freshman Curtis Beach, who comes from a long
line of outstanding athletes, also won three events Saturday. He
captured the long jump and the 110 and 300 meter hurdles.
Beach's aunt, Sandy Beach, won nine national titles in track and
field who graduated from Albuquerque's Valley High School and went
on to Arizona State.
"She coaches me and pushes me really hard," Beach said.
"She's been an incredible influence in my life."
Curtis' dad, David, and his uncles, Kenny, Ron and Roman Beach
played basketball.
"I know I have the genetics," the latest Beach athlete said.
Silver's Chenti Quinonez set a state record in the boys 4A 400
with a time of 48.35 seconds. That beat the previous state meet
best of 48.47 run by Chris Edison of Capital in 2003.
Robert Griego of Bloomfield bettered his previous state mark in
the 3A javelin with a toss of 191-7. That was 12 feet more than the
179-6 mark he set at last year's meet.