05/07/2025
Both boys & girls track teams are NAIC Champions
Page Middle School Track & Field Teams are NAIC Champs
Both the boys and girls teams for Dust Devils Track and Field brought home the NAIC championship last Saturday. The event was held in Kayenta.
The Lady Dust Devils won by a mere point and a half over Baker Middle School. It all came down to the final race of the day, the 4x400 relay. Prior to the 4x400 Page led Baker 117 to 114.5 points. In the race, Baker took third place, earning six points. The Dust Devils came in fourth place, earning five points. The final score read Dust Devils 122, Baker 120.5.
The boys team finished with 118 points, and the next closest team had 92 points.
Saturday’s championships was the perfect ending to a brilliant track and field season, which saw several records broken.
Max Martin set a new record in the boys 1600M. He broke it at the beginning of the season with a time of 4:48.82. Previously held by Symond Martin (2022, 4:52). His 1600 time is 3rd in the state for middle school times this year. He broke the school record for the 400 at the championship meet on Saturday with a time of 57.04. Previously held by Symond Martin (2022, 57.62). He broke the 800 school record in April at the Colts Classic with a time of 2:13.37. Previously held by Shaydon Begay (2019, 2:15.02). His 800 time is the 4th in the state for middle school times this year.
Maya Cambridge set a new record in the girls 400M with a time of 1:05.08. The boys 4x400 relay team broke the record three times this season. The first time was in March at the Sand Devils Invitational. The team consisted of Skylar Smith, A.J Gayle, Jomesh Johnson and Nolan Talbot. At the NAIC Championship, the team consisted of Skylar Smith, A.J Gayle, Nolan Talbot and Owen Sombrero.
Big things were happening on the field too. LaNya Willie finished the season ranked no. 1 in Arizona for 7th graders in the discus, and no. 8 in Arizona for 7th graders in Shot Put. Austin Rivers finished the season ranked no. 2 in Arizona for 7th graders in the discus.
Head coach, Anne Cambridge, was impressed with this year’s team on many levels.
“This year’s middle school team was so great,” she said. “I had such a fun time coaching them because they were so nice; they are good people. As far as treating me well, this team probably treated me the best as any team I’ve coached.”
Coach Cambridge was filled with pride when she witnessed all the effort the teams have put in this season paying off in the NAIC championships.
“At the very last races, boy’s and girl’s 4X400 I felt this emotion come over me, just this amazing pride for the entire track team, those that ran and got us points, and those who pushed the athletes to do better each meet and each practice,” she said. “I really felt like this year’s team needed each and every athlete to do their part to win both a boy’s and girl’s championship.”