By Tory Grassrope – Sports
The Billy Mills Classic cross country meet hosted by Eagle Eye timing took place on Saturday, October 11th on the Billy’s mills course at Haskell Indians University. The meet gained a large crowd outside of the university for the event and hosted many talented athletes. The Indian Leader highlights student-athletes Senior Javin Hale from New Town, North Dakota and Junior Yanibah Begay from Window Rock, Arizona as their athletes of the month. These athletes are highlighted each month by the Indian Leader sports insiders and interviewed, getting the inside scoop of life of a student athlete at Haskell University.
The cross country Haskell men’s team won first place at the 2025 Paul Short Run at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania where Javin Hael placed third in the 8k course out of three hundred and seventeen runners with the time of 25:45. Haskell was the only NAlA college at the entire meet and competed in the NCAA D3 division. Javin Hale currently holds first in the eight thousand, five thousand, and six thousand meters. From the Indian leader video interview, Hale said his motto is “Stay disciplined and mentally tough.” For newcomers advice Hale says “Overcome a new environment i know its kinda hard you get distracted but stay disciplined”.
Yanibah Begay Placed 21st in the women’s with the time of 21:01 this past weekend and currently holds 15th place in the records for the six-thousand meters and 17th for the four thousand meters. From the Indian Leader video interview Begay states after coming back from an injury “I started running again not just to heal my body but also to rebuild my spirit.” highlighting her resilience and perseverance through her body and mind despite challenges. Begay’s advice to newcomers is “Come ready to grow on and off the course you’ll find a family here that pushes a tradition that grounds you and a spirit that keeps you going when you race”.
These individuals represent their tribes and teams with greatness through their performances and season thus far. Coach Dakota Hules stated “Our men’s and women’s top runners are developing really well this season” and added “All in all everyone showed out well. It was a good day and we’re really looking forward to conference”.
Coach Clay Mayes referred to Begay and Hale After consulting with Head coach Clay Mayes from and Assistant coach Dakota Hulse about the performance of individuals so far this season the Indian leader is honored to name Yanibah Begay and Javin Hale the athletes of themonth for October 2025. You can find more video coverage and interviews from the Billy Mills classic cross country meet on the Indian leader YouTube channel.
Sights from the Billy Mills Course
Photography By Tory Grassrope
