Following a 3A-West regional championship Oct. 31, the Sedona Red Rock High cross country team finished third [boys] and fourth [girls] respectively, falling short of their season goal which was to win a state title.
“I think it was disappointing we didn’t do better, but we have a great team, and no one can take that away,” senior Chris Lloyd said.
Despite Lloyd and his team’s feelings of disappointment, finishing third at state is nothing to look down upon, especially since Sedona finished eleventh in 2006 and seventh in 2007.
By Brian Bergner Jr.
Larson Newspapers
Following a 3A-West regional championship Oct. 31, the Sedona Red Rock High cross country team finished third [boys] and fourth [girls] respectively, falling short of their season goal which was to win a state title.
“I think it was disappointing we didn’t do better, but we have a great team, and no one can take that away,” senior Chris Lloyd said.
Despite Lloyd and his team’s feelings of disappointment, finishing third at state is nothing to look down upon, especially since Sedona finished eleventh in 2006 and seventh in 2007.
If the Scorpions stay on the course of success, a state championship is in the near future.
With Tuba City High taking the state championship with 68 points, Chinle High took second with 90 points.
Tuba City as a team ran an 85:10 team time, one of the best finishes in state history.
Chinle’s total team time was 87:02.10 and Sedona was 87:44.30.
Wrapping up the top five was Ganado High in fourth place with 114 points and Window Rock High in fifth with 174 points.
As for the girls, their fourth place finish is the best in school history. In fact, finishing fourth is a school record because it is the only Sedona girls team to ever qualify for a state run, much less actually place in the top five.
“The girls had a wonderful meet. I can’t say enough about the effort those kids put into this season,” Sedona head coach Bill Bunker said.
Chinle won the state championship with a 102:47.85 team total, scoring 50 points, 21 points better than the second place finisher in Tuba City who had 71 points.
Blue Ridge High was third with 79 points and Alchesay wrapped up the top five with 172 points.
The top individual for the boys was none other than junior Jesus Rivera who, once again, placed his name at the top of the list when it comes to finishes at state, or any other meet for that matter.
His 16:43.10 time was good enough for fourth place overall, 30 seconds behind 3A state champ Ryan Yazzie from
Tuba City who recorded a 16:13.20 time.
Yazzie is a junior so Rivera should have plenty of competition to look forward to next year.
Tuba City teammate Billy Orman finished in second with a 16:16.90 time, and Cody Wells from Snowflake High finished third with a 16:34.50 time.
Rivera did finish ahead of the two teammates from Chino Valley High who finished fifth and sixth respectively. Both finished ahead of Rivera in the regional meet.
Juan Martinez was fifth with a 16:49.20 time and Larry Hermance was sixth with a 16:53.40 time.
“I battled with those two guys from Chino and I came out on top … I was proud of that,” Rivera said.
Other Sedona standouts include junior Brian Hoyer who was seventh with a 16:54.25 time, junior Garrett Debs was twenty-fourth with a 17:48.35 time and Lloyd was thirtieth with a 17:57.55 time.
Freshman Jorge Rivera wrapped up the top five for Sedona with a forty-first place finish with an 18:21.05 time.
Sophomore Dylan George-sills was fifty-first with a 18:52.35 time and senior Graham Greenfield was sixty-seventh with a 19:21.85 time.
Now, since the girls for the Scorpions had never qualified for a state meet before, anything they did Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix was gravy, but that’s not the way Sedona looked at their opportunity.
“We want to win,” junior Sophia Zeno said in an interview before the regional meet Oct. 31.
Sedona certainly put their best foot forward with a more than solid fourth place finish in their first appearance at state.
Sophomore Hope Goimarac was the top finisher for Sedona with an eleventh overall performance, recording a 21:19.25 time.
Zeno was fourteenth overall with her 21:31.15 time, junior Yara Denninger was seventeenth with a 21:36.35 time, senior Danielle Holman was twenty-sixth with a 22:38.60 time and junior Rita Clancy was seventy-ninth with a 26:12.10 time.
Season Wrap
With the 2008 season now complete for the Sedona cross country team, it’s never too late to start thinking about the possibilities of the upcoming 2009 season.
Sedona will lose only three seniors in Lloyd, Greenfield and Holman, so look for the Scorpions to make another statement with their legs in 2009.
Brian Bergner Jr. can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 131, or e-mail bbergner@larsonnewspapers.com
