While Ben Scamihorn wasn’t sure about the kind of turnout he’d get upon taking the job as cross country coach at Sedona Red Rock High School, the early weeks of practices have provided positive signs. In fact, the turnout has been far better than expected.
Newcomers like freshman Carlos Villegas have had a lot to do with that. Villegas is not only new to the team and school, but the sport as a whole. He joined the cross country team with an eye towards getting in shape for the soccer season in the winter. Despite his limited experience in cross country and running in general, he’s gotten the attention of his new coach.
“In just one week, he made a ton of improvements,” Scamihorn said of Villegas. “He is super hard working. I don’t think he’s ever run a lot in the past, but that really hasn’t stopped him from giving it his all in every practice. Even from our first week of practice, he’s already improved so much. So I’m really excited to see his potential.”
Having never done competitive running of any kind, Villegas wasn’t sure what kind of stamina he’d have when running.
But even in the early practices, Villegas exceeded his own expectations.
“It’s going pretty good,” Villegas said. “I’ve made some really good progress. It’s fun … I have pretty good stamina for never running. I thought it was going to be harder. But the coach is really good.”
By the time his freshman season ends, Villegas hopes that his stamina improves even more. Thus far, he’s done a series of reps when he runs for 10 minutes and rests for three. Before the season is over, he hopes to be able to run for 30 straight minutes. Villegas is the kind of runner that Scamihorn specifically wanted to appeal to when he became coach. While experienced runners are obviously an asset, Scamihorn wanted to appeal to newer runners, as well.
His message has gotten across. The coach, who was initially worried about getting even a decent turnout, has seen roughly 20 kids in practice. He has enough depth to not only have an entire varsity lineup for both boys and girls, but possibly a boys JV team, as well.
“I’m really happy with the turnout we’ve had,” Scamihorn said. “I’ve had a lot of newcomers come out. They’re all hard working and really want to get better every day, which is super important. I’m really excited about a lot of them. I don’t know exactly where they’ve been in the past running-wise, but I know that they’re giving it their all — which is what really matters in this sport.”
Michael Dixon can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 131,
