Sedona Red Rock High School’s swim team opened its season on Thursday in a home meet against Tempe Prep, Basis Flagstaff and Winslow. 

As expected, the Scorpions boys came out in strong fashion, even with Zach Dana, one of the top SRRHS swimmers, home sick. The boys competed in 11 events. In nine of those, it was a Scorpions swimmer touching the wall first. The lone exceptions were the 100 fly, in which Sedona’s Cody Brefeld took second, and the 200 free relay, where the Scorpions didn’t even participate. 

“The guys’ team has gone faster or on par with what they did at state last year,” Eric Schrader said. “And if we keep on pace with what we’re doing, with the yardage we’ve been keeping up and the technique we’re doing, I’d say that we can do well at state.” 

The trio of Brefield, Schrader and Andrew Tate were a part of two winning races, the 200 medley relay (1:50.09) as well as the 400 freestyle (3:47.10). In the freestyle relay, they combined with RJ Edwards to finish nearly four seconds ahead of the second place team. In the medley relay, the group of Brefield, Schrader, Tate and Carlos Lattanzi combined to touch the wall more than 12 seconds ahead of the runner-up. 

Individually, Lattanzi won the 200 individual medley (2:06.84), the 100 backstroke (59.04) and the 100 breaststroke (1:07.13). Tate touched first in the 200 free (1:54.09), an event in which the Scorpions took first and second, with Edwards finishing as the runner-up. Tate also won the 500 free (5:09.07), finishing well over a minute ahead of the second-place finisher. 
Schrader won the 100 free (55.16) by more than five seconds, while Brefield’s winning time in the 100 butterfly (1:04.37) was more than 18 seconds better than the second-place finisher. 

While the girls didn’t finish quite as high as the boys did, they were also strong, especially consid¬ering their comparative lack of experience. Individually, Izzy Constante took first in the 100 freestyle (1:11.47) and third in the 100 back¬stroke (1:25.53). 

“I feel pretty good for the goals that I had set in mind,” she said. “Overall, I just enjoy the sport. I don’t get into my head about things.” 

Constante’s win was the only first-place finish that the girls had. Still, they had a number of additional strong performances. 
In the 200 freestyle, Dezra Dana (2:26.19) and Honoka Yabuuchi (2:42.84) took second and third. Dezra also took third in the 100 breaststroke (1:26.94), while Yabuuchi took fifth (1:29.44). Breezy

Taylor finished second in both the 200 IM (2:39.67) and the 500 freestyle (6:19.37). Kenzie Tibbs finished eighth in the 50 freestyle (35.66). 
The girls also competed in two relays. The group of Constante, Tibbs, Dana and Taylor finished fourth in the 200 medley relay (2:29.09), while the quartet of Constante, Dana, Yabuuchi and Taylor took third in the 200 freestyle relay. 

“It’s always a new year,” Tibbs said of the girls team. “I hope we can get even better and be strong.” 
Top times of the season are rarely ever produced at early season dual meets. Still, season opening meets naturally carry a little bit more excitement. 

This was especially true for the Scorpions, who had a number of swimmers hitting the water for the first time in a competitive manner on Thursday. Coach Dan Morse liked how it went for his swimmers, experienced and newcomers alike. 

“I’m happy for them and the first meet and I’m happy it went well,” Morse said. “It was a very good first step for us. I’m excited to see how the rest of the season goes.”