After spending much of the summer training program doing endurance training, the Sedona Red Rock High School cross country team got a change of pace — and climate.
On the evening of Friday, Aug. 21, the Scorpions were on the SRRHS track to take part in an intrasquad time trial. The Scorpions runners all ran a mile and were timed by coach Ben Scamihorn.
Junior Shota Yabuuchi was the rabbit for the Scorpions, running by himself for most of the race and finishing in 5:17. Sophomores Korbin Burke [5:33] and Carlos Villegas [5:58] were behind him. Freshman Benji Cook [6:04] and junior Jack Pierce [6:09] rounded the boys out.
The runners felt good to be running for speed and in a more competitive setting than what they’ve done through
the summer.
“It felt like a race,” Villegas said. “The mile was pretty good. We haven’t done too much speed, more endurance stuff. It went well. Last year during track season I had a 5:40 mile. Now I had a 5:58.”
Scamihorn was impressed with the times, especially when comparing his returning runners — Villegas and Pierce — to where they were at this time last year.
“I was really impressed,” Scamihorn said. “Carlos and Jack, we did a time trial last year and they’re probably a minute and a half faster than this time last year already, which is really exciting. Then Benji, this is his third day of practice and he did great.”
Scamihorn is still looking for runners, especially girls, to fill the roster out. Only two girls were on the track on Friday. Nursing an injury, freshman Skyla Bird did not finish. Junior Yaritza Landa finished her mile in 6:49.
Landa is in her first year running cross country for the Scorpions and is relatively new to distance running. She was happy with the time she posted in what was her first timed mile.
“At first I had a negative mindset,” Landa said. “But once I started running I told myself that ‘I’m fast. I can do this.’ That mentality helped me do this as well as I did. I thought I would do 8 something. But I got 6:49. That was really good.”
The time trial got underway at roughly 7:30 p.m. Given that it was an overcast day, the run took place in the dark. That created the challenge of running with little light, as the track couldn’t be lit.
But while that created a challenge, the net effect was a positive.
Throughout the summer, the Scorpions have been training in temperatures that frequently went well past 100 degrees. On the day of the time trials, a storm hit in the late afternoon.
The runners didn’t have to deal with any of the negative conditions brought on by the storm, as it had cleared by the time they took to the track. They did, however, get to enjoy the perks of the storm, as it cooled temperatures down by roughly 20 degrees. So, while they did run in the dark, the temperature created near optimal running conditions.
“Most of the summer we were practicing in the morning,” Scamihorn said. “But once school started we were practicing in the afternoon and it was really hot. I wanted to let them feel this for a change. Plus a lot of our meets are at night anyway. So I wanted them to get used to that.”
“It felt really good,” Landa said. “Especially with the weather, it felt really nice. When we practice regularly, it’s really hot. The weather definitely made it nicer to run.”
