The Sedona Red Rock High School track and field team hosted its inaugural meet of the season on Thursday, March 21, the Red Rock Small Invite.

“It’s a learning process for all the kids,” volunteer track and field coach Lew Hoyt said. “It’s a chance for them to feel good about themselves … I said, ‘This is your school; make sure you come out here with pride. [Do] not let any other school beat you, you want to be proud of what you do.’”

“[The meet] went well,” Head Coach Sean Eicher said. “There were many personal records set in individual events. Also, the girls took second out of seven teams and the boys took third out of the seven teams in the overall results.”

Girls

Leila Bradley, senior, took first place in the javelin throw with 96.02 feet and first place in the discus throw with 77.04 feet.

“I went to state my freshman year, so that told me that I was pretty good at the [javelin],” Bradley said. “My personal best is the school record. It’s 96.2 feet and I’m hoping to beat it again this meet.” Bradley added that she started the season at 92 feet in the javelin throw and is aiming to get over 100 by season’s end. She is also planning her future career.

“I’m going to be a firefighter,” Bradley said. “I’m going to go to the fire department, either in Sedona, Copper Canyon or Cottonwood. I’m already in the Fire Academy right now, and then after I graduate, I plan to get my EMT certification and then I can go into the fire department.”

Nia Trujillo took second place in the intermediate hurdles and was part of the 4×400-meter relay team, along with Arabella Licher, Karol Laija and Sierra Williams, that came in first place. She also won second place in the 4×100-meter relay race alongside teammates Avery Raczynski, Gabi Curi and Williams.

“I’m feeling pretty good, just winded per usual after a race,” Trujillo said, discussing her goals for the remainder of her senior year. “To continue in the hurdles and get better and hopefully compete at state because I didn’t last year. I was going to but I just ended up not running it … and also to beat the school 400 record for the girls.”

Teammate Avery Raczynski, a freshman, came in second in the 200 meters with a time of 29.95 seconds.

“We did a track week in [physical education] and I really enjoyed it,” Raczynski said, explaining why she joined the team. “And I realized that I was pretty fast compared to my other classmates. I plan to just keep building on my  strengths, so I can run faster for longer … Then I’ve been playing tennis for five years as well and I built up some good endurance.”

Aubrie Doyle won first place in the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:53.70; Williams won first place in the long jump with a new personnel best of just over 15 feet; and Licher earned first place in the triple jump with a new personnel best of just over 34 feet.

Boys

Brothers Stone Sturgeon, a senior, and Steel Sturgeon, a sophmore, placed first and third, respectively, in the javelin throw, with distances of 104.01 feet and 101.07 feet. This was Steel’s second time throwing over 100 feet.

“Steel’s been constantly improving this season and has been adding one to two feet to his distance in the earlier meets, and he is still making great progress,” Eicher said. “They’re great kids, come from a great family and very community based. Stone has helped me out so much with doing flag football to [refereeing] for me, he’ll play flag football for me. Anything I asked those to do as well … They are very involved with the school itself.”

Joan Diaz clinched the top spot in shot put with a personal record throw just surpassing the 39-foot mark.

“This is his second year doing track because he is a thrower, he has done some sprinting,” Eicher said. “But his main event is shot but throws discus once in a while. He is my TA that helps me in my fifth hour with the middle school kids. In my middle school, which is 40 kids, a lot of times he’ll jump in and engage with the kids, and they all love him … And they overall everyone respects them. He played basketball as well and was in soccer.”

Sophomore Ben Metzger won second place in the high jump, clearing five feet and eight inches, and added that his goal is to clear six feet.

Ramon Betancourt took second place in the 400- meter dash.

“I was feeling pretty bad about it because I usually run faster than that,” Betancourt said. “I just wasn’t prepared, but I’m going to go for the school record this year, that’s around 50.22 seconds. My personal best is 51.16 seconds. I’m going to start training harder. And I need to work on my last 100 meters, so my final kick, and get better at the form during the section of the track.”

Betancourt added that he sees that potential for success for his teammates as well.

“I think a lot of us are actually going to go to state this year compared to last year where we only had like 11 or 12, and we’re probably going to have probably around 20,” Betancourt said.

The second and final home meet of the season will be the Sedona Red Rock Invitational, which will take place on Saturday, April 6, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Volunteers are needed to help organize the upcoming meet. Those interested in assisting can contact Eicher at eicher@sedonak12.org or (928) 204-6731.