Sedona Red Rock High School hosted its inaugural fall sports banquet on the evening of Thursday, Nov. 7. 

“We are excited to celebrate the accomplishments of our fall sports teams at the upcoming sports banquets,” school staff wrote in an October email. 

“These events are a great opportunity to recognize the hard work, dedication and achievements of our student-athletes and coaches through the season.” SRRHS athletic director Pedro Ortega Sr. said that the banquet will likely be a new tradition for those participating in spring and winter sports. As part of a larger initiative by Superintendent Tom Swaninger, Ph.D., to increase student athletic participation, the coaches of each team presented certificates, varsity letters and trophies for most improved, sportsmanship and most valuable player to students.

“Where you learn about life is out there on the athletic field, how to win, how to lose, teamwork, hard work and what it takes,” volunteer track and field coach Lew Hoyt said to the students. “So as important as academic are, sports are super important. You learn values in sports that you use all of your life. So I want to applaud every one of you.” 

Volleyball 

The Scorpion volleyball season ended with a record of 2-15, with the team’s only two wins coming from its first game of the season against Mayer and its last game of the season against Phoenix Christian. 

“We had a lot of girls that had to play up and play out of position to get through the season. But it was just an unbelievable, great group of girls that I had this year, hard work, commitment,” Head Coach John Parks said of his 30th year at the school. 

■ Most Valuable Player: Amy Brefeld 

■Sportsmanship: Katrina Le 

■ Most Improved: Sheila Montes 

“We appreciate you guys being here, getting to practice,” Parks said to the parents. “And then, of course, the players, it’s a commitment for you guys, because a lot of you guys … like to make your money … I’m going to give you a little advice here. You’re going to get to do that for another 50 years. The next four years are going to be gone. You can’t go back and do this. Play those sports.”

Swimming 

“She scored the most points for our team this season, but that’s not why I’m giving her MVP,” Thornton said of Zinnia Mykkanen. “She was the most valuable player because she has really worked on those details her whole season … She challenged herself, and she brought a really coachable attitude to the season. Tomorrow she’ll go down to compete in the state meet.” 

■ Most Valuable Player: Zinnia Mykkanen

■ Sportsmanship: Alana Schrader 

■ Most Improved: Angelina Paley 

“[Schrader] was helpful with showing the younger kids the ropes and she qualified for state, but didn’t make the cut,” Thornton said. “She qualified in the 100 breaststroke and didn’t quite make the cut. She attended all our meets with some time improvements and had a solid senior season.”

Cross-Country 

Cross-country Head Coach Cody McKesson described the end of the season as bittersweet. 

“It didn’t end how we wanted it to,” McKesson said. “We had two runners that were very capable of making it to state. Our top boy, his fastest time this year was 17:40:40 seconds. And for the one meet that he needed to qualify, he ran like 19 minutes … Our top girl was 0.03 seconds away from qualifying for state. That’s an eye blink.” 

■ Most Valuable Player: Chokyi Carstens  

■ Sportsmanship: Aubrie Doyle 

■ Most Improved: Sunny Flores 

“But we’re planting a seed, and we’re going to water that seed, so by next season, that seed will be a tree, and we’re going to try our best next season,” McKesson said. 

Boys’ Soccer 

The inaugural boys’ soccer season with Head Coach Gavin Shippen ended with the team posting an overall record of 6-4-1 in conference play and a regional record of 4-1-1. Shippen said that he was committed to returning to the program next season. 

“We made a lot of memories this season,” Shippen said. “Our bus had some technical difficulties coming back from the White Mountains, and only about 10 minutes outside of Show Low, I think that the radiator blew … and we ended up staying there until it was about 3 a.m. So we went to the Show Low basketball gym, and we’re playing basketball from about 1:30 to 2:30 a.m. None of us will forget that.” 

■ Most Valuable Player: Ramon Betancourt 

■ Sportsmanship: Owen Jimenez 

■ Most Improved: Khrystian Cordova 

“We didn’t make playoffs, but it came full circle because my freshman year, we had the exact same record as this year,” Betancourt said. “But Sedona hadn’t been to the state finals in over 20 years, and my sophomore year, we [went] all the way. And then the year after, we went to the semis. That’s definitely my favorite moment, showing that we had the talent to go all the way.” 

“It’s almost a repeat story of the start of the year. We’re losing almost the same amount of seniors after this season,” Shippen said. “Thirteen guys are graduating and moving on to the next steps of their lives and the next level, whether it’s work or school. So replacing some of our core guys is a challenge for us, but we’re ready for it.”