During the fall sports season, Sedona Red Rock High School’s football team was quarterbacked by senior Christian Welch. Welch also served as a captain for the Scorpions track and field team, which had a successful season before it came to a premature end.
Due to his accomplishments on the gridiron as well as in track and field, Sedona Red Rock News has named Welch the Male Athlete of the Year for the 2019-20 school year.
Looking back at his time at SRRHS, Welch expressed great pride in his achievements in not only sports but other facets of high school life.
“I do not mention this in show but … I am grateful to be at a school with thriving opportunities and the gifts I was able to use that God gave me,” Welch said. “I was the Student Body [President] and Student Council Vice President, National Honor Society Vice President, Secretary of Key Club and Interact Club [and in the] Photography Club, as well as being a track captain, football player, and a teacher’s assistant for the front office.”
As the starting quarterback, Welch was always going to have a significant role on the football team. The Scorpions roster featured many inexperienced players, which meant an increase of responsibilities of the more experienced players, like Welch. When running back Jackson Coughlin, another one of the team’s more experienced players, sustained a season-ending injury midway through the season, that only made Welch’s job all the more important.
Welch himself dealt with injuries throughout the season. He busted his hand open while making a tackle in the season’s first game and sustained a sprained ankle on homecoming night. Despite that, he played in all 10 games. In addition to leading the Scorpions in the passing categories, he also topped the team in rushing yards (751), rushing touchdowns (8), total tackles (127) and forced fumbles (4).
In the spring, Welch returned to Sedona athletics as part of the track and field team. The Scorpion boys and girls both finished second in their lone meet of the year. But beyond the achievements of the school teams he participated in, Welch identified the support shown by the community as what first comes to mind when he thinks of his senior year.
“What stood out most to me was the overwhelming support we had for our sports,” he said. “Whether it was students, staff or community members showing up to games, the school pride and spirit definitely climbed at a very encouraging rate and I’m excited to see the potential and greater pride that will come in the following years.”
Welch expressed gratitude towards his family, especially his mother, for helping him with his accomplishments
throughout his time at SRRHS, both on the field and off.
When his time in high school is complete, Welch is going to join the United States Navy to become a pilot, something he’s wanted to do since he was 6 years old. Following flight school in Pensacola, Florida, Welch hopes to fly the The F-35C Lightning II to further his career as an aviator in the Navy.
“However, as the country’s needs come first, I will serve in any way I am put forth to,” Welch noted.
And more than his achievements in sports, Welch hopes that his commitment to service is the legacy that students will remember him for.
Whether it’s helping the janitor clean a messy table, helping a teacher or student who has his or her hands full with books, or going the extra mile in the classroom or on the field, Welch was always the first to step up.
“While my time [at SRRHS] seemed so miniscule and short, I would hope that I left a message of hope,” Welch said. “A message that said, try, yes try all those activities — everything you can. Because one day all the pain of sports, the trials of leadership and difficulties of those hard worked A’s will pay off. A message that said, ‘In every thing you do, serve.’”
“If I would mention one thing to my class and those after me I would simply state that you — students of Red Rock High — you are the future. And damn. The future looks good.”
