Senior Natalie Cox topped all Sedona Red Rock High School cross-country runners Oct. 24, finishing in eighth place at a hot, slow, mosquito-infested Holbrook Invitational.
“Everyone was dying,” Scorpions cross-country head coach Taryn Kunkel said. “It was so hot. I have over 20 bug bites on my legs.
“Everyone ran slower than they usually do.”
Cox finished the 5K at the Holbrook Golf Course in 20:10.70, while senior Tia Myers was nearly two minutes slower to finish 21st and sophomore Mychael Saczalski came in just over 25:04 in a race that saw no SRRHS boy runner finish higher than 75th.
Sophomore Wyatt Stevenson could not complete the race due to health concerns.
Head coach Taryn Kunkel hopes those top four runners will all be able to run top 25 times in order to qualify for State when they return Friday, Oct. 31, to the Holbrook Golf Course for the Division IV, Section I race.
“The whole thing’s a dirt track,” Stevenson said. “There’s a lot of hills. It was a little slippery, especially wearing the shoes I was wearing before — they’re all trashed and beat up.
“There are a lot of good runners, too. It’s kind of everything it can throw at you in one race.”
For the full story, please see the Friday, Oct. 31, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.
