Russian Tatiana Krakmeleva highlighted a perfect finish for the Verde Valley School girls runners on their home course as they and the boys team both won Northern Arizona Athletic Association cross-country titles Saturday, Nov. 8.

Senior teammate and biggest rival Margaret Seid was 29 seconds behind the 27:23 first-place finish of Krakmeleva, a sophomore for the Coyotes, followed by sophomore Chloe Dotti, junior Jennie Harlan and freshman Leah Merchant all in a row to finish with a perfect score of 15 — “unheard of,” said Coyotes head cross-country coach Claire Brislin.

“They dominated all season,” she said. “[Tatiana] was first or second in almost every meet.”

This marked the first title for the Verde Valley School girls cross-country team, on the heels of a runner-up finish the previous fall. Brislin said the team will return “really strong” next year.

Overall boys runner-up and senior captain David Ruiz, originally from Los Angeles, led his Coyotes teammates to their second straight association title, a finish 10 points better than the five runners from Oak Creek Ranch School after losing to the same team by seven points the previous week.

For the full story, results and more, please see the Friday, Dec. 5, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.