The season came to a close for Sedona Red Rock High School’s track and field team at the Arizona Interscholastic Association Division IV state championships on Friday and Saturday, May 4 and 5.
Scorpions senior Nathan Hoyer came out the biggest winner, backing up his No. 1 seed by taking home the state title in the 800-meter run. Four individuals and one relay team made it on the podium, and a group of underclassmen got valuable experience at the state’s most important competition.
“I thought we really had a very good meet. There’s always a couple disappointments, but it’s the state meet. I think the younger kids, all the kids, after sitting around all day long, then they all run their best Friday night and Saturday, just wow,” Scorpions head coach Harry Schneider said. “That’s all I want them to learn — the young kids especially — it’s the state meet, it’s meant to be emotional and exciting.”
The boys team finished sixth overall with 36.5 points, 3.5 off of fifth place Chandler Preparatory Academy. The girls tied for 18th overall with 11 points.
Held at Mesa Community College, temperatures reached triple digits. Achieving fast times and great distances was secondary in Schneider’s eyes; it was all about competing against the rest of the field.
“I told [Hoyer], ‘The time that you run means nothing. You’re here to be state champion,’” Schneider said. “It’s competition because it’s the state championship, you’re going against the best.”
Hoyer was third in the pack after the first of two laps. By the time he came around the final turn, he was in the lead and was not challenged on the final stretch. He finished in 2:00.10, but had gone as fast as 1:58.60 at the final meet of the regular season on April 24.
“It’s something I’ve never experienced, and I’ll always remember it for years to come, so it’s kind of a big accomplishment to me,” Hoyer said. “The last 150 [meters] I thought guys were going to try to kick it and try to match me, but then right away, the last 75 meters I knew I wasn’t going to get passed, and I was just confident in my finish.”
Hoyer was also part of the 4 x 800-meter relay team that finished runner-up to Chandler Prep in Friday’s opening event. Also on that team were senior Eduardo Jimenez and juniors Forrest Hartley and Gabriel DeLuz, all running personal best times en route to a final time of 8:29.75.
“Starting out the meet with the 4 x [800] really set a tone for everybody,” Schneider said. “I think it set a tone, a
good positive tone.”
Senior Julia Koss aimed to finish off her steady ascent on the podium in the pole vault. As a sophomore, Koss placed third and as a junior she was runner-up, but she finished third this season, on attempts.
She cleared the same height, 9-06 feet, as the top two finishers, but needed two attempts versus just one for the others. That extra attempt knocked her out of the running for the title. She returned in the discus on Saturday, finishing 15th with a throw of 83-11.
Koss graduates with the school record in the pole vault, clearing 11-03.5. The former record was 11-03, and she also owns the freshman, sophomore and senior records.
“It’s a big bummer, totally, but I’m just happy I beat the school record to be honest,” Koss said. “I finally reached breaking that school record, that was my biggest one.”
Junior Abby Stevenson took home a fourth place medal in the long jump [15-08.50]. Stevenson was in second place until the last round of jumps.
Junior Evan Favorite was runner-up in the long jump with a personal best leap of 21-08.25. He finished seventh in the 100 in 11.64 seconds, and sixth in the 200-meter dash in 23.63 seconds.
Senior Collier Trcic competed in the long and triple jumps. Trcic placed fourth in last year’s triple jump, but this year came in 18th [30-05.25]. She was 13th in the long jump [14-03.75].
Sophomore Morgan Fritz competed in the javelin, the state’s newest field event, taking 16th [81-01]. Freshman Courtney Hansen qualified in the shot put, finishing 14th [28-09.75].
Red Rock has maintained a successful pole vault program during recent years. At this year’s meet, only one of six qualifiers — Koss — made the podium. Junior Drake Ortiz finished fourth last season, but did not record a height this year. Hartley, who was 15th a year ago, took fifth by clearing 11-09. Ortiz and Hartley entered the meet with the second and third best heights in Division IV, respectively.
The pole vaulters were most affected by the teacher strike — they vaulted only once between April 26 and the meet.
“It definitely puts some doubt in you, but pole vaulting is kind of like riding a bike. You kind of get back on there, but it is super mental. So if you think about ‘Oh my gosh, I haven’t vaulted in a week’ then you’re constantly doubting yourself,” Koss said.
Only Koss graduates from that group, and freshmen Serena Allen and Eric Schrader qualified, along with sophomore Dylan Beattie. Allen took 19th [6-06]; Schrader tied for eighth [10-09]; and Beattie tied for 17th [9-03].
Beattie was eliminated from the high jump with the bar at 5 feet, 4 inches, and was 20th in the triple jump
[34-10.5]. The girls 4 x 400-meter relay team — made up of Stevenson, Allen, freshman Zoe Schibler and sophomore Cheyenne Javey — participated in preliminaries, and all hit personal best times.
In the meet’s final race, the boys 4 x 400-meter relay team finished in eighth [3:34.95], all with personal best times. Red Rock freshman Francisco Bekele took the baton for the anchor leg of the race.
With a strong group of underclassmen having qualified for the state meet, it acted as a sort of symbol for what is to come for the Scorpions runners, jumpers, hurdlers, vaulters and throwers.
An online gallery photos from the meet can be found on our home page, redrocknews.com.
