The Sedona Red Rock High School track and field team’s last stop before the Arizona Interscholastic Association state track and field championships on Friday and Saturday, May 16 and 17, was the school cafeteria on the evening of Wednesday, May 7, for an awards ceremony.

“This is a special group,” Head Coach Sean Eicher said before handing out the awards. “Compared to last year, we had 17 seniors graduate. We’re young. We’re going to be good. We already have 13 going to state. Wait the next two years we’re going to have about 20-plus going to state. I guarantee it. So keep the hard work up.”

Most Valuable Player

▪ Boys’ team: Chokyi Carstens.
“When you’re running, it’s not like a sport where you’re in the moment and you’re doing stuff, analyzing all the different things,” Carstens said. “It’s pretty much just all grit and power of will. When the gun goes off and you’re told to go, you only remember the first 50 to 100 meters of it, and then everything kind of goes blank. Then, when you’re finally back on that home stretch — that last 100 meters during the kick — you finally kind of gain consciousness, and you know what you’re doing, and you’re running as hard as you can. So there are only really two parts that you remember.”

Carstens, a junior, received the MVP award for bringing his personal best down to 2:05 in the 800 meters from 2:24.7 in his freshman year and setting a personal best of 4:46.7 in the 1,600 meters, events in which he only began to compete this year after previously running shorter distances. He will compete in the 800- and the 4×400-meter relays at state.

“I’m surprised I got it — Ramon [Betancort] gets first place at almost every meet and holds school records,” Carstens said. “But it feels pretty good knowing I’m comparable to him … When I was named captain alongside Ramon, that was already a lot of pressure. But this [award] adds even more going into senior year but I’m ready and excited for it.”

▪ Girls’ team: Avery Raczynski.
Raczynski received the award for her performances in the 100 meters, setting a personal record of 13.65 seconds on March 26; the 200 meters; the 400 meters, setting a personal record of 57.44 seconds; and the 4×100-meter relay.

“I have to hand it to [Raczynski] because she’s been hurt two years in a row,” assistant coach Harry Schneider said. “I have no clue how good she can be, and yet she’s this good [while hurt], so it’s exciting.”

“I feel like I could definitely do a lot better,” Raczynski said. “I’m hoping by senior year I could beat one of the school records, which I know would be hard, but I feel like I could definitely get close to that. I’ve been dealing with shin splints like the whole season, it’s been kind of hard to push through, but I love the sport, so I just manage.”

Outstanding Athlete

▪ Ramon Betancourt:
“As always, Ramon always looks to keep him proving and has raced hard all year,” Eicher said. “I feel, especially in the last week and a half, two weeks, that he could definitely take first at state. He’s been running so well. So the reason he got outstanding athlete is because he’s always placed among his races.”

Betancourt said he was planning to attend Northern Arizona University before transferring to a larger university for medical school with the goal of becoming an anaesthesiologist.

Utility Athlete

▪ Keldon Cain:
“Our utility athlete is someone that usually does individual events, but will jump into the relays … I’m a relay guy. I like getting four people to the podium,” Eicher said. Cain competes in the 100- and 200-meter dashes but has also started running the 4×4 relay this year.

“[Cain] never thought he was gonna be a 400 runner, and early on in his races, he was running about 58, and he all of sudden dropped to a 56.4, and that earned him a spot on the four-by-four, and has made us very competitive,” Eicher said.

Most Improved Awards

▪ Ari Tedrick:
“Ari gets the most improved award … and well deserved,” assistant coach Zach Wheat said. “Ari jumped nine-six last year. He’s gone 12 foot nine inches this year. That’s a three-feet three-inch improvement, 39 inches … I’m just so proud of this whole vaulting team. They just really worked hard this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they do in state.”

▪ Vincent Smith-Shayawatt:
Smith-Shayawatt received the award for improving his discus throw to 125.8 feet from 106.3 in 2024 and 84.7 in his freshman year, and his javelin throw from 95.6 feet in 2024 to 120.8 in 2025.

“We’ve had him training to get stronger, which has really helped his throws,” Eicher said. “He now can do several 10 or plus pushups regularly without being on the wall or a bench. And every other meet, he was improving his throws in the discus.”

Best Sportsmanship Award

The Best Sportsmanship Awards were presented to Aubrie Doyle and Justin Pallarez.

The event was the last award ceremony for assistant coach Victoria Lindsey, who was celebrating her 25th birthday before leaving to work for the Phoenix Police Department. Lindsey also served as the middle school girls’ basketball coach and assistant varsity coach.

“I just want to thank you, parents for trusting me to mentor and coach your kids these last few years. Kids, I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to coach you,” Lindsey said. “I was 20 years old when I started coaching you guys. So I’m here to help you guys grow, but in a way, you guys also helped me grow … All of you are so special to me. Each track season is really special but this group was really amazing, the hard work, the dedication, watching the freshmen grow so much. I say it about every group, but this group had just the teamwork and supporting each other. It was really beautiful to watch.”