The 2011 Yavapai County Middle School Championships took place at Kuebler Field in Prescott on Oct. 5 with the Coyotes and the Wildcats cross-country teams in attendance looking to claim bragging rights for Sedona.

Denny Drotzmann had the best performance overall of any Sedona kid, finishing second overall for the West Sedona School cross-country team in the seventh- and eighth-grade boys race with a 12:20.05 time. He was the best overall performer for the small schools division.

In the same race, Neil Smith of Big Park Community School was 12th with a 13:48.07 time.

Seth Farmer of Big Park took fifth overall in the fifth- and sixth-grade boys race, finishing his day with an 11:00.17 time. Big Park runner Ryan Farmer was ninth overall in the same race with an 11:29.91 time.

Big Park’s Liza Westervelt finished sixth overall with an 11:54.55 time in the fifth- and sixth-grade girls race while Big Park runner Chenoa Crans was eighth overall with a 12:40.43 time.

In the seventh- and eighth-grade girls race, Big Park’s Jessica Kirkham was 11th overall with a 14:09.61 time.

For the Coyotes, Big Park took third overall in the fifth- and sixth-grade boys race with 72 total points while the girls took fourth at the same age level with 93 points. West Sedona did not have enough runners in the four races to qualify for team points.

Other top performances for West Sedona runners included Jonathon Miller, who was 22nd overall in the fifth- and sixth-grade boys race with a 12:10.79 time, while Max Knaus was 23rd overall with a 12:12.20.

For both schools, the Yavapai County Middle School Championships was the last meet of the 2011 season. Big Park Head Coach Diane Schumacher said she was pleased with her team’s performance this fall.

“It was a dedicated team. The coolest thing was how they supported each other. They were proud of each other which was good to see as a coach. They were there every morning ready to run. It was a good season,” Schumacher said.