| Written by Brian Bergner Jr. |
| Thursday, 20 October 2011 08:00 |
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The Sedona Red Rock High School cross-country team traveled south Saturday, Oct. 15, to participate in the Thunderbird Invitational at Mountain View Park in Scottsdale.
A different meet of sorts, the Thunderbird Invitational pitted seniors and juniors together in one race, while sophomores and freshmen ran in another. In the senior-junior race for the girls, junior Mykala Seresun finished third overall with an 18:27 time at Mountain View Park. Junior Eva Wilson was fifth with an 18:41 while junior Taylor Gage was 11th with a 20:26 time. Junior Rayana Olksak was 32nd overall with a 22:47 time. “I think Mykala [Seresun] was a bit disappointed. A girl that beat her earlier in the season at the Artichoke Invitational beat her again,” Schneider said. Aliya Shirif, a senior at Desert Ridge High School, finished first overall at the Artichoke Invitational on Sept. 17, and was first again at the Thunderbird Invitational this past weekend. For the boys, senior Brandon Snickers finished 10th overall in the senior-junior race with a 16:05 time. In the sophomore-freshman race for the boys, sophomore Travis Okie was sixth overall with a 16:17 time while sophomore Kris Schindele was 17th with a 17:23. A pair of freshmen in Rene Diaz and Kevin Alverez weren’t half bad for the Scorpions on Saturday, with Diaz taking 26th overall with a 17:45 time and Alverez taking 29th with an 18:01. In the girls sophomore-freshman race, Sedona had sophomore Tatiana Chionis finish fourth overall with a 21:02 time. Next up, the Scorpions will make their way to Prescott for the Yavapai County Championships on Wednesday, Oct. 19. Sedona wraps up the regular season Friday, Oct. 21, when it travels to the Holbrook Invitational. The meet will take place at the Holbrook Golf Course; the scheduled start time has yet to be announced. After this week, the Scorpions will have a few days to prepare for the Section I [Division IV] Championships in Holbrook on Friday, Oct. 28, and the Division IV State Championships in Phoenix on Saturday, Nov. 5. |



“This was a good meet for us,” Sedona Head Coach Harry Schneider said. “There was no team situation, just age groups. Sometimes that’s a good thing; there isn’t much pressure.”