After completing the opening leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay at the State Championship meet in November, Sedona Red Rock High School senior Eric Schrader watched teammates Cody Brefeld, Andrew Tate and Carlos Lattanzi swim their legs of the race.

Lattanzi touched before any of his fellow anchors, giving the Scorpions the win in the second heat. Immediately after he touched, Schrader looked at the board and saw a time of 1:32.27. In addition to winning the second heat, it was faster than any time posted in the first heat. Schrader repeated the number over and over so his teammates and coaches would remember it and immediately compare it to the times in the third heat. However, that step proved unnecessary.

While the individual events featured three heats at this year’s state meet, the relays only featured two. So, while he didn’t realize it at first, Schrader was already a state champion.

“I repeated that six times before someone on the team told me that there were only two heats,” Schrader remembered. “Then it sunk in and we all collectively lost our minds. It’s probably my top sports moment in high school.”

And at that meet alone, Schrader had an array of memories to compare it to.

Individually, Schrader finished eighth in the 50-yard freestyle individual event in his senior year. He also teamed with Lattanzi, Tate and Brefeld to finish third in the 400-freestyle relay.

But not every memory on the swim team involved strong finishes at state.

As a freshman, Schrader remembered getting up at 5 a.m. to go to a Saturday meet in Kingman. As soon as the team arrived, a flash flood warning hit. Schrader and his teammates went to a locker room to wait — where they stayed for six hours. Eventually the locker room flooded to about ankle height. Finally, the meet was canceled and the team went home, wet. With the benefit of hindsight, Schrader remembers that now as a good “team building moment.”

Schrader has been an active athlete at SRRHS outside of the pool, as well. In the spring, he competes on the track team. He’s done the 100, 200 and 400 meter races as well as the pole vault in the past.

Last spring he was also one of a handful of Scorpions athletes hoping to do the javelin throw — which was a new event to the team — during the 2020 track and field season. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic brought an end to the season after only one meet, which did not feature the javelin.

“I never got to do it at a meet — this year I’m hoping to put some numbers down,” he said. “Other than that, I’m trying to make it to state. I want this year to be a competitive year for track and field. I want to do as well as possible. And I want to have a full season.”

But before track season will come basketball. It’s a new sport to Schrader. Not only has he never played it in high school but he’s never played it in any competitive setting.

“It’s my senior year and with everything being as weird as it is, I decided what could go wrong?” Schrader said. “It’s just exploratory. I’m still really enjoying it but I’m not striving for perfection. A lot of my friends are in basketball. I’m hoping to hang out with them more and striving to get better every day.”

Schrader’s extracurricular activities are not limited to sports.

He’s the student body president and runs the student council. Schrader is also a member of the National Honors Society.

Away from school, he’s in the explorers program. Like basketball, it’s something that he does partially because friends are in the program. But he’s also found it helpful.

“It really gives you a glimpse into what police officers do,” Schrader said. “It’s helped me in the few times that I’ve had interactions with police. It helped me understand what they’re going through and what I should do so we both have the easiest possible interactions.”

Despite his involvement in the program, a career in law enforcement is not what Schrader is planning on. After high school, he plans to go to Northern Arizona University and major in exercise science with a pre-med focus.

In addition to being an athlete, he’s also worked as a student trainer throughout his time in high school. He hopes that his career will allow him to continue to do that.

“I haven’t decided what I want my career to be,” Schrader said. “But I want it in the medical field and I want it to be with athletes.

“I’ve helped Mrs. B [SRRHS’ head athletic trainer Andrea Bagnall] for the past three years at every home football game and most home volleyball and basketball games. There’s something rewarding with that — even if you’re not the one playing — doing something to help them succeed. Especially if they were in pain and are no longer in pain because of what you do.”