Scorpions Cross Country Team Prepares to Race

What the Sedona Red Rock High School varsity cross country team lacks in numbers, it makes up for in grit and passion.

“We’re an athletic team and I want to show the people we’re competing against that we mean business this year,” head coach Cody McKesson said. “So I’ve really been pushing the kids, setting the bar higher.”

McKesson said his biggest challenge with a smaller team is keeping everyone motivated.

“I just have to develop the programs … so that everyone has someone to run with and push with,” McKesson said. “Because even though they’re on a team, competition breeds excellence. If you have someone on your team pushing you, you’re going to get stronger, naturally.”

This is the first year the Scorpions have had a middle school cross country team, and McKesson hopes its introduction will help the program grow.

“I think they’ll be an asset in getting their friends to join the program and have a full team hopefully within the next year or two,” McKesson said.

McKesson said he tries to run 100 miles a week to prepare for races and takes every opportunity he can to run, including a minimum of 10 miles every day running from home to work.

Junior Aubrie Doyle has been running on the varsity cross country team since her freshman year. Although she didn’t qualify for state that year, she qualified individually her sophomore year and plans to do the same this year.

“I want to get a better finish (in state this year), I’m not too sure what time (I want) but I definitely want to get a better finish,” Doyle said.

Doyle said her goal this season is to significantly lower her time. Her best time last year was 22 minutes, 50 seconds on the Arizona Interscholastic Association 5K course, and she hopes to lower that to 21 minutes by the time she qualifies for the state finals.

“Aubrie was voted in last year, she was definitely the best on the team,” junior Chokyi Carstens said. “She works really hard, probably harder than anyone else.”

Doyle said that while being competitive and placing well in state is a priority for her, team bonding is just as important because it brings her joy and is one of the things she loves most about cross country.

Carstens started running for the Scorpions his sophomore year. Although he narrowly missed qualifying for state last year, he is working to make sure that doesn’t happen again. He said his biggest goals are to qualify for state and lower his time. His fastest time last year was 20 minutes, 23 seconds, which he hopes to lower to about 18 minutes before state qualifying.

Carstens said that while making it to state is important, he added that cheering on teammates and bonding with the team is one of the best parts of cross country. “It’s the time you spend with people in between races that’s the most fun,” Carstens said.

Carsten said the cross country program’s biggest problem last year was a lack of participation, which limited the number of fun events the team could do — like a watermelon relay race, which is now possible. He also hopes the middle school team will improve participation. While McKesson has yet to name a middle school captain, Carsten speculated that senior Nic McAtee would be a likely candidate.

“Unofficially, Nic (McAtee) is kind of our team captain when he’s here because he’s the only senior, and then Aubrie is the team captain the rest of the time,” Carstens said. This is McAtee’s first year in cross country after playing baseball and track. His outdoor interests also include mountain biking, hiking and off-roading.

“Over the years, I’ve learned to love running. It’s a way to find peace and push my limits every day, and grow mentally and physically,” McAtee said.

McAtee said his goals for the season were to work hard and get faster while enjoying the scenery.

“Being out in nature and being able to enjoy the beauty that God has created here is the best,” McAtee said. “My goal is just to persevere and try to see where it can take me. Obviously, the goal is always to win, but my goal is just to have new experiences.”

McAtee is very involved in his church and spent two months of his summer vacation volunteering at a Baptist church in South Carolina. He is working toward his phlebotomy assistant license so he can attend nursing school after graduating from high school. McAtee said he will try to run as much as time allows while he is in school.

“It’s a very special sport in that these athletes are here because of their grit and hard work to compete,” McKesson said. “It’s not about how fit you are when you shoot three-pointers, or how strong you are to tackle someone, it’s about working hard to go as far as you can.”

The first cross country meet of the season took place at Buffalo Park in Flagstaff on Saturday, August 31, starting at 8 a.m.