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RED ROCK NEWS, Sedona, Arizona Wednesday, May 26, 2010- 15A
SPORTS RECREATION
File photos/Larson Newspapers
JUNIOR TROY LOPARCO was selected to the All-Region second runs and 19 RBIs to help the Sedona Red, Rock High School
team with his 400 average. Loparco led the team with four home baseball team finish one Win away from making the state playoffs.
By Brian Bergner Jr. his team in both categories [
LARSON NEWSPAPERS while recording five doubles
and two triples.
"Troy [Loparco] missed
With graduation just around the first-team nomination by
the corner, spring athletics one vote; he played very well
at Sedona Red Rock High
School has come to a close but
there were a few individuals
nominated for All-State and
All-Region awards that need
recognition.
In softball, sophomore
Whitney Cooper was a
consensus 3A West region
MVP this season, compiling
a .649 batting average while
hitting 14 home runs and
recording 70 RBIs in the
process.
Cooper nearly doubled her
s6h~ol recoi~fr~6~20~~a~'7
second-year Head Coach John
Brown, and there's sure to be
more where that came from.
Cooper also added 13
doubles and seven triples to
her stats while scoring 42
runs. On the mound, Cooper
struck out 91 batters while
recording a sub-2.00 earned
run average.
With everything put
together, Cooper received the
first-team All-State award for
2010.
Sticking with softball,
Ashley Haas and Maria
Micheli were named first-team
All-Region performers while
Jenna Diaz was a second-
team All-Region nominee and
freshman Shelby Cordova was
honorable mention.
Moving across the way to
baseball, junior Troy Loparco
played well enough this
season to be nominated to the
All-Region second team in the
3A West.
Posting a .400 batting
average, Loparco had four
home runs and 19 RBIs to lead
for us this season," first-year
Head Coach Rob Henry said.
On the mound, Loparco was
6-4 with a 4.86 ERA in 44
innings pitched.
Sophomore catcher J.R.
Henry and senior Josh Dibiasi
were given honorable mention
awards.
Dibiasi hit .383 this season
with two home runs and 11
RBIs, the most memorable
home run coming against
Camp Verde High School to
help beat the rival Cowboys "
on, thejLhpme field:
As for track and field,
Scorpions had several All-
State finishes this season
which helped the boys take a
3A conference state title and
the girls finish second overall.
Senior Kevin Cox won
three gold medals at Arizona
State University a couple of
weekends ago making.him
an All-State performer while
Jesus Rivera was in the same
class as a first-team All-State
award winner.
Rivera also helped Garrett
Debs, Alan Meyers and
Brandon Snickers get second-
team All-State awards with
their second-place finish in the
4x800-meter relay and was a
part of the 4x400-meter relay
team that finished second as
well.
Receiving second-team All-
State awards for the 4x400
were Chris Oestmann, Cox
and Tristan Whittaker.
A.J. Garnello received an
honorable mention award for
his third-place finish in the
discus.
SOPHOMORE WHITNEY COOPER hit 649 with 14 home runs and
70 RBIs this season, making her the obvious choice for the 3A West
MVP this season and an All-State selection.
As for the girls, Mykala
Seresun received a second-
team All-State award for her
performance in the 3200-meter
rtln while Nyomi Mosley
[triple jump], Hope Goimarac
and Seresun, Lydia Mosley,
Rachel Lillie and Sophia Zeno
[4x800-meter relay] all got
honorable mention.
Brian Bergner Jr. can be reached
at 282-7795, ext 131, or e-mail
bbergner@ larsonnewspapers.com
New plan slated to
be phased in during
2010-11 school year
By Brian Bergner Jr.
LARSON NEWSPAPERS
Early last week, the Arizona
Interscholastic Association
executive board approved ,a
plan that will change the face
of high school athletics in
Arizona as we know it.
On May 15, a complete
reconstruction of high school
athletics, mostly concerning
state tournaments, conference
and regiori alignments was
passed. The changes will be
phased in at the start of the
2010-2011 school year.
Camp Verde High School
Athletic Director Mark
Showers believes this is a big
step in the right direction.
"With the state of the
economy everyone must live
within their means, and the
AIA is no different," Showers
said.
Showers went on to say
schools are in the same boat
and this new plan by the AIA
will force their hands to be
financially responsible, or face
bankruptcy.
The AIA voted to also
decrease their dues and fees
by 7.5 percent per member
school and increase ticket
prices for early-round games
to $8 and $6. The board also
agreed to increase semifinals
and finals ticket prices to $10
and $6.
As it stands, for most of
the mainstream sports such as
football, volleyball, basketball,
softball and baseball, there are
up to seven state champions
crowned at the end of the
season.
With the new plan, there
may be only four, or as few as
thr .e.7 ::7i,:.-i . ;,i :, "
For the less-popular sports,
state championships that were
handed out to three, four or five
different conferences could be
given two, and in some Cases
one.
For example, the AIA handed
out seven state champion-
ships in baseball this spring at
the 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A-I, 4A-II,
5A-I and 5A-II conference
levels.
At the start of the 2011-12
school year, schools playing
baseball will have only four
state championships to fight
for, despite the same number
of schools participating.
The board also agreed to
make changes to the names of
confer,ences.
Instead of 5A for the bigger
schools, and 1A for the smallest
of schools, they will now play
in divisions.
Division I will be for the
biggest high schools inArizona,
and could go to Division VI
for the smallest schools in
football, which play eight-man
ball.
Having six divisions instead
of four in football was done
because of a safety issue that
was brought up by coaches
to the AIA concerning their
players.
The AIA will determine
what schools are in what divi-
sion based on enrollment and
schools participating in that
particular sport.
For instance, in basketball
there are 246 schools playing
boys basketball. Those schools
will be divided up into four
divisions; Division 1, Division
II, Division III and Division IV,
and placed into t.hree different
sections within the division
based on location.
This makes travel easier on
teams, and keeps the athletes
in their desks just a little bit
longer.
The alignment could roughly
mean about 60 schools in each
division, with about 20 schools
in each section for basket-
ball. There will be an eight-
team sectional tournament in
each section which will
be seeded based on power
rankings.
Four of the eight will
automatically qualify for
state, making 12 automatic
qualifiers. Power points will
decide the next 12, making a
24-school state tournament, or
about 40-percent of the divi-
sion's schools making a state
tournament.
Individual sports will be the
ones to start this format coming
this fall with badminton, cross
country, golf, swimming,
diving, tennis, track and field,
and wrestling. Sports like
football, volleyball, basket-
ball, softball and baseball will
begin their transition in
2011-12.
According to a press release,
the AIA will reduce nearly 40
percent of region and state
games with this new plan,
with the smallest change
coming: to basketball at only
1 percent.
The biggest change comes
to swimming and diving.
Swimming and diving had 70
competitions between regional
and state meets for boys and
girls in 2009-10 and with
the new plan, will have only
four.
Swimming and diving will
go to two divisions, instead of
five.
In volleyball, the new plan
will have 75 games in region
and state tournaments instead
of 171 and track and field will
have only eight meets between
regionals and state, instead of
44.
In football, 86 state games
will be played instead of 101.
The plan is surely to bring
criticism statewide, but in the
end, it may be the best hope for
schools who may be faced with
cutting programs in the very
near future.
Brian Bergner Jr. can be reached
at 282-7795, ext. 131, or e-mail
bbergner@ larsonnewspapers.com
Track and Field League open to public
i
By Brian Bergner Jr.
LARSON NEWSPAPERS
With the track and field 'season
over and the school year coming
to a close, kids will finally have
some time to breathe, enjoy the
summer and have some fun in
the sun.
The problem is, what will they
do at night?
Well, Sedona Red Rock High
School track and field Head
Coach Harry Schneider has the
answer.
Starting Tuesday, June 1,
Schneider is opening his arms
and accepting all comers to the
inaugural SedonaDevelopmental
Track and Field League.
The kicker here is, not only
are some Sedona, Mingus
Union High School and Camp
Verde High School kids plan-
ning on participating, but
Schneider is opening it up to
the public.
That's right, the public.
Anyone is welcome.
Schneider, the 3A West coach
of the year for track and field
in 2010, led his boys track and
field team to a 3A conference
state championship this season
and a girls state championship
in 2007. Schneider is offering
his expertise to the public.
"This is a way to give back to
our community. There are people
here that love track and field and
we're going to make it possible
for them to participate in it, at
any age," Schneider said.
Schneider went on to talk
about how he thinks at first,
the league may not gain too
much attention, but as the
summer goes along, hopefully
community people will start to
show.
The Sedona Developmental
Track and Field League will
begin nextweek and be avail-
able every Tuesday in June
and July at the Sedona track
and field.
From 5:30 to 6 p.m Schneider
and his coaches will give a free
clinic to teach athletes new to
track events they want to learn.
At 6 p.m. the meet will begin
and run under the lights in
Sedona until 8 p.m.
There will be a group for kids
ages 11 and under, and there will
be a group for 12 and older that
will consist of various ability
levels.
Events taking place during
these league nights in June and
July will be the 40-, 55- and
100-meter dashes, the 200-, 300-
and 400-meter sprints, the 600-,
800- and 1,000-meter distance
runs, the 1,200- and 1,600-meter
runs and a 55-meter hurdle race
each week.
Events are $1.50 each.
Also included will be the long
jump, high jump, triple jump,
shot put, discus and the p01e
vault for those in high school
and older.
I I For more information on t~:;
Sedona Developmental'TrackI
and Field League contact
Harry Schneider at 203-9468 :
or e-mail retiredinsedona@ I
n cab e,com I
"We will have a few different
groups running, and different
ability groups are included so
it should be exiting," Schneider
said.
Schneider also discussed the
need for volunteers for these
track meets and those partici-
pating to wear quarter-inch
spikes only.
"I want to continue.t0 develop
track and field in the Verde
Valley and I think the Sedona
Developmental Track and Field
League is a great way to do it,"
Schneider said.
Brian Bergner Jr. can be reached
at 282-7795, ext. 131, or e-mail
bbergner@ larsonnewspapers.com
Tom Hood&arson Newspapers
HARRY SCHNEIDER, the !ongtime track and field head coach at
Sedona Red Rock High School, is starting a summer program in
Sedona called the Sedona Developmental Track and Field League,
which is set to begin Tuesday, June l. The league not only includes
high school athletes, but is open to the public as well.
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