Michael Manny

HAMPTON, Ga. — Defending NASCAR Cup Series Champion Ryan Blaney led at the white flag, but Daniel Suarez eked out a win in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, in a remarkable three-wide photo finish. Suarez trailed both Kyle Busch and Blaney heading into the final corner, but prevailed in the ensuing drag race to earn his second Cup Series victory by just .003 seconds. Busch finished just .007 seconds behind the leader in third. It’s the third closest finish in the series’ history.

PHOENIX — After a pair of dominant wins to open region play, the Santa Cruz Valley Dust Devils kept it rolling with a 32-14 win on the road against the Heritage Academy Laveen Heroes on Thursday. The victory moves the Dust Devils to 6-1 (3-0 2A Salt Region) on the season, surpassing their win total from last year. Heritage Academy (4-3, 2-1) led 7-6 at halftime after stuffing a two-point conversion, but the Dust Devils offense came alive in the second half to secure the victory.

APACHE JUNCTION — After winning seven games for the fourth time in five years with one of the most explosive offenses in the 4A Conference last season, the Apache Junction football team will look a bit different in 2023. Following a 35-28 first-round playoff loss to Prescott, the Prospectors graduated a senior class that won 17 games in head coach Bruce Binkley’s first three seasons. That group included captains such as quarterback Gavin Limongello, wide receiver Garrett Garcia, cornerback Dane Fidler and center Max Jada.

MARICOPA — Kerry Taylor knows a thing or two about championship culture at the high school level. He played for perennial contender Chandler Hamilton and won a state championship in 2006 and then went on to play at Arizona State and the NFL. Now, Taylor is bringing that culture to take Sequoia Pathway to the next level as both its new athletic director and head football coach.

MARICOPA — A challenging recent stretch of seasons for the Maricopa football team grew tougher in 2022. The Rams finished the year 0-10, their first winless season since 1996. But the record does not tell the whole story — many of those losses were close ones. “We were in, I think, five one-possession games last year,” Maricopa head coach Tevin Rutherford said. “And you can’t lose those 50-50 games that often, and we have been.”

MARICOPA — It is the dawn of a new era in every respect for the Sequoia Pathway football program this season. The Pumas (5-5 overall and 4-2 in the 2A Gila Region in 2022) enter their fourth season in the Arizona Interscholastic Association with a revamped roster and new expectations. Gone is former head coach Donnie Margerum, who announced last December that he would not return after four seasons at the helm.

When Summit Health and Fitness opened in 2000, Marty Heilman taught the club’s first ever class. It’s fitting, then, that as the club prepared to close its doors for the last time on Friday, Heilman taught its final one — his play-out class. Heilman has been a physical education teacher in the city for 26 years and is currently at Basis Flagstaff. For several years, he has been teaching a play-out class for young adults with what he calls “unique needs.” He came up with the term because in his eyes, working out should be seen as fun, not work.

Family and friends gathered to celebrate a few of the best local senior high school athletes at the FlagCoco Spirit Awards Wednesday afternoon at Hal Jensen Recreation Center. The awards -- started by Russell Woods, the creator of FlagCoco.com -- are an annual event that is now in its eighth year. FlagCoco celebrates and showcases Flagstaff and Coconino high school’s crosstown rivalry. Woods honors one male and one female athlete from both schools based on their performances during their season and throughout their varsity careers.

The 6A Conference Hamilton girls basketball team defeated 5A Sunrise Mountain 62-39 Saturday evening to win the Pepsi Holiday Invitational at Flagstaff High School. The Huskies finished the tournament undefeated and will head back into regular season play with positive momentum moving forward. Juniors Ella Malee and Kayla Adams led the Huskies with 14 points. Fellow junior Savanna Creal finished with 13 points, returning to play and making a big defensive impact after taking a hard elbow to the face in the third quarter.

The Flagstaff Eagles girls basketball team earned its first victory in the Pepsi Holiday Invitational at War Memorial Gymnasium Thursday night, defeating the 6A Conference Mesa Mountain View Toros 68-33. The Eagles finished pool play 1-1 after losing to Northland Preparatory Academy 40-39 earlier in the afternoon, a game in which coach Tyrone Johnson sat his regular rotation.

So far, so good for the Coconino boys basketball team. Behind 23 points from Ivory Washington and 12 from Memphis James, the 4A Conference Panthers opened their season with a 63-40 win over the 4A Greenway Demons on Monday at home. The win marked the defending Grand Canyon Region champions' first victory under new head coach Cooper Elliott, who moved up from an assistant coach role while under Mike Moran's guidance.

Last season, the Flagstaff Eagles girls basketball team broke through after multiple semifinal appearances, reaching the 4A Conference state tournament championship game for the first time since 1992 but falling short to the Salpointe Catholic Lancers. Nearly nine months later, the Eagles are set to begin their quest to return to the title game as their 2022-23 season tips off.

There are a lot of new faces around the Coconino High School girls basketball team this season. The Panthers (10-8 overall and 8-4 in the Grand Canyon Region last season) graduated nine seniors after losing 58-38 in the 4A state play-in to Greenway. That list includes guard Wynter Huskie, who averaged a team-leading 13.4 points per game last season and is now playing at Yavapai College.

For Flagstaff High School graduate Teague Van Dyke and his father Ty, playing college baseball was a shared goal. Monday, it become a reality. With family, friends and coaches in attendance, Van Dyke officially signed to play with Umpqua Community College, an NJCAA school in Roseburg, Oregon, at his home on Monday. “I’m super thankful looking back at life for everything that happened,” he said. "I’m just super excited to start the next process of playing and being a college baseball player.”

Twenty-five years ago, the 1996 NAU football team made history, led the nation in total offense and scoring, finished the regular season 9-2, and tied or shattered 14 NCAA records. Head coach Steve Axman’s program was coming off three straight 7-4 seasons. Its star quarterback, Jeff Lewis, was selected by the Denver Broncos with the 100th pick in the 1996 NFL Draft. Plus, the team was still seeking its first ever Division I-AA (now FCS) playoff berth.

Growing up in San Diego, Archie Amerson’s favorite football player was Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton. Payton’s No. 34 was the first jersey Amerson owned. It’s only fitting he grew up to win the award bearing Payton’s name. Amerson embarked on perhaps the greatest individual season in Northern Arizona football history 25 years ago, becoming the heart of a unit that led the nation in scoring and total offense in 1996.

Snap. Spot. Hold. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks kicker Luis Aguilar wallops a football, sending it whizzing through the uprights. Watching the 6-foot-3, 200-pound graduate student kick, he makes it look simple -- like he’s been kicking since he was young. That’s only partly the case.

HAMPTON, Ga. — Defending NASCAR Cup Series Champion Ryan Blaney led at the white flag, but Daniel Suarez eked out a win in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, in a remarkable three-wide photo finish. Suarez trailed both Kyle Busch and Blaney heading into the final corner, but prevailed in the ensuing drag race to earn his second Cup Series victory by just .003 seconds. Busch finished just .007 seconds behind the leader in third. It’s the third closest finish in the series’ history.

The NASCAR Cup Series concluded its West Coast Swing with the United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway, giving Tucson’s Alex Bowman and Glendale’s Michael McDowell another chance to conquer their home track. Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, finished the race in ninth. It was his second top-10 finish at Phoenix. The finish is Bowman’s best at the track since starting on pole and finishing sixth in 2016. The 29-year-old has struggled at the track in recent years, finishing 34th last November after McDowell collided with him late in the championship race.

AVONDALE, Ariz. — The beginning of Todd Gilliland’s second season in the NASCAR Cup Series has likely not gone how he imagined it. A little under two weeks before the 2023 Daytona 500, Front Row Motorsports announced that 2022 Craftsman Truck Series champion Zane Smith would run six races for the team in Gilliland’s No. 38 car. Suddenly, the 22-year-old was a half-dozen races short of the full-time schedule he expected. “I really wanted to just race something on the weekends I wasn’t even racing, whether it was a Truck, Xfinity car, Cup car. I really just didn’t think the Cup car would be an option,” Gilliland said.

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season came to a close at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona Nov. 6 with its championship race, and the Grand Canyon state has never been more well-represented at the sport’s top level. Over the last half-decade, Glendale’s Michael McDowell and Tucson’s Alex Bowman have found success not seen before by an Arizona-born driver. That trend continued in 2022 with NASCAR’s introduction of its Next Gen Car.

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Zane Smith’s Camping World Truck Series career could be described as nothing short of a roller coaster ride. The 2020 Rookie of the Year has had rewarding highs and crushing lows in his three full-time seasons — six victories, 24 top fives and 46 top 10s coming into Phoenix. On the other end of the spectrum, he has come up just short in two consecutive Championship 4 appearances, finishing as the runner-up in 2020 and 2021. As the old saying goes, third time’s the charm. Smith held off a charging Ben Rhodes and Chandler Smith in overtime to win the Lucas Oil 150 and finally earn his first championship, erasing two years of heartbreak at Phoenix Raceway.

PHOENIX — Coming into the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, Ty Majeski was not high atop many people’s championship favorite list. The 28-year-old was coming into his first full-time season in the No. 66 Toyota Tundra with ThorSport Racing this year, having made just 20 previous truck starts. How things can change in a year. In his first full-time season, all Majeski has done is earn his first two career victories, plus 10 top-fives, 15 top 10s, three poles, and a chance to earn his first championship.

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Busch Motorsports announced today that it is moving to Chevrolet in 2023 and will field the No. 4 truck for Chase Purdy and No. 51 for Jack Wood in the Craftsman Truck Series, team owner Kyle Busch announced in the Phoenix Raceway media center. Wood will anchor the No. 51 and share it with Busch, who said he would like to run the maximum five truck races he is allowed, and other drivers to be announced. “Having the opportunity to drive for someone like Kyle, who obviously has done a lot in this sport, and is a champion at the highest level, among other levels is a huge opportunity,” Purdy said. “With that comes pressure but I think the famous term is pressure is a privilege, so I’m really excited about it.” It was also announced that Rev Racing will move up to the national level for the first time and field the No. 2 truck for Nick Sanchez. Rev will have a technical alliance with KBM.

The NAU Lumberjacks had the lead late, but could not get a crucial stop on defense, as Weber State sophomore Kyle Thompson nailed a 23-yard field goal with five seconds left to give the No. 7-ranked Weber State Wildcats a 33-31 victory at Findlay Toyota Field in the regular season finale. With the victory, the Wildcats are the first holders of the new Red Rock Rivalry Trophy, which will be awarded annually to the winner of this matchup moving forward. It’s the third consecutive week that the Lumberjacks lost in the last minute of the game. NAU finished 3-8 on the season, with a 2-6 record in the Big Sky. Five of those losses were by one score or less.

Behind a combined 169 yards rushing from its running backs, senior Roshaun Johnson and freshman Anthony Woods, plus a nearly spotless day from redshirt freshman quarterback Gevani McCoy, the Idaho Vandals defeated the NAU Lumberjacks 27-10 at Findlay Toyota Field. The loss drops NAU to 1-3 on the season and 0-1 in the Big Sky Conference. It also snaps NAU’s two-game winning streak over the Vandals and is its first 0-2 start at home since 1955. McCoy completed 18 of 20 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown, the same amount of yards NAU had of total offense. NAU was out-gained offensively 185-57 on the ground, 214-127 through the air and 399-184 in total.

Kyle Busch overcame early adversity on pit road and led 84 laps to earn his fourth career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200. It’s Busch’s 63rd career win in the Truck Series and first since Kyle Busch Motorsports’ switch from Toyota to Chevrolet this offseason. “Thank you guys, thank all the fans for coming out tonight, Rowdy nation getting loud, it’s a lot of fun to just race in the Truck Series, I appreciate that,” Busch said to Fox Sports’ Josh Sims. “It’s an honor to be able to come out here with KBM, my own team and have some fun and just kind of work on our stuff.”

William Byron and Ty Gibbs dueled all day, and looked like they had the best cars in the field. But after the two made contact and spun with five to go, Kyle Larson took advantage and held off AJ Allmendinger to win the Sunoco Go Rewards 200 at Watkins Glen International. It’s Larson’s first road course win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and 13th overall. And he did it in a car he said he didn’t think was capable of winning.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick came into Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway 96 points below the cutline and riding a 65-race winless streak. In one afternoon, Harvick erased nearly two years of frustration and close calls to earn his first victory since Sept. 19, 2020 in a rain-delayed FireKeepers Casino 400. After leading just 13 laps all year, the win vaults the 46-year-old Harvick into the playoffs in a clutch performance. It’s Harvick’s sixth victory at Michigan, a track he has been dominant at throughout his career.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Flagstaff Unified School District is remaining online for the rest of the fall semester, as COVID-19 cases rise in Arizona. FUSD will stay with remote learning until the end of its second quarter, Jan. 5, the Governing Board motioned in its Nov. 10 meeting.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – After months of campaigning, Election Day 2020 is here – but the presidency and Congressional seats are not the only notable races on the ballot. Flagstaff voters will also be choosing their next mayor. With current Mayor Coral Evans seeking a seat in the Arizona State House of Representatives, two candidates are running to succeed her: Charlie Odegaard and Paul Deasy.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Election Day is less than a month away, and various student organizations have come together to get the NAU community registered to vote. The NAU Votes Coalition: a new group of students, faculty, academic departments, campus clubs and outside advocacy organizations, is attempting to increase voter participation and registration on campus.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – After much discussion, an empty property at 1002 N. Fourth St. could soon be home to a new housing and business development. The Flagstaff City Council held a public hearing to amend the zoning code of an undeveloped 13.65 acre parcel of land from medium density residential to highway commercial during its August 18 virtual meeting.