Hayden Hartigan is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Edge for AZPreps365.com.

For years, Desert Edge track and field built its identity through the dominance of its boys program – Division I talent, state championships, and high-profile coaching serving as the standard. 

The girls team was an afterthought in comparison, a reality head coach Sharod Selph stepped into.

“The girls program wasn’t really existent," Selph said, reflecting on taking over as head coach midseason in 2024. “I had three girls … that was the entire team, and once they graduated, I just had Grace Bryant.” 

Selph, a former Oklahoma State All-American sprinter, made it a priority in his second full season to close that gap – not by lowering the standard, but extending it.

The results came quickly, with six girls program records falling this season behind a freshman-led roster. 

Bryant, now a senior at Desert Edge, holds the school record in the 4x400-meter relay at 4:05.42 seconds alongside freshmen Dejollyne Demaih, Kamryn Gibbs and Kennedy Brown – just three seasons after the program did not even have enough girls to field a relay team.

“Coming from my junior year where it was just me competing with the boys, seeing the development from then to now is amazing,” Bryant said. “The group of girls that we have this year is so amazing, and I know they’re going to push Desert Edge to where they need to go.”

That change did not come easy for Selph.

He learned through his first year’s experience that culture starts from the ground up. 

“We treat (the girls track team) just as equally as the boys and hold them to that same standard,” Selph said. “If I don’t accept something from a former state champion, I’m not going to accept that same thing from a person who’s in their first year on the team.”

Desert Edge’s coaching staff carries a rare level of pedigree for a high school program, with every coach bringing Division I or professional experience while specializing in a specific event group.

Left to right, head coach Sharod Selph, girls sprint coach Immanuela Aliu, mid-distance and long sprints coach Darrell Bradford, distance coach Candy Trevino, and hurdles coach Brian Stroughter are pictured during Senior Night at Desert Edge. (Hayden Hartigan photo/AZPreps365)

Immanuela Aliu, Desert Edge’s girls sprints coach, brings both international and Division I experience to the program, highlighted by a European U20 4x100-meter relay championship representing Great Britain. A former sprinter at Arizona State, Texas A&M, and CSUN, Aliu recorded personal bests of 11.41 seconds in the 100- and 23.44 in the 200-meter dash – speed she is translating to the DEHS girls. 

“I like knowing that my coaches have run at the highest level because I know that I can get there too,” freshman sprinter and javelin school record-holder Chaguy Akol said about Aliu.

That level of experience is immediately paying dividends as six Desert Edge girls' records have fallen this season with a freshman class that makes up almost 80 percent of the roster, accelerating the program’s development. 

Leading the pack alongside Akol is freshman sprinter Kennedy Brown, DEHS’s 100-meter dash record holder in her first season ever running track. She originally broke the record at the Red Mountain Rampage in March with a time of 12.68 seconds, surpassing the previous record set in 2012, before breaking her own record in April at 12.63 seconds.

Freshman Kennedy Brown sprints to the finish line in the 200-meter dash at the Thunder Invitational on February 27 in Phoenix. (Andrew Wise photo/Sharp Shooter Media)

“She has a great mindset,” Aliu said about Brown. “I see myself in her. … She’s very little, but she’s great. … Her size allows her to be very explosive.”

Selph echoed similar praise for Brown. 

“Her future is very bright,” Selph said. “She’s really hungry. She’s one of those kids that works really hard and really tries to separate herself from others.”

Sophomore distance runner Edith Harrell has expanded Desert Edge's success beyond the sprints, setting school records in the 800- 1,600- and 3,200-meter races with times of 2:32.48, 5:36.15, and 12:09.30 seconds, respectively. Despite Desert Edge’s long-standing sprint reputation, Harrell is elevating distance running to heights the Scorpions have never seen.

“This girls program is so special to me,” Aliu said. “I can’t really emphasize how special it is to me. … It means a lot for me to be a part of it. We have quality female athletes that are performing really well, they’re taking in the program, they’re showing up to practice and being consistent, and these are the things that you really want to see from athletes.”

Audrina Beal-Goines headlines the freshman class alongside Brown and Akol, placing third in the high jump at the Division II state championship with a mark of 5 feet, 2 inches, to rank No. 2 among Arizona freshmen in the high jump. Beal-Goines is clearing her own path as she follows in the footsteps of her older brother, Jamar, the No. 1 ranked Arizona football recruit in the class of 2025 and Desert Edge 100-meter dash program record holder, according to 247Sports. 

“Audrina is a great athlete,” Selph said. “It runs in the family. Jamar Beal-Goines is probably the best athlete we’ve ever had. She has the genes.”

The Desert Edge track is no stranger to Division I talent and for years that pipeline ran almost exclusively through the boys side, producing state champions and high-level football recruits that built the Scorpions’ reputation as a “Sprint Factory.”

According to 247Sports, under Selph’s leadership, Desert Edge has continued producing nationally recognized talent. This includes Arizona’s No. 1 ranked ‘26 football recruit Camren Hamiel who will both play cornerback at Texas A&M with Jamar Beal-Goines; 2025 boys 110 and 300-meter hurdles AIA state champion Bellemy Amina-Harris, and ‘27 4-star quarterback and wide receiver duo Blake Roskopf and Zerek Sidney, who are both committed to Washington.

Mid-distance and long sprints coach Darrell Bradford brings a unique background, highlighted by his time representing Guam and holding the country’s high school record in the 300-meter hurdles. Bradford emphasizes development that will help his athletes in more than sports.  

“I try pushing our athletes not just in track, but in life,” Bradford said. “Whatever you end up putting into it here on the track, is what you’re going to get out of it results wise; and whatever you put into life, is what you get out of it that way.”

Jumps coach Jon Tate, whose journey includes six years in coaching football and track at his alma mater, national powerhouse Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, explained the importance of equality in a team.

“It’s helping the culture because you want to be able to have that boys and girls team to keep that camaraderie,” Tate said. “I’m used to that from my high school. We had a huge girls track program, I wanted to help bring some of that out here … now we’ve got girls breaking school records already.”

Tate has experience as a player and coach at multiple levels in different sports which gives him a unique skillset to pass on to his athletes. At a young age, Tate competed on the hardwood against two future NBA all-star point guards, 19-year veteran Mike Conley and Jeff Teague, as well as 2007 No. 1 pick Greg Oden.

This led Tate to compete collegiately before coaching at Jackson State and eventually leading the defensive backs for the Green Bay Blizzard of the Arena Football League.

“Playing against those guys at a young age really puts that fire up under you wanting to win,” Tate said looking back on his days competing. “Winning is a culture that was put on me throughout my life.”

Tate – who has played a key role in Audrina Beal-Goines and Division II triple jump champion Dayvon Standard’s development – hopes to continue instilling his winning mindset into the Desert Edge team alongside the rest of the coaching staff.

“In a year or two, I can see the girls being even better [than the boys team] because they are very hungry,” Selph said while envisioning his program down the line. 

That would be a major statement for Desert Edge, whose boys side has long used track and field to elevate multi-sport athletes into Division I recruits and state champions. 

Athletes such as Standard (Oklahoma State) and Antonio Para (Southern Utah) are already signed to play Division I football, while the Scorpions’ young crew has been receiving national attention. 

Cornerback and sprinter Nekhi Lambeth boasts 29 Division I offers, earning him a 4-star ranking according to 247Sports. Wide receiver and sprinter Jhaheem Brown, who recently picked up offers from Arizona, Kansas State and Utah, is also generating interest on the recruiting trail this spring.

As Desert Edge continues to build its Sprint Factory identity, the difference between now and then is that the standard is no longer one-sided.

With a freshman-driven girls group already rewriting the school record books, and a boys program that continues to produce Division I talent, the Scorpions are building depth across the entire program.