Another one of our seniors who will be greatly missed is Iyannah Tolliver. Iyannah has been going to Sahuaro since her freshman year, and since then has made a great impact in the Cougar community. During her freshman year,  she played basketball and ran track. During her sophomore year, she played volleyball and ran track at the same time, including basketball and track once again. After that, she decided to focus more on running and quit volleyball. Through both her junior and senior years, she has been running cross country, track, and playing basketball. She has also remained a great student, keeping up her grades while enjoying sports. This year in cross country, Iyannah won the MVP award for her outstanding performance during the season.

Iyannah will continue her education and play sports. She is going to NAU to study psychology and business and running track. She often talks about her love for helping others so she is hoping to become a counselor of some sort. She enjoys her AP psychology class that she is currently taking, and also loves the friends that she is making in that specific class.

Iyannah’s favorite memory from basketball was the Phoenix trip that the varsity team took this year. She said, “I just felt like us as a team just clicked the most then. And I like had a lot of friends on the team but there were just some girls that I didn’t know that well.” The team proceeded to get second in the tournament, and the entire team had a great time together. For

volleyball, her favorite memory was all the friends that she made. “They’re all in college now, but they got me through like a whole lot, and really made me feel included.”

As for Iyannah’s running career, her favorite memory was the team initiation, which is held almost every year. The team runs through the tunnels that are somewhere off campus (location not to be disclosed from outsiders to the team). She also really enjoyed the California trip that they took her sophomore year. The idea of the trip was to run in a meet over there, but due

to the wildfires that couldn’t happen. Still, they made the most of their trip by going to Six Flags and Santa Monica Beach. In track, her favorite memory was the entirety of last year. They had a really small group of mostly girls, and got to take 7 of them to State.

From just hearing about Iyannah’s stories, one can really tell how sweet she is, and how much her friends mean to her. She takes great pride in her relationships, and that’s what makes her really fun to be around. Her best friend, Krystal Orehek said, “Iyannah and I have been friends since freshman year and she has kept her positive glow throughout all four years. She’s always there when you need a shoulder to cry on and is an amazing friend. Spending time with her will instantly brighten up your day and I’m so lucky to have her in my life.”