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Arizona Sports (AZCentral)
Archive for April, 2009
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Local grads fill ASU football roster for 2009 season
As the annual ASU football Spring Game gets underway April 18, thoughts turn momentarily to the gridiron.
It's no secret that Sun Devil football coach, Dennis Erickson, does a good job of mining the talent right here in his own backyard, and the upcoming season is no exception. The 2009 roster has just been released and more than a third of the full roster contains the names of players who attended local high schools.
ASU's freshman class includes eight true freshmen from Valley high schools, and another 11 redshirt freshmen.
Nine incoming freshmen are rated among the nation's Top-30 at their respective positions, including four from Valley schools: Corey Adams, a defensive tackle from Saguaro HS; Kody Koebensky, an offensive lineman, also from Saguaro; Anthony Jones, a linebacker from Hamilton HS; and Jamal Miles, a running back from Peoria HS. Their chance of seeing playing time may be good, since last season set a record when 10 true freshmen saw playing time.
Among those 19 freshmen this year who will be hoping for playing time include: (redshirts) Allante Battle, a wide receiver from
Desert Vista HS; Deveron Carr, a cornerback from Chaparral HS; Tom DeMichele, a linebacker from Arcadia HS; Steven Figueroa, a tight end from Desert Vista HS; Gerald Flunder, a cornerback from Shadow Mountain HS; Patrick Jamison, a lineman from Hamilton HS; Keelan Johnson, a safety from Mesa HS; Cameron Kastl from Mountain Pointe HS; John McDonald, a linebacker from Seton Catholic; James Morrison, a running back from St. Mary's HS; and Zeb Togiai, a lineman from Desert Vista HS.
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Larger schools overrun Valley Christian Invitational
Many of the top small schools in the state compete in the annual Valley Christian Invitational, one of the larger track and field meets in the state. Host Valley Christian's girls team, which has won 13 consecutive 2A championships, held its own against the field of 19 schools in the April 18 event, while the boys also turned in some strong performances.
On the girls side, Valley Christain HS posted winning times in the 300m hurdles, 4x800 relay, and the long jump. The boys won the 300m hurdles, 4x400 relay, and 4x800 relay.
But it was the larger schools - particularly Desert Vista HS, Queen Creek HS, and Saguaro HS - that had the strongest showings. All three posted good times in the girls running events, while Desert Vista dominated the field events. On the boys side, it was all Desert Vista's show in both running and field events.
Girls results (top 5 finishers):
(100m dash) Mariah Bowers, Queen Creek (12.68); Kaytlin Stevens, Desert Vista (12.79); Raven Owens, Queen Creek (12.84); Christie McHugh, Joy Christian (13.03); Shanel Smith, Valley Christian (13.08).
(200m) Mariah Bowers, Queen Creek (25.94); Katie Drake, Saguaro (25.94); Alisha Maxwell, Desert Vista (26.37); Sydnee Freeman, Desert Vista (27.12); Sara Raber, Mingus (27.31).
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Chandler, Hamilton runners dominate Sun Angel Classic
The Chandler HS 4x100 boys relay team avenged it's loss earlier this season to Cesar Chavez HS, and its girl runners also racked up impressive wins in individual events and relays, as Valley high schools ran in conjunction with the college/open meet at the annual Sun Angel Classic over the weekend at ASU.
Hamilton HS also had a strong showing on both the boys and girls sides, led by Ryan Milus, the returning state champion in the 100 meters; he posted a 10.49 to win the event at ASU.
Chandler HS, which had set the state record in the 4x100 relay last May at 41.09, ran a 41.72 to edge out Hamilton HS (41.82).
Two-time defending state champion, Desert Vista HS, did not participate in the Sun Angel Classic, but opted instead for the Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational.
Results for the boys' events:
(100 meter dash) Ryan Milus, Hamilton (10.49), Bryce Lamb, Chandler (10.77), Markus Wheaton, Chandler (10.79), Miles DiSabella, Westwood (11.10), Dmitri Holman, Centennial (11.11), Brandon Jenkins, St. Mary's (11.12), Isaiah Underwood, Ironwood (11.18), Aaron Williams, Desert Mountain (11.32). -
Nutritional supplements: Are they necessary?
As a coach in the sports performance field, I am often approached by athletes that want to know what supplement or shake they should be taking to gain weight, improve performance, or feel better. My answer is pretty simple and direct: NONE.
(Joe Marsit is the Center Director at Velocity Sports Performance in Scottsdale)
The nutritional supplement industry is an explosion of fancy marketing, great gimmicks, and wonderful claims of success. The truth of the matter is if any of these products worked as well as they claimed, America wouldn't be facing an obesity crisis, we'd all be bouncing off the walls with energy, and we'd all be lean, tan, and smiling pearly whites.
As I teach many of my students in class, if the answer was as simple as a pill in a bottle, there would be a lot more people healthy and happy.
One important thing to remember about supplements is the industry is not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration the same way other food products and medicines are. What this means is there is very lax control over the bottling and labeling of products sold as nutritional supplements. Oftentimes, supplement products contain different amounts of ingredients listed on the label, and may even contain substances not listed on the label.
Each year, there is a handful of professional athletes that test positive on their screening test and the source of the positive test is traced back to a substance in the supplement regimen that was not listed on the labels. Drug tests do not allow forgiveness for not knowing what you were taking, so many of these athletes face thousands of dollars in fines and time off in suspensions for a supplement that may have even been cleared as OK by the drug hotline.