Archive for November, 2009

    Brian Shrader, who just added a third consecutive 4A-II cross country title to his resume, announced over the weekend that he has verbally committed to run for the University of Oregon.  The Sinagua HS senior (in photo), who also owns five titles in track & field, set a new course record of 15:15 in winning the state title.
    Shrader is just the latest to make a decision on his college career, but one of the more prominent. The signing period isn't until February.
    The website AZTrackXC.com also reports that Steve Magnuson from Ironwood Ridge HS, who won the 5A-II state cross country championship, has committed to the University of North Carolina, and Beanna Leslie is reportedly headed to Azusa Pacific University.  Leslie, from Valley Christian HS, is the 2009 state T&F champion in the 100 and 300 hurdles, the 200m, and the 4x400 relay.
    Flagstaff HS has placed three runners: Alex Baca to Scottsdale Community College, Ariel Mierendorf to Fort Lewis College, and Chloe Phillips to Mississippi State.  A couple of teammates from Saguaro HS have decided to continue running together, as Carolyn Brown and Loren Wynn have committed to BringhamYoung University.  Brown won the 4A-I Desert Sky Regional in the 800m and Wynn finished first in the same regional competition, in the 3200m and 1600m.
    The University of Arizona has convinced a couple of local runners to stay in state, as Alexandra Myers from Sinagua HS and Cami Jackson from Mountain View HS have committed to the Wildcats. Hunter Gibson, the 2007 5A state high jump champion, is headed for the U.S. Naval Academy.
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    Sometimes, fear and anxiety can get the best of us in sports. The key is to know how to manage that fear and anxiety. As a result, here is a brief list of techniques that athletes can use to help manage their fears and everyday anxieties.
    Occasionally, you may become stressed when you have to play in an important game. When this happens, visualize yourself doing the task in your mind. For instance, you have to play in the championship hockey game in front of a large group of people in the next few days. Before the big day comes, imagine yourself playing the game in your mind. Imagine that you are playing in front of a large audience.
    By playing the game in your mind, you will be better prepared to perform for real when the time comes. Self-Visualization is a great way to reduce the fear and stress of a coming situation.
Take a breath… think good thoughts.
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    Horizon High School is the new 5A-II state champion in girls volleyball, taking down Desert Mountain High School in a dramatic five-set comeback. It's the first-ever volleyball crown for the Scottsdale high school, which is a story in itself.
    But the win brings back memories of a Horizon win five years ago.  SportZine Magazine was there then, covering the Carol Chase Memorial Tournament, hosted by Sunrise Mountain High School. It was memorable, not because Horizon won the tournament title in a field of two dozen teams, but because it was a milestone for the coach.
    That final win at the Carol Chase Tournament in September of 2004 was the 500th victory for Horizon coach, Valorie McKenzie.  Yesterday, Coach McKenzie was on the sideline once again, as she has been for the past 30 years or so.  But this time the win meant even more, as she guided the No. 5 Huskies to an upset of  No. 2 Desert Mountain HS for the state title.
    And the Huskies did it with a young team, putting only three seniors on the floor:  middle hitter Natalie Kintz (146 kills this seaon), setter Sarah McGaffin (51 aces), and libero Tori Thielen (372 digs).
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    Notre Dame Prep's surprising fall from grace was one of the significant stories of this year's Arizona high school football season.  The Saints had won the last two 4A-II championships and were ranked No. 3 by The Arizona Republic coming into the season.  But they not only fell from the ranks in the Top 5 final standings, they got bounced from the playoffs in the first round, blanked by Santa Rita HS (Tucson) 33-0.
    That got us to thinking about just how well those pre-season rankings actually fare in the final analysis.  We made some comparisons and found that the sports scribes at The Republic did pretty well, hitting 70 percent accuracy in both the 5A and 4A divisions.
    In 5A-I, they correctly picked four of the top five finishers, with Basha HS the only team that dropped from the group.  It was replaced by Mountain Pointe, which finished ranked No. 3, and looked every bit like it deserved the honor, winning its playoff opener, 49-14, over Westwood HS as it scored 28 points in the third quarter: a 34-yard run to the end zone by DeAndre Currie, a fullback dive in from the one by Joey Leal, and a 12-yard pass play from QB Austin Blom to Garrett Holle.
    Basha also looked like its pre-season ranking as it took down St. Mary's, 33-7, behind 144 yards passing and two touchdowns from QB Mike Benjamin.  Benjamin threw for 315 yards the week before, but his primary target, Richard Parker, who has 42 receptions this year, missed the game recovering from a concussion.  Lucas Guevara carried the workload, carrying for 16 times  for 89 yards and scoring the final TD of the night.
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    There was a mild case of drama in 5A-I girls golf, as Xavier Prep found  itself behind by a stroke at the end of the first round of the state tournament - before rebounding to win its 12th consecutive title.  But in 5A-II, Adrianna Grivalva from Ironwood Ridge provided the excitement with an ace on the 80-yard hole No. 4, as Chaparral HS eliminated any suspense as the squad left second-place Desert Mountain HS in the dust. 
    Chaparral finished at 625, followed by Desert Mountain (676) and Marcos de Niza HS (688). Chaparral's sophomore sensation, Jacquie LeMarr, carded a 3-over 147 for the individual title.  Xavier Prep finished with 571, followed by Hamilton at 579.  Xavier junior Kaira Martin set a state tournament record with rounds of 67 and 66 for a 133 total, two strokes off the existing record of 135 set by Xavier's Amanda Blumenherst in 2003.  Teammate Daffodil Sanchez also finished under par, carding a 70.
    On the boys' side, it was Chaparral again.  Just as the Firebirds did in swimming, taking both boys and girls championships, they wrapped up both titles in 5A-II golf.  The boys didn't skip a beat, following up where they left off last year while still in 4A; they were 4A-I title-holders the past three years before moving up to 5A.
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    A pair of Valley high school graduates, finishing up their senior years on the ASU football team, have accepted invitations to play in the 85th East-West Shrine Game.
    Chris McGaha (right), from Moon Valley HS, and Dexter Davis, who attended Thunderbird HS, will play in the prestigious game on Jan. 23 in Orlando, Fla.  Many football greats, including 62 Pro Football Hall of Famers have played in the Shrine game, America's longest-running college all-star football game.
    McGaha, a 6-1 wide receiver in his third year of varsity ball at ASU, leads the Sun Devils this season with 48 receptions for 596 yards and four touchdowns.  He currently ranks fourth in school history with 160 career catches and passed the 2,000-yard mark earlier this season.
    Davis, a 255-pound defensive end, has 16 tackles and 2.5 sacks this season.  He has started all 47 games over the last four seasons, giving him the most starts by an ASU player since 1984.
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    Swimming & diving continues to be one of the few sports in Arizona high school competition where teams are able to dominate so thoroughly - and on both sides of the program; a good boys' program is generally complemented by a strong girls' program.
    This season was no exception, as Arcadia HS far outdistanced the competition in the 4A-II state meet as both girls and boys teams won titles.  The same in 4A-I, where Catalina Foothills HS (Tucson) had little trouble winning state titles, the 10th straight for the boys and nine out of the last 10 for the girls.  In 5A-II, Chaparral won 11 events to claim both girls and boys titles, and Brophy dominated 5A-I on the boys side, winning every event except the 100 breaststroke, for its 22nd consecutive state championship, and Xavier Prep captured its 11th consecutive championship on the girls side. (Although different schools, the two Catholic schools are located side-by-side and share some facilities.)
    Brophy racked up 545 points to second-place Desert Vista's 256; Mountain View HS was third with 240.  John Wojciechoswski was named the meet's top swimmer, winning the 100 backstroke and 50 freestyle and then swimming a leg of the 200 medley relay, which set a state record (1:32.33).  He was joined on that team by his brother, Louis Wojciechowski, and Brian Stevens and Harrison Gibson.
    Another state record fell, as Katie Olsen from Desert Vista HS won the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.68.  And it was the same event on the boys' side that Andrew Marciniak from Highland HS won (57.77) to deny Brophy a complete sweep of the events.
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    The game of badminton won't be the same next year.  At least, not in the state of Arizona.  But that's good news for most of the high school players in the state.
    This is Emily Harris' final year of eligibility - and the senior at Desert Mountain High School slammed the door with a loud bang on her way out.
    Harris (photo right) logged her 60th straight win over the past two years and again won the 5A singles badminton state title with ease.  The last time she seemed mortal was when she lost four games as a sophomore. 
    Harris, the Arizona Republic's Player of the Year as a junior, defeated Carolyn Houser of Millenium HS, 11-1, 11-0, to coast to her second consecutive state title.  Guess who's odds-on to get the Republic's nod again this year?
    In the doubles competition, Sienna Martinez and Holly Phillips of Mountain Pointe HS beat Chaparral High School's tandem of Stacey McGuire and Ashleigh Foltz, 15-1, 13-15, 15-6, for the title.
    In 4A play, it was Jasmine Fuller picking up the singles title in a relatively easy match against Vanessa Jimenez from Independence HS, 11-9, 11-3.  Genesis Ramirez and Gillian Basler from Greenway HS won the doubles competition, defeating Andrea Daniels and Kaylee Bouck from Apollo HS, 15-11, 15-13.
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    It has finally come full circle as the Hardt family closes out a family tradition with Sherod Hardt's Arizona state cross country title, putting him up there with his well-known sister, Kari.
    His sister, Kari (bottom photo) graduated in 2006 and has been running for ASU since graduating and ranks 9th all-time in ASU history in the 1500m run.  While at Queen Creek, she won six individual track and field titles and two cross-country titles.  She also set three state 3A records, two 4A state marks, and three state meet records.
    Sherod's mother, Ellie, coaches the Queen Creek HS girls cross-country team and his father, Shaun, is the counterpart on the boys side.  His older sister, Whitney, also enjoyed a track & field/cross-country career at ASU.
    The 4A-I team title went to Tucson Catalina with 43 points.  Individual medalist in the girls competition was Zahira Jimenez from Nogales HS in a time of 18:59.1, leading her school to the team title with 47 points.  Cactus Shadows HS finished second, followed by Sabino HS (Tucson).  
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    Remember when a 100-yard rushing performance in a high school football game was considered a really good night?  It doesn't seem that long ago.  But offenses have become more sophisticated, and it seems the defensive schemes just haven't kept pace.
    Combine that with improved training and physical conditioning and you have a blueprint for what's happening on the field nowadays.  The result is eye-popping performances night after night.
    And these athletic achievements aren't just a product of the large-school systems where facilities are often bigger and better.  Think of Kyle Graf, a running back from tiny (370 students) Benson High School in Class 2A, who rushed for 2,000 yards last season.  Or Keevan Schimmel from Blue Ridge High School in the small town of Lakeside, who racked up 245 all-purpose yards in a win over Round Valley just last week.  The list goes on and on.
    As we get deeper into a season, runners are getting better thanks to the season-long game experience.  And that includes quarterbacks, since there are so many now that are a dual-threat, scoring on the ground or in the air. Or sometimes it's a combination top quarterback and best-back runner that combine to carry the load for the rest of the team.  For instance, QB Ryan Stanford and running back Matt Jones combined for 530 yards to carry Horizon HS to a win against North Canyon a couple of weeks ago.
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