The high school sports season wrapped up last weekend with state championships held in softball, baseball, boys volleyball and track and field. Here are five of the more memorable moments from State Championship Saturday.
1. Sweet redemption: After losing the 2009 championship game due to a base-running blunder, the Red Mountain (Mesa, Ariz.) softball team atoned in a big way with a 2-1 victory over top-seeded St. Mary's (Phoenix, Ariz.) and pitcher Dallas Escobedo, widely regarded as the top softball prospect in the nation. Courtney Sherwin lined a two-run homer over the right-center-field fence in the sixth inning and Red Mountain pitcher Mel Willadsen survived a bases-loaded jam in the seventh by striking out Mackenzie Dermanalian to win it.
2. Titles and tears: Peoria (Peoria, Ariz.) Serene Williams provided the massive crowd at Mesa Community College with a pair of thrills by winning the Class 4A Division I girls 100 and 200 meters at the state track and field championships. Then she choked up the crowd by asking the public address announcer to explain that the medal was not hers as she fought back tears. Williams was close friends with Peoria sprinter and boys team captain K.J. Bowen, who was killed in an auto accident while returning home from a funeral in New Mexico with his family in late April. Williams dedicated her final medal to him, overcoming a pulled hamstring and a bout of sickness that caused her to vomit right before the 200.
3. Eyeing a bigger prize: The Chandler (Chandler, Ariz.) girls and boys won the Class 5A Division I state track and field team titles For the girls, it was their fifth straight title, with Jasmine Todd (100 meters, triple jump, long jump, 4x100 relay), Mackenzie Flannigan (400, 200) and Hannah Carson (shot put, discus) all winning multiple titles. Now Chandler will wait to see if it has also won the national title when the Nike computerized national crown is decided later this spring when the rest of the states have finished their seasons.
4. Back-to-back: Desert Ridge (Mesa, Ariz.) put the finishing touches on its second baseball title in two years by scoring six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to post an 11-4 win over Mountain Pointe (Phoenix, Ariz.) in the 5A-I title game. Desert Ridge won the 5A-II title last year. Desert Ridge stole 11 bases off Pride pitcher Kevin Cron.
5. Cardiac kids: Deer Valley (Glendale, Ariz.) completed a perfect season (22-0 in power-point matches) by rallying past Highland (Gilbert, Ariz.), 25-19, 18-25, 22-25, 25-23 and 15-8 in the 5A boys volleyball title match. Deer Valley needed to win the final three games of its semifinal match just to reach the championship after falling behind 2-0.
The Fab 5
1. Jasmine Todd, Chandler, Sophomore: Won the 100 meters, triple jump, long jump, and was part of the winning 4x100 relay at the 5A-I girls track and field championships.
2. Jessica Tonn, Phoenix Xavier, Senior: Ended a storied career with 5A-I state titles in the 3,200 and 1,600, after missing most of the season with painful shin splints. Tonn, also a two-time state cross country champ, won 12 track and field titles in her four-year career.
3. Alexa Cash, Emily Pohl, Vail Cienega, Seniors, P/C: Cash struck out 18 and Pohl had two home runs and four RBIs in a 7-1 win over Peoria Sunrise Mountain in the 4A-I softball title game.
4. Sharod Hardt, Queen Creek, Senior: Won the 800, 1,600, 3,200 and helped the 3,200 relay to third place as the Bulldogs captured the boys 4A-I team title by a whopping 46 points over second place Oro Valley Canyon del Oro.
5. Valley Christian girls track team: We’re not in the habit of awarding teams here, but the Trojans won their 15th straight 2A team title. Enough said.
Recruiting news
Richard Obert of The Arizona Republic reported this week that Chaparral (Scottsdale, Ariz.) sophomore quarterback Connor Brewer is starting to gain strong interest from Stanford and sophomore receiver Davonte' Neal picked up a football scholarship offer from Duke…
Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) junior defensive back Cedric Parker told Obert that Air Force has offered him a scholarship. He also has an offer from Idaho. Parker is the son of former Arizona State and NFL DB Anthony Parker…
Skyline (Mesa, Ariz.) seniors Jake Pitcher (basketball) and Anvil Sinsabaugh (football) signed national letters of intent Wednesday with NAIA school Morningside College of Sioux City, Iowa.
On deck
The Meet of Champions track and field meet is May 22 at Queen Creek High School. It features state champions from all classifications. The Great Southwest Track & Field Classic is June 3-5 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Craig’s cranium
The passage of Proposition 100 this week doesn’t mean that schools are out of the woods financially, but at least the cuts at the athletic department level won’t be as severe as some officials were predicting.
Voters approved a 1 percent sales tax increase for the next three years that is expected to generate an additional $800 million to $1 billion per year, with two-thirds of that revenue directed toward primary and secondary education.
Some school districts are still planning significant cuts on travel, while others will go to a pay-for-play model to help offset rising costs and budgets deficits. The Arizona Interscholastic Association executive board also approved a wide range of travel and costs cutting measures that will go into effect for the 2010-2011 school year for all individual sports and two team sports — badminton and tennis. The rest of the team sports, including football, will operate under the new system starting in fall 2011.
The new plan will reclassify every high school into a sport-specific divisions based on enrollment, eliminating the current conference system where schools are classified 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A-I, 4A-II, 5A-I or 5A-II, as well as location-specific regions.
State titles will be harder to win under the new system. The AIA awarded 114 state team championships this school year. The AIA will offer just 67 under the new proposal. Individual sports like golf, cross country and swimming will face qualifying standards; only those players who reach the standard — be it a time or score — will be invited to the state championship meet.
Craig Morgan is a freelance writer who has covered professional, college and high school sports in the Phoenix area for the past 18 years. He currently serves as the Phoenix correspondent for CBSSports.com, covering the Arizona Cardinals and other local teams. He also writes a weekly column and other features for The Arizona Republic. You can reach him at craig@wordsmithonline.com.
