Greg Hansen's 2014-15 Southern Arizona Sports Awards

The Play of the Year 

Casey Skowron earned his way into the UA athletic department as the women’s soccer team manager. On Nov. 15, he stood at the 25-yard line at Arizona Stadium in jersey No. 41. It wasn’t soccer.

More than 47,000 people and a national TV audience were watching Skowron’s new team, the UA football team, go into a slumber. The Wildcats trailed Washington 17-7, imperiling a 7-2 record and the dream to win the Pac-12 South championship.

UA coaches Rich Rodriguez and Charlie Ragle had done their due reconnaissance for the previous five days. If it became necessary to pull out the kitchen sink to beat the Huskies – and if the Huskies failed to assign a spy, to protect their perimeter — the coaches would use the code word for a fake field goal.

Go.

Skowron ran 18 yards around right end, getting into the end zone with about three millimeters to spare. The Wildcats roared to life and beat the Huskies 27-26 in one of several improbable finishes and, indeed, became Pac-12 South champs.

It was, in my book of the 2014-15 school year, the most unforgettable moment in Tucson sports. 

College Game of the Year 

On April 25 in Boulder, Colorado, the UA women’s golf team went to the final round of the Pac-12 championships trailing the Oregon Ducks and facing a gauntlet that included No. 1 USC, No. 3 UCLA and No. 7 Washington.

But on the day of her young golfing life, UA sophomore Wanasa Zhou tied the school-record, shooting a six-under-par 65, and the Wildcats won the Pac-12 championship by five strokes.  

High School Game of the Year 

Walden Grove’s girls soccer team was 24-1 when it arrived for the Division III state championship game in Phoenix. Its showdown against 19-2 Fountain Hills went on and on and on, scoreless, for 110 minutes. Finally, on the last of 10 penalty kicks, Red Wolves goalkeeper Malia Vanisi blocked a kick by the defending state champions, and 25-1 Walden Grove capped its epic season with the first state championship in school history. 

College Male Athlete of the Year 

Scooby Wright. The UA’s sophomore linebacker wore a tuxedo almost as much as he wore jersey No. 33, flying all over the country to accept the Nagurski, Bednarik and Lombardi trophies, emblematic of college football’s top defensive player of 2014.  

High School Male Athlete of the Year 

Rio Rico senior Carlos Villarreal has been invited to run in the prestigious Prefontaine Classic on Friday in Eugene, Oregon, the first time high school milers have gathered at historic Hayward Field to run a “Dream Mile’’ in the Pre Classic. Villarreal’s senior season at Rio Rico was more than a dream: He won the state cross country championship with ease, and then set a state record in the 1,600 meters, while also wining the 800 meter title. In addition, he accepted a scholarship to Distance Runners U, where he will train with UA coach James Li.  

College Coach of the Year 

Pima College men’s soccer coach Dave Cosgrove, who is already in his sport’s Hall of Fame, coached the Aztecs to a school-record 21 victories, and into the finals of the NJCAA championships, edging powerful Phoenix College 2-1 in the Region championship game.  

High School Coach of the Year 

Cholla’s boys basketball coach Masai Dean directed the Chargers to a 22-1 regular season, and then clicked off three playoff victories in succession. At 25-1, Dean’s club was then assigned by the AIA to play 20-9 Arcadia High School in a playoff game 10.2 miles from the Titans’ campus. Cholla lost what was essentially a road game, but its 25-1 record will stand the test of time.  

College Female Athlete of the Year 

Pima College sophomore Kaysee Pilgrim was one of 30 players selected to the NJCAA Volleyball All-American teams, and a first-team All-ACCAC player. In March, Pilgrim won the NJCAA Indoor high jump national championship. In April, she tied the NJCAA women’s high-jump record, at 6-feet 1 ¼ inches. In May she won the NJCAA outdoor national championship. 

High School Female Athlete of the Year 

After a registration mixup disqualified Tucson High diver Delaney Schnell from the state championships in November, she was chosen by USA Diving to compete in the Winter Nationals in Ohio (she was third), and world Grand Prix meets in Mexico and England in the spring, in which she finished in the top 10 twice. She was then selected to the Team USA Roster for the Pan American Games this summer.  

Most Uninspiring Game of the Year 

Arizona’s men’s basketball team lost 81-78 at ASU in February, on a day Sun Devil guard Bo Barnes scored a career-high 18 points. Barnes averaged 6.1 points the rest of the year, and his team went 5-4 after upsetting Arizona. The loss likely cost Arizona a No. 1 seed — and a chance to avoid Wisconsin — in the NCAA tournament. 

Upset of the Year 

Arizona’s women’s basketball team, 3-15 in the Pac-12, stunned Stanford 60-57 at McKale Center. The Cardinal reached the Sweet 16. Arizona went 1-6 after beating the Cardinal. 

Upsets of the Year (multiple) 

Behind power forward Murphy Gershman, Pima College’s men’s basketball team beat defending NJCAA champion Phoenix College in November, 89-76, and then swept Cochise College in two ACCAC games. Phoenix College finished 30-6 and No. 3 in the nation. Cochise reached the national championship JC tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. Gershman averaged 23 points and 14 rebounds in the three upsets.  

Most Unexpected Performance of the Year 

Arizona senior shortstop Kellie Fox, the reigning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, committed five errors in a May 3 loss at UCLA. The Bruins used those errors to score eight unearned runs and win 15-7.  

Male Athlete to Watch for 2015-16 

Ironwood Ridge junior wrestler Danny Vega is on a 77-match winning streak, having won back-to-back state championships.  

Female Athlete to Watch for 2015-16 

UA freshman Gabi Stoian scored 13 goals, the second highest total in school history, leading the once-moribund Wildcats to the second round of the NCAA tournament.  

Team to Watch for 2015-16 

Arizona’s women’s softball team is apt to get back to the College World Series in 2016. Mike Candrea’s two leading recruits are impact players on the nation’s No. 1-ranked prep team, Mission Viejo High School. Returning national Player of the Year pitcher Taylor McQuillin is 28-0 and outfielder Alyssa Palamino broke the California prep home run record last week.