Tucson high schools make history at state championships

Baseball

Despite multiple deep runs in the state baseball tournament, no Southern Arizona team took home a championship title this season.

Canyon del Oro, the No. 1 seed in the 5A tournament, was eliminated in the semifinals by No. 4 Arizona College Prep, 7-0, on May 14.

Also, making a run in the 5A tournament was No. 2 Catalina Foothills. The Falcons were ousted in the third round by No. 3 Notre Dame Prep, 16-0.

No. 7 Nogales fell early in the second round of the tournament.

In 4A, No. 9 Ironwood Ridge advanced to the semifinals but was ultimately ousted by No. 4 Saguaro, 11-1, on May 14.

Salpointe Catholic, the No. 2 seed in 4A, was eliminated by No. 3 ALA - Gilbert North, 5-1, in the third round.

No. 5 Douglas and No. 6 Sahuarita were both eliminated in the second round of the tournament.

Tanque Verde made it to the quarterfinals of the 3A tournament, but couldn’t hold off Yuma Catholic. The No. 7 Hawks fell to the No. 2 Shamrocks, 10-2, on May 9.

In the 2A tournament, No. 7 Benson was bested by No. 1 Scottsdale Christian, 7-3, in the championship game on May 16. 

No. 6 Bisbee was eliminated in the early round of the state tournament by No. 11 Phoenix Country Day, 10-1.

Softball

Southern Arizona high school softball teams left it all on the field this season as four local teams took home state championship titles.

Many of these teams went head-to-head with other Tucson-area teams.

In the 5A conference, No. 2 Mountain View Marana took on No. 4 Canyon del Oro in the championship game on May 18, but was edged by the Dorados.

CDO took home the state title after winning 4-3 in the final round of the tournament. The win is the 10th softball championship in program history.

It was another Tucson-area battle in the 4A conference when No. 1 Salpointe Catholic faced No. 2 Mica Mountain in the final round on Monday and the Lancers came out victorious.

Salpointe Catholic defeated Mica Mountain, 4-2. The victory marks the Lancers’ ninth state softball championship and their fourth state title in five years.

No. 7 Tanque Verde earned the 3A state title, its first state softball championship in program history, on May 11. The Hawks run-ruled No. 5 Yuma Catholic, 10-0.

2025 Arizona Daily Star High School Student-Athlete of the Week Claire Achilles was named the Class 3A MVP.

During the championship game, Achilles pitched six innings, allowing a hit and recording 13 strikeouts. 

In 2A, Willcox, the No. 5 seed, ousted No. 2 Mohave Accelerated, 5-3, in the championship round on May 11. The win marks the Cowgirls' first title in 16 years.

Boys tennis

The Catalina Foothills boys tennis team came out on top this year in the Division II championship. 

The No. 2-ranked team defeated No. 1 Notre Dame Prep, 5-0, in the final round on May 9.

The win is Catalina Foothills’ 19th state tennis championship in program history.

On their way to the top, the Falcons took down No. 15 Ironwood Ridge, No. 10 Cactus Shadows and No. 3 Eastmark.

Catalina Foothills finished its regular season with a perfect record (12-0).

In Division III, The Gregory School made a run for the state title but ultimately fell in the final round of the tournament against ALA - West Foothills, 5-2.

In Division I, Rincon/University, one of two Tucson-area teams to make the state tournament, was eliminated in the quarterfinals against Arizona College Prep on May 6.

However, in the singles tournament, Rincon/University star Vikram Narendran won his third straight state championship. 

His 6-1, 6-4 victory over Brophy Prep’s Samir Sumar made him “one of the most decorated tennis players in the TUSD history,” according to a school district news release.

In doubles, Mountain View Marana’s Emiliano Manzo and Andrew Schmidt ousted Catalina Foothills’ Finn Griffs and Aaron Zeldin, 6-4, 6-3, in the Division II tournament.

In the Division III singles tournament, Pusch Ridge’s Dean Morthland advanced to the championship round but was defeated by Gilbert Classical’s Ayden Thielsen, 6-3, 6-1.

Girls tennis

In the battle between two elite Tucson girls tennis teams, No. 2 Salpointe Catholic came out on top in the final round of the Division II team tournament. The Lancers defeated the No. 9 Catalina Foothills Falcons, 5-0, to win the state title on May 9.

On its way to the final round, Salpointe Catholic advanced past No. 16 Shadow Mountain, No. 7 McClintock and No. 3 Canyon del Oro.

The win secured back-to-back state titles for Salpointe Catholic.

Additionally, Salpointe Catholic’s Dillon Nye won the individual title after besting Catalina Foothills’ Gracie Petrow, 6-2, 6-2.

And Lancers’ duo Lacey Kaufman and Emma Murphy defeated Canyon del Oro’s Emma Bartruff and Avery Eliscu, 6-1, 6-4, for the doubles title.

This season’s Lancers girls tennis team was inducted into the Salpointe Catholic Sports Hall of Fame last week, the school announced on social media.

In Division III, No. 2 Pusch Ridge advanced to the team finals but was eliminated by No. 5 Rancho Solano Prep, 5-2, on May 9.

Track and field

Although no Southern Arizona track and field teams took home team titles at the state tournament this year, plenty of runners and jumpers made their mark on the tournament.

Just take Ironwood Ridge’s Jett Merrill, for example. The high school junior took home two first-place finishes and a second-place finish at this year’s state tournament.

Merrill placed first in the 110m hurdles event with a time of 13.91 and in the long jump event with a mark of 7.21m.

In the 100 meters, he came in second with a time of 10.75, just .01 seconds behind the first-place finisher of the event.

Salpointe Catholic had a few top finishes, too.

Senior Cristiano Morales earned the top spot in the 400-meter event with a time of 47.01.

Salpointe Catholic pole vaulters Magnas Rohde and Timothy Multhup placed third and sixth in the event. Rohde had a mark of 4.93m, a personal best, and Multhup had a mark of 4.52m.

In the 4x400 relay, the Lancers came in fourth with a time of 3:19.14. 

Marana placed second in the 4x400 relay event with a time of 3:15.55.

In the 1600 meters event, Sabino runner and former Arizona Daily Star High School Student-Athlete of the Week, Milo Mandolini, took home third place with a time of 4:13.65. He also placed ninth in the 3200 meters.

Canyon del Oro’s Sean McCarthy finished fourth in the high jump with a jump of 1.98m.

Of course, it’s not just the boys who made a name for themselves at the tournament.

In the girls' triple jump, Amphitheater senior Monica Verrett placed first with a mark of 11.86m. 

She also took home fifth in the long jump (5.47m).

Cienega’s Victoria Williams finished second in the discus event with a mark of 41.68m. Williams also placed seventh in the shot put event (11.50m).

In hurdles, CDO’s Karsten Lewis earned second place in the 100m event with a time of 14.27, while Catalina Foothills’ Aliyah Akinbile also placed second, but in the 300m event, with a time of 42.33.

Buena’s Deztany Toyota-Villalobos finished fourth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.12. She also placed fifth in the 200 meters (24.92).

In the 4x800 relay, three Tucson-area teams had top 10 finishes, including Mica Mountain in fourth (9:27.41), Ironwood Ridge in sixth (9:30.92), followed by Pusch Ridge in seventh (9:32.96).

Golf

After taking home the state championship last season, Pusch Ridge placed second in this year’s Division III co-ed state golf tournament. The Lions scored 292 on Day 1 and 289 on Day 2 for a total of 581.

Pusch Ridge junior Mark Stypa shot a 67 on each day of the tournament, giving him the individual championship title. He bested the runner-up from Phoenix Country Day by one stroke.

Boys volleyball

Cienega earned the 5A state championship title after defeating Arizona College Prep, 3-0 (25-16, 25-9, 25-22) in the final round of the tournament on May 16.

The No. 2 Bobcats advanced past No. 15 Maricopa, No. 7 Independence and No. 3 Campo Verde to the championship round.

In the 4A conference, Salpointe Catholic made a deep run in the tournament, advancing all the way to the semifinals. But the No. 4 Lancers were ultimately defeated by No. 1 ALA - Gilbert North, 3-1.

Beach volleyball

Ironwood Ridge was the only Tucson-area high school to qualify for the girls beach volleyball state tournament this season.

The No. 8 Nighthawks advanced to the quarterfinals of the team tournament but were eliminated by No. 1 Flagstaff, 4-1, on April 22.

But Ironwood Ridge’s state tournament run didn’t end there.

In pairs, No. 6 Kallie George and Marcella Landers advanced to the championship round and took home second place after falling, 21-14, 18-21, 15-13, to the No. 2-ranked Lillie Duitsman and Alex Heyn from Gilbert Christian.

Ironwood Ridge concluded its season with a 10-2 record.

Esports

Amphitheater, the No. 5 seed in the AIA esports “League of Legends” tournament, advanced to the championship round. 

Although the team fell to No. 2 Arizona College Prep, 1-2, in the final round, they defeated No. 1 Hamilton, 2-0, and No. 4 Higley, 2-0, on their way to the championship.

The Amphi “League of Legends” team consists of seven student gamers: Lincoln “The Lumberjack” Sorenson, Zihao “The Dominator” Wang, Yeyah “Discord Dynamo” Ojeil, Rayne “Support Superstar” Tye, Gage “Chipotle-Kid” Kelly-Nanez, Paul “Still-Doing-It-All” Kirkendall and An “Off To Oklahoma” Nguyen.

The Panthers were the only Tucson-area team to make the “League of Legends” state tournament.