High School Reunion: 2006-07 Athletes of the Year

Editor's note

Online sports producer Drew McCullough is spending his summer digging through Star archives and compiling a list of every high school athlete of the year since 1999. Today: 2006-07.

Football player of the year

Name: Kris O'Dowd

School: Salpointe Catholic

Year in school: Senior

Sport: Football

From the archives: Among America's leading high school football linemen, the Salpointe Catholic High School senior has committed to play at USC. — Star staff, 2006

Girls volleyball player of the year

Name: Amie Goodwin

School: Sabino

Year in school: Senior

Sport: Girls volleyball

From the archives: The lone Southern Arizona representative in 4A volleyball's final four fell one match short of its goal.

No. 3 Sabino was eliminated in the semifinal round Saturday by second-seeded Glendale Cactus 3-0 at Hamilton High School. Later in the day, Cactus captured the state title with a win over Scottsdale Saguaro.

"It's a little disappointing," Sabercat outside hitter Amie Goodwin said. "But we are the only Tucson team coming up here to play state, and we accomplished so much. We won our region. We did so many things. We played really well, and I think we exceeded some of our goals."

Missing that elusive goal was the result of the Sabercats (37-6) not getting their offense clicking in falling 25-22, 25-17, 25-23 to Cactus (27-4).

"I thought we played a little bit hesitant and tentative," Sabino coach John Kramkowski said. "And I thought, usually our MO is we are going serve up and get teams out of their system and then we are going to beat them in a rally. We didn't serve all that confidently and aggressively for the majority of the match."

Sabino had its hands full with 6-foot-1-inch middle blocker Megan Johnson, who had a trio of kills early in the third game to get the Cobras out to a 14-8 lead.

Sabino rallied and took advantage of a pair of Cactus errors to tie it at 23. A couple of defensive errors ended the match.

"I think we went out there and had some errors, and maybe we could have picked up our game a little bit, but we went out there and fought hard," Goodwin said. "We had a hard game, so I think we did everything we could, and we just played as hard as we could."

Goodwin, the third-leading hitter in Southern Arizona, finished the night with 19 kills and 13 digs.

"I know she is heartbroken that we lost this match," Kramkowski said. "It's really indicative of Amie that she showed up and had one of her best matches of the year in the biggest match of the year. She had a phenomenal match."

Christine Denning added 12 digs and 24 assists. Brittney Soetaert had 11 digs.

"We made a couple of adjustments with our block, and we did finally get our girls to buy in to really putting some hop on their serves," Kramkowski said.

Cactus rallied to win the first game and then ran out to a 9-1 lead in the second to take control.

"Yeah, the tears should flow because when you want something really bad and it doesn't happen for you, it shows," Kramkowski said. — Al Bravo, 2006

Boys cross country runner of the year

Name: Victor Zazueta

School: Desert View

Year in school: Senior

Sport: Boys cross country

From the archives: Desert View's outstanding distance runner repeated as 4A-II state champion. — Greg Hansen, 2006

Girls cross country runner of the year

Name: Tara Erdmann

School: Flowing Wells

Year in school: Senior

Sport: Girls cross country

From the archives: Defending 5A-II individual champion Tara Erdmann of Flowing Wells was unable to repeat in her senior year, settling for third place. — Brian J. Pedersen, 2006

Boys golfer of the year

Name: Jonathan Khan

School: Salpointe Catholic

Year in school: Senior

Sport: Boys golf

From the archives: The Salpointe Catholic boys golf team will have to settle for just one state championship this decade - at least for another year.

If it were not for Chandler Hamilton over the last two seasons, the Lancers likely would be celebrating their third straight 5A state title.

Despite two days of elite-level golf, Salpointe again finished second to Hamilton on Tuesday at the Class 5A-I state championship at Maryvale Golf Course.

After winning the school's fourth state championship in 2004, Salpointe has finished as the runner-up in each of the last two years to the Huskies. Last year, the deficit was one stroke.

"This is disappointing, because last year ended up the same way,'' Salpointe senior Jonathan Khan said. "We played good, but they played better than we did today. We were playing really good and then faltered at the end.''

In what turned out to be a two-team race, Hamilton turned in a tournament-best score of 10-under-par 278 to win the title by four strokes over the Lancers.

The Huskies had a 36-hole total of 15-under-par 561. But they needed to be at their best. They began the final round one stroke behind Salpointe (565).

"It's hard to imagine us playing any better,'' Hamilton coach Steve Kanner said, "but I think the kids are going to get better. They work hard. They have good coaches and they love golf.''

After a team total of 282 on Monday, Salpointe had a 283 on Tuesday.

Khan was 5 under through 10 holes in the second round, but made bogey on two of his last four holes to shoot his second straight 69.

At 138, Khan missed the first-place playoff between Phoenix Mountain Pointe's Cameron Edens and Hamilton's Richard Lee by one stroke.

Lee won the playoff with a birdie on the fifth hole. He had rounds of 68 and 69. Edens was the first-round leader after a 65, but had a 72 on Tuesday.

Salpointe's Robert Perrott also was 2 over on his last four holes, and teammate Alex Johnson was 1 over on his last four.

"That's the difference right there,'' Khan said. "On (hole) 15, we were probably leading.''

Khan finished the tournament tied for third with Andrew Yun of Hamilton at 6-under-par 138. — Jeff Simon, 2006

Girls golfer of the year

Name: Sun Park

School: Cienega

Year in school: Freshman

Sport: Girls golf

From the archives: Park won the individual title at Class 4A Kino Region Tournament.

Cienega took seventh at the Class 4A state tournament, shooting 725 over two days at Dell Urich Golf Course. The Bobcats' top individual was freshman Sun Park, who was fourth with a 10-over 150. — Star staff, 2006

Boys swimmer of the year

Name: Ben Aaberg

School: Sahuaro

Year in school: Senior

Sport: Boys swimming and diving

From the archives: Another excellent Sahuaro High School swimmer, Aaberg won two state titles, giving him four state championships in two seasons. He was selected Arizona's prep male swimmer of the year. The Sahuaro senior broke 4A records in the 200 IM and 100 free. — Star staff, 2006

Girls swimmer of the year

Name: Caitlin Leverenz

School: Sahuaro

Year in school: Sophomore

Sport: Girls swimming and diving

From the archives: Sahuaro's state champion in two events (state records in the 200 IM and 100 breast stroke), she won the U.S. Open title against college and international swimmers and made the USA junior national team. — Greg Hansen, 2006

Boys basketball player of the year

Name: Ryan Sharkey

School: Ironwood Ridge

Year in school: Senior

Sport: Boys basketball

From the archives: Ryan Sharkey glared as he towered over Edward Salas, an intimidating reaction from the 6-foot-8-inch Sharkey after he swatted the shot of his 6-foot foe.

Salas laughed. A split second later, the Glendale Apollo forward snuck behind the Ironwood Ridge defense and scored a layup. Sharkey and his teammates could only watch.

It was a typical tale of point-counterpoint, but Ironwood Ridge did not have enough of either Saturday in a 61-48 loss to Apollo in the boys 4A-I state championship game at Jobing. com Arena.

And, at this point, the story is getting a little tiresome in Southern Arizona. The hometown Hawks, playing seven miles from their campus, again added to their legacy against Tucson's finest.

"Three years in a row we've beaten three Tucson teams for the title. That's awesome," said Apollo senior Brad Wespieser, whose team became the first in state history to win three straight titles at the 4A level.

"Coming here, representing Glendale and not letting any Tucson teams take it from us is the best part," he added.

Ironwood Ridge - a fifth seed to Apollo's sixth - conceivably had the advantage going in. The Nighthawks won the teams' matchup in a December tournament, had a considerable size advantage and the optimal level of senior leadership.

But to suggest Apollo was the underdog would have been beyond naÔve. The Hawks are 6-0 in this arena dating to the 2005 state playoffs, and 11 of their 14 players are seniors.

The size discrepancy? It was perhaps the most insignificant element of all. Salas, lacking in athleticism, worked his way through and around the Ironwood Ridge defense for 18 points to lead all scorers.

He was assigned to guard Sharkey, whose 14 points were as quiet as his team's walk back to the locker room.

"They were so much more aggressive than we were," Nighthawks coach Karl Pieroway said. "The pressure they can put on the ball without trapping is incredible."

That may have even been an understatement.

Ironwood Ridge (24-9) turned the ball over 15 times in the first half and rarely seemed to be in contention.

Senior wing and Division I recruit Trent Anderson missed 11 of 15 shots, the same uncharacteristic performance that befell so many of his teammates.

"They seemed from the very beginning like they thought they were going to win it, and they did," Anderson said. "... We had a hard time getting the ball up the floor, and they were converting off that. We couldn't make shots."

It was the unlikeliest of endings for Ironwood's eight-man senior class, which played so efficiently in the earlier rounds.

Nevertheless, the Nighthawks have the distinction of being the ones to set the standard at the Northwest Side school.

These seniors were the first players to enter the program as freshmen and spend four years under Pieroway's system. Those within the local basketball community often spoke about the up-and-coming group at Ironwood Ridge, a collection of guys who first cashed in on their potential during last year's 4A Sonoran Region tournament.

The Nighthawks nearly missed regionals, but stormed the field and won it by beating 2006 state runner-up Rincon/University in the final. — Tyler Hansen, 2007

Girls basketball player of the year

Name: Wynona Peters

School: Salpointe Catholic

Year in school: Senior

Sport: Girls basketball

From the archives: Salpointe Catholic girls basketball coach Scott Moushon looked at the scoreboard at halftime Tuesday, his team ahead of defending state champion Phoenix St. Mary's 22-18.

It was the last moment Moushon and Salpointe looked at ease.

St. Mary's - after going without a field goal in the second quarter - ripped apart Salpointe's confidence and cruised to a 53-34 win in the first round of the 5A-I state playoffs.

"I wish I could tell you what happened," Moushon said afterward, still looking baffled. "We were in a good spot at halftime, but they just beat us pretty bad the rest of the way."

Senior Wynona Peters led eighth-seeded Salpointe with 13 points, but she and her teammates did little to match the Knights in any area in the second half.

The Lancers (21-8) began the third quarter with three turnovers and an airball to essentially give St. Mary's the lead.

Peters made a three-pointer to bring Salpointe within 28-26 with 4:30 left in the quarter. Unfazed, the Knights went on a 17-0 run that lasted seven minutes.

Peters summed it up simply.

"They were just getting more offensive rebounds, and all their shots were going in, and ours weren't," she said.

Lia Koia scored a game-best 15 points and drained three three-pointers in the second half to lead St. Mary's. The Knights (19-9) advanced to face top seed Mesa Mountain View, which beat Sierra Vista Buena 72-35 Tuesday.

Salpointe's loss ended a four-year run during which it made the state semifinals each season. No local team remains in the 5A-I tournament. — Tyler Hansen, 2007

Boys soccer players of the year

Name: Fernando Gauna

School: Salpointe Catholic

Year in school: Senior

Sport: Boys soccer

From the archives: Not only did Gauna break the soccer state scoring record with 110 goals in his Salpointe career, he was selected a first-team All-ACCAC pick. — Greg Hansen, 2007

Name: Luke Teece

School: Rincon/University

Year in school: Junior

Sport: Boys soccer

From the archives: Rincon/University's soccer standout scored 11 goals late in the season to lead the Rangers to the 4A-I state championship. Four of his goals either tied or won games. — Star staff, 2007

Girls soccer player of the year

Name: Skye Schultz

School: Flowing Wells

Year in school: Sophomore

Sport: Girls soccer

From the archives: Flowing Wells' outstanding girls soccer standout, Schultz was Southern Arizona's 2007 player of the year as the Caballeros won the state 5A-II championship. — Greg Hansen, 2007

Wrestler of the year

Name: Kyle DeBerry

School: Sunnyside

Year in school: Senior

Sport: Wrestling

From the archives: Sunnyside stole the show, however, by having seven wrestlers win 5A-II individual titles and none more notable than by two seniors, Mike Moreno and Kyle DeBerry.

Moreno and DeBerry were both able to become the third and fourth wrestlers in Sunnyside history to be four-time state champions.

Moreno won the title when he beat Alan Felix from Yuma Kofa in an unbelievable match 10-8 in the 130 class, while DeBerry had an easier time defeating Marshall Swerdfeger 15-2 in the 160 class in front of his father/coach Bobby DeBerry, whom he embraced after the victory.

"It means a lot to be state champ, and it's amazing that I am a part of school history," said DeBerry. "It's pretty special that I can share it with my dad as well." — Callaway Teel, 2007

Baseball player of the year

Name: Rafael Neda

School: Amphitheater

Year in school: Senior

Sport: Baseball

From the archives: After his standout senior season for Amphi, in which he was the Star's player of the year, Neda signed a letter of intent to catch for New Mexico. His coach, Ray Birmingham, said, "He is one of the best high school catching prospects in the Southwest and a definite eventual draft pick.'' — Greg Hansen, 2007

Softball player of the year

Name: Kenzie Fowler

School: Canyon del Oro

Year in school: Sophomore

Sport: Softball

From the archives: With a 28-1 record and an 0.16 ERA, the Canyon del Oro sophomore pitcher led her team to the state title. She did so while in significant pain. A lack of blood flow between her collarbone and rib cage was ultimately so serious that she required a seven-hour, life-saving surgery three weeks after the state title game. — Greg Hansen, 2007

Boys tennis player of the year

Name: John Nanosky

School: Ironwood Ridge

Year in school: Senior

Sport: Boys tennis

From the archives: Ironwood Ridge senior John Nanosky discovered Friday that he won last weekend's 4A-I state singles title with a broken bone in his right (dominant) hand.

Nanosky suffered the injury April 20 after he fell while "goofing around." He won four matches the following weekend to capture the state title for the second straight year. — Star staff, 2007

Girls tennis players of the year

Name: Tristany Leikem

School: Flowing Wells

Year in school: Junior

Sport: Girls tennis

From the archives: The Flowing Wells twins — Tristany and Kirsten Leikem — won a third straight 5A-II state tennis doubles championship and earned scholarships to Rhode Island University. — Greg Hansen, 2007

Name: Kirsten Leikem

School: Flowing Wells

Year in school: Junior

Sport: Girls tennis

From the archives: The Flowing Wells twins — Tristany and Kirsten Leikem — won a third straight 5A-II state tennis doubles championship and earned scholarships to Rhode Island University. — Greg Hansen, 2007

Boys track athlete of the year

Name: James Eichberger

School: Catalina

Year in school: Junior

Sport: Boys track and field

From the archives: Catalina sprinter James Eichberger, a junior, was also crowned a state champion in multiple events this week. After winning the 800 on Wednesday, he won the 400 on Saturday in 51.14 seconds.

"Maybe it was the heat, but I wasn't running like I normally do," Eichberger said. "But I was able to kick it in at the end and win anyway." — Casey Crowe, 2007

Girls track athlete of the year

Name: Tara Erdmann

School: Flowing Wells

Year in school: Senior

Sport: Girls track and field

From the archives: Erdmann won state titles in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter track finals. — Greg Hansen, 2007

Boys volleyball player of the year

Name: Kalen Johnson

School: Catalina Foothills

Year in school: Senior

Sport: Boys volleyball

From the archives: The Anthem Boulder Creek boys volleyball players postured and strutted throughout their semifinal win over Sahuaro on Saturday at Mountain View High School.

"We want Catalina Foothills," they said afterward.

"I hope they're ready for us," said another Boulder Creek player.

Talk about ominous wishes.

Catalina Foothills, the team that was ready for all comers from start to finish this year, steamrolled Boulder Creek in three games (25-17, 25-19, 25-17) in the Class 4A/5A-II state championship match later in the afternoon.

With it, the top-seeded Falcons (35-1) captured their second consecutive state title and cemented their place in the record books.

And, to be certain, Foothills left a lasting memory on a No. 2 Boulder Creek team that - despite its best intentions - was not prepared for the Falcons' onslaught.

"I knew we would win. They had no idea about us," said Foothills senior Keoni Rabaino, who had 10 kills and five digs in the final match. "They didn't know what to expect, and I just wanted to lay it on them."

The Jaguars (36-7) brought their outwardly confident demeanor into the title match, but rarely had reason to flaunt it. Outside hitter Kyle Norton pounded a kill into the heart of the Foothills defense in Game 1 to cut his team's deficit to 8-5.

Norton stood at the net to admire his work, then he and his teammates stood on their heels the rest of the match as Foothills attacked relentlessly from all areas.

"I wish we would have seen them earlier in the year," Jaguars coach Chad Speer said. "We made some adjustments in our lineup, but they have a lot of offense."

The Falcons used every available arm, even an ailing James Kinion, to pester the BC defense. Even when the Jaguar defenders were in place, their dig attempts were futile against Foothills' power hitters.

Sophomore Garrett Voge had a match-high 15 kills, Kinion added eight and Sam Magill had nine - all made possible by senior setter Kalen Johnson (40 assists).

Asked to imagine being on the other bench, Foothills coach Andrea Fyock made the task of trying to defend Voge and Co. sound even less pleasant.

"There is talent at every position, and we capitalize on weaknesses," Fyock said of the Falcons. "Whenever you go for the throat, per se, I'm sure it's frustrating to be on the other end against us."

Foothills nearly didn't make it to the final; it struggled to beat No. 4 Cienega in five games (18-25, 25-18, 25-14, 19-25, 15-8) earlier Saturday.

Shane Smith led Cienega (26-16) with 20 kills in the loss. The tense match awoke in Foothills the dominance it displayed all season.

"In the semis, man, I was freaking out," Rabaino said. "But we pulled it together, and after the first game of the championship, I knew we were going to repeat."

Foothills is only the second team in Southern Arizona history to win consecutive state championships. CDO was the first to do so in 1996-97.

Johnson and Rabaino are the only starters who will graduate this month, leaving two-thirds of the team intact for 2008.

"We're as good as we want to be, and when we put it together, no one can beat us," Voge said. "We have endless potential." — Tyler Hansen, 2007

More High School Reunions

Click the photo below to check out more athletes of the year in our "High School Reunion" series.

2006 girls volleyball player of the year