High School Reunion: 2010-11 Athletes of the Year
- Updated
Here's a look at the Arizona Daily Star's 2010-11 high school athletes of the year.Â
- Updated
Editor's noteÂ
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: 2009-10.Â
- Updated
Offensive football player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Ka'Deem CareyÂ
School:Â Canyon del OroÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â FootballÂ
From the archives:Â I'm not a fan of goodbyes. Never have been, never will be.
To this day, when I have to leave my mom and dad, I usually just mumble something and act like I'm tough.
With that in mind, I'm going to say goodbye to Canyon del Oro's Ka'Deem Carey.
It won't be easy.
This is my first year in Tucson, so how can it be so tough to say goodbye to someone I barely know?
Easy. You appreciate players you may never see again.
And Tucson, we may never see another football player like Ka'Deem Carey, our pick for the Southern Arizona offensive player of the year.
He really is that good.
Even when he was at 70 percent, which he was for most of this past season, Ka'Deem dominated opposing teams with his speed, smarts and toughness.
The senior did it all in his four years at Canyon del Oro.
Carey didn't have the blinding speed that a lot of elite high school running backs have, but no one ever caught him when he was healthy. He was steps ahead of the defenders mentally, knowing when to make cuts and how to get around them.
And if that didn't work? He'd run right over you.
He's also a clutch performer: With his team trailing by two touchdowns and just over two minutes left against Cienega in the state semifinals, it was Carey's time to shine.
Boy, did he ever. The Dream scored two touchdowns and CDO won by four points to advance to another state title game.
He finished his career with 5,702 rushing yards, the most ever by a Southern Arizona player.
He had 82 career rushing touchdowns and a few more courtesy of kick returns.
"He's the best football player I've ever been around," CDO coach Dusty Peace said.
"The things he does on the field are things people dream about being able to do.
"He's amazing."
It's time for Carey to move on. He's committed to Arizona, but has official visits set up for Arizona State and USC.
Carey won't dominate the prep gridiron next year.
That responsibility will shift to one of his teammates, junior Blake Martinez.
The Star's defensive player of the year, Martinez will take over for Carey next year as the dominant player in Southern Arizona.
From the middle linebacker position, Martinez totaled 129 total tackles and nine sacks in 2010. He had eight solo tackles in the first half of the state championship game against Scottsdale Saguaro.
He was also the Dorados' go-to receiver with team-highs in catches (24), yards (555) and touchdowns (10).
If he continues to get better and improves during his senior season, he and Carey could cross paths again in college.
At 6 feet 2 inches and 233 pounds, Martinez already has the size to play at the next level. But he's not just a big body. He's an athlete.
He uses that big frame to make plays on both sides of the ball.
He also has a nonstop motor. Despite playing both ways, the guy never looks tired.
He'll be the attraction at CDO and all over Southern Arizona next season, which means I get to watch him for one more season and appreciate his abilities, the same way I did with Carey.
That leads me to what I've been avoiding.
Goodbye, Ka'Deem. Good luck. — Daniel Berk, 2010
- Updated
Defensive football player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Blake MartinezÂ
School:Â Canyon del OroÂ
Year in school:Â JuniorÂ
Sport:Â FootballÂ
From the archives: CDO's star junior linebacker led the 13-1 Dorados with 129 tackles and also caught 10 touchdown passes. — Greg Hansen, 2010
- Updated
Girls volleyball player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Michaela ChristiaansenÂ
School:Â Ironwood RidgeÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls volleyballÂ
From the archives:Â Top-seeded Ironwood Ridge lost in the 5A-II state semifinals to No. 5 Scottsdale Desert Mountain on Saturday in a five-set thriller at North Canyon High School.
The 16-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-22, 15-7 loss sent the Nighthawks home one win shy of the state championship game for the fourth year in a row.
"Desert Mountain is a hard-hitting and powerful team," Ironwood Ridge coach Bill Lang said. "One of our goals was to neutralize their power from the service line to get them out of their rhythm and then do some things to harass their hitters to make sure we got them out of system."
Lang said the Nighthawks were able to accomplish that for the first three sets before everything rolled in the Wolves' favor.
Ironwood Ridge won the first set and appeared to be in control. However, Desert Mountain rebounded in the second set. The Wolves went on a 9-1 run to wipe out a 9-3 Nighthawks' lead and never trailed.
With the teams tied at 12 in the third set, the Nighthawks took off on a 13-8 run to win the set.
Ironwood Ridge fell behind 18-12 in the fourth set but mounted a comeback. It went on an 8-0 run to take a two-point lead and come within five points of winning the match. After tying the score at 22, Desert Mountain closed out the set with three straight points.
The Wolves carried their momentum to a 6-0 lead in the final set. Senior Michaela Christiaansen had a couple kills and tried pull Ironwood Ridge back but it was too late.
Lang doesn't want the loss to ruin a 34-10 season.
"We won our fourth straight region championship, we finished in the gold division of all three tournaments, we played in and we beat a lot of good teams along the way," Lang said.
Christiaansen totaled 29 kills, 13 digs and three aces while senior Morgan Eaton had six kills, three digs, two blocks and one assist. It was the third trip to the semifinals for both.
"It was a great three years and I've learned a lot," Christiaansen said. "We fought hard but it just didn't work out how we wanted it to." — Daniel Gaona, 2010
- Updated
Boys cross country runner of the yearÂ
Name: Alejandro MontañoÂ
School:Â CatalinaÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys cross countryÂ
From the archives: Catalina's Alejandro Montaño has been one of fastest runners in Arizona for two years and finished his high school career on Saturday with no individual state cross country titles.
The reason: For the second consecutive season, Montaño shared a division with the state's best runner.
Last year it was a Flagstaff Sinagua runner who set a Cave Creek Golf Course record. On Saturday, it was Tuba City's Billy Orman who set a new course record in 15 minutes 3.32 seconds to top Montaño (15:47.72).
Orman won a 3A title last year, but Tuba City was grouped into Division III this year in accordance with the AIA's new realignment. Montaño's Trojans used to be 4A-II.
"It is a little weird how it has happened this way," Montaño admitted. "Every single time, I always get grouped with someone so good."
More than anything, Montaño said he was disappointed in his race. He stayed with Orman up to the two-mile mark, then began to fade.
"He kept putting little surges on me and every time he did, I kept coming back and coming back," Montaño said. "But at the two-mile, I just couldn't keep going. I ran out of gas." — Michael J. Craven, 2010
- Updated
Girls cross country runner of the yearÂ
Name:Â Aeoleone BristowÂ
School:Â Rio RicoÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls cross countryÂ
From the archives:Â A two-time defending 4A-II state champion, Bristow placed second and lost to a former 3A runner with whom she now shares a division.
Chinle junior Rolonda Jumbo finished in 18:34.55 for her third consecutive title. Bristow (18:48.69) was followed by Sabino senior Haley Stenquist (18:59.71).
While disappointed to finish her high school career without a third title, Bristow said she appreciated the quality competition.
"I kind of blanked out in the beginning ... and I let her pull away," Bristow said. "(Jumbo) did awesome and I spent most of the race trying to catch back up to her. She knows when to turn it on." — Michael J. Craven, 2010
- Updated
Boys golfer of the yearÂ
Name:Â Gentry HicksÂ
School:Â Canyon del OroÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys golfÂ
From the archives: A senior at CDO, Hicks had a meaningful senior golf season, winning the Division II state championship with a 50-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole, and earning a scholarship from the Utah Utes. — Greg Hansen, 2010
- Updated
Girls golfer of the yearÂ
Name:Â Laura JabczenskiÂ
School:Â Catalina FoothillsÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls golfÂ
From the archives: Winning her second consecutive state golf championship, Jabczenski, a senior at Catalina Foothills, became just the second Tucsonan to do so, joining Sabino's Willie Wood in 1978-79. The Falcons, under coach Mark Polich, repeated as state champions, the first-ever for a Southern Arizona girls team. — Greg Hansen, 2010
- Updated
Boys swimmer of the yearÂ
Name:Â Cole PuchiÂ
School:Â Catalina FoothillsÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys swimming and divingÂ
From the archives: Cole Puchi of Foothills finished second in the 50 free at 21.31. — Al Bravo, 2010
- Updated
Girls swimmer of the yearÂ
Name:Â LeighAnne OliverÂ
School:Â SabinoÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls swimming and divingÂ
From the archives: LeighAnne Oliver of Sabino was second in the 500 and second in the 100 breast stroke, while Anlise Chiamentti of Foothills was third in the 500. — Al Bravo, 2010
- Updated
Boys basketball player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Lester MedfordÂ
School:Â AmphitheaterÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys basketballÂ
From the archives:Â As Amphitheater's Tim Derksen made his way off the court Saturday following his team's 87-77 win over Tempe High School in the 4A-II state championship game, the junior couldn't help but think about the last time he walked off the floor after a state final.
"After we lost to Santa Rita (in the 2010 title game), we were crushed," Derksen said of last year's 86-84 loss to the Eagles.
"For us, this season started the second last season ended. We were committed to working as hard as possible for the next 365 days to get back here. That loss gave us fire the entire season. Every practice, every game," Derksen."
Point taken.
Amphi (29-2) won its first basketball state championship and capped its brilliant 2010-11 season in typical Panthers fashion on the Jobing.com Arena floor.
Defensively, Amphi put on a full-court press against the Buffaloes from the opening tip and forced more than 25 turnovers.
Offensively, the Panthers quickly pushed the ball up the court every time they had the chance.
"That's Amphi basketball," senior guard Domineik Banks said.
"That's how we play. Everyone knows it, but not everyone can stop it."
The Buffaloes did a decent job of stopping it right away, trailing just 20-17 after the first quarter.
Over the next five minutes, everything changed.
Amphi went on a 21-5 run to take a 41-22 lead right before halftime.
"It's inevitable with our style of play, our style of defense, that the other team is going to get tired, and we're going to be able to make our move," Amphi coach Ben Hurley said.
"That's what happened in the second quarter, I think. We just hit our stride and they started to get a little tired."
The Panthers were able to do the majority of their damage without much help from their leading scorer, senior Lester Medford. The 5-foot-11-inch point guard scored two points in the first half and had three fouls at the break.
It didn't matter.
Junior reserve guard Tony Lillard hit four three-pointers in the first half and finished with 19 points. Banks had four points, five assists and five steals in the first half.
Derksen had 14 in the first and finished with 26 and 12 rebounds. Junior big man Charles Benson also contributed with 12 points.
"I've been trying to tell people all year it's not just me and Lester," Derksen said. "It's the entire team. If one of us struggles or something, we have five or six other guys that can come in and pick it up.
"I think that's why we're so good."
What it all added up to was Amphi's first basketball state championship since the school opened in 1939. The Panthers had appeared in just two title games, 2010 and 1949.
"The Amphitheater community deserves this," Hurley said. "There have been some great teams that have come through Amphi and we're the first to win a championship. It's very, very special."
Jordan Baker, a Pepperdine signee, finished with a game-high 36 points for Tempe. He scored 14 in the fourth quarter once the game was out of hand. — Daniel Berk, 2011
- Updated
Girls basketball player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Jamee SwanÂ
School:Â MaranaÂ
Year in school:Â JuniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls basketballÂ
From the archives:Â Just three hours after being in a car accident, Marana High School junior Jamee Swan seemed unfazed and performed like the regular dominating basketball player she is.
Swan scored 28 points to lead the No. 7-seeded Tigers to a last-minute 40-37 win over No. 10 Sabino in the first round of the 4A-I state playoffs.
It was the first playoff win since 2008 for Marana, which will play at Glendale Apollo in a quarterfinal game Friday at 7 p.m.
A truck Swan was driving was involved in a collision around 4 p.m. Swan said she suffered a bruised leg, and her friend in the truck had to have stitches.
"The truck was totaled," said Marana coach Diane Swan, also Jamee's mother.
Composing herself, Jamee Swan helped Marana stay in control until the fourth quarter, when the Tigers (17-6) fell behind the visiting Sabercats late.
But with 10.9 seconds left, Swan hit two free throws on the bonus to put the Tigers up by three.
Sabino junior Carly Cathy attempted to tie it with a three, but Swan got in her way to cause a turnover. Marana's Amber Mendoza grabbed the loose ball, and the Tigers' student section poured onto the court as time ran out.
It was a roller-coaster fourth quarter for Marana after Cathy opened with a three-pointer to give Sabino a 28-27 lead with 6:50 left.
Thirty seconds later, Swan responded with a layup to regain the lead. Then Anna Heaton hit a jumper to give the Sabercats a 30-29 lead.
Swan hit another layup to put Marana up 31-30, but Cathy answered with a three to give Sabino a 33-31 advantage with 5:26 left.
Marana senior Alyssa Ruiz tied the game at 33 with her first basket of the game at the 4:31 mark - a shot Swan called a changing moment.
"Once she hit that, I knew we had the game," Swan said about Ruiz.
With 2:35 left, Swan swatted away a layup by Sabino's C.C. Erwin, and the Marana student section erupted.
Sabino (21-9) took a 35-33 lead 44 seconds later after senior Lizzy Miller hit a pair of free throws. Ruiz answered with a tying layup. Miller hit a layup with 0:46 left to give Sabino a 37-35 lead, but Swan wasn't done yet.
After Ruiz missed a three, Swan leaped for the rebound, hit a layup and was fouled. She converted the free throw to put the Tigers up 38-37 with 0:34 left, and Marana held on to win. — Daniel Gaona, 2011
- Updated
Boys soccer player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Kyle BakewellÂ
School:Â Salpointe CatholicÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys soccerÂ
From the archives: Bakewell led the Lancers in the regular season with 15 goals. — Daniel Berk, 2011
- Updated
Girls soccer player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Camie BarberaÂ
School:Â Ironwood RidgeÂ
Year in school:Â JuniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls soccerÂ
From the archives: Camie Barbera remains unstoppable. The Ironwood Ridge star has scored 14 goals and has eight assists. Her sister, Abbey, is also a threat, and with the duo on the field at the same time, the Nighthawks are all but locked in to win the 5A Southern Region. — Star staff, 2011
- Updated
Wrestler of the yearÂ
Name:Â Kory DeBerryÂ
School:Â SunnysideÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â WrestlingÂ
From the archives:Â Kory DeBerry joined an elite club Friday night, and Sunnyside High School won its 14th straight state wrestling championship.
DeBerry became the 25th wrestler in Arizona history to capture four individual state titles.
It was a bittersweet feeling for DeBerry after he roared in celebration at Tim's Toyota Center. It was his final match as a high school wrestler.
But he will continue his career at Arizona State next year, along with brother Kyle and fellow senior Lucio Murillo.
Father Bobby DeBerry, the longtime Sunnyside coach, said Kory told him he didn't want it to be over after winning.
"It was tough emotionally," Bobby DeBerry said. "The win, and his last match with me as his coach. ... He told me he didn't want it to be over. But it's time to start something new."
The elder DeBerry said Kyle was in attendance to watch his brother. Kyle was a big factor in Kory's four-year success, Bobby DeBerry said.
After Kory was able to digest his accomplishment, he asked an awkward question.
While receiving his medal, he looked at one of the team's assistant's and asked, "Do I have any blood on my face?"
The answer was "no," and DeBerry then made his way to the podium.
Kory is not familiar with losing. He finished his senior season 38-0, defeating Mesa's Edgar Verdi 6-2 in the 152-pound Division I championship match.
Sunnyside totaled 124.5 team points to easily register the team title.
Bobby DeBerry said this was one of the toughest to accomplish.
Kory DeBerry wasn't the only winner from Sunnyside.
Cedric Gonzalez also captured a state title at 171 pounds, defeating Tyler Cattey from Gilbert.
Murillo and Raul Moraga each took second in their respective classes, 125 and 130. — Daniel Gaona, 2011
- Updated
Baseball player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Robby PearsonÂ
School:Â CatalinaÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â BaseballÂ
From the archives:Â Catalina's Robby Pearson led his team to a state championship. He hit .542 with seven home runs and 38 RBIs.
He was also a star on the mound, picking up six wins with a 2.11 ERA.
He earned two complete- game wins in the 4A-II state tournament and struck out the final six batters he faced in the Trojans' semifinal win over powerhouse Phoenix Greenway.
Is Pearson the top college or pro prospect in Southern Arizona? No. That's Salpointe Catholic's Joe Serrano, who almost certainly will be selected in this week's Major League Baseball amateur draft.
The Arkansas-bound slugger set a Southern Arizona record with 69 RBIs and hit .541 with 11 homers.
He also played every inning at shortstop for the Lancers, who went 1-2 in the 5A-I state tournament.
But Pearson's value to his team was unmatched. He pitched, hit and fielded his team to its first state championship since 1967.
This season, he was the best player around. — Daniel Berk, 2011
- Updated
Boys tennis player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Carlos BermudezÂ
School:Â Palo VerdeÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys tennisÂ
From the archives:Â Carlos Bermudez, a senior at Palo Verde and two-time defending state champion, lost to Gilbert Campo Verde's Dominic Patrick 7-5, 7-3 in the boys Division II final.
"I thought I was over hitting a little bit," Bermudez said. "I was going for too much."
Patrick said he didn't expect to beat Bermudez, calling him "pure aggressive," but he still felt he had the best shot to take him down. — Daniel Gaona, 2011
- Updated
Girls tennis player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Rita BermudezÂ
School:Â Canyon del OroÂ
Year in school:Â JuniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls tennisÂ
From the archives:Â Canyon del Oro's Rita Bermudez won her first singles state title Monday, while her brother Carlos from Palo Verde fell just short of his third straight championship.
Rita Bermudez, a junior, won the girls Division II championship with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Aleeza Kanner from Phoenix Sunnyslope. The first set was close and lasted nearly 90 minutes, but Bermudez locked it down in the second set.
"I think my match before tired me out," she said of beating Catalina Foothills' Rachana Bhat 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals earlier at Paseo Racquet Center.
"I was really tired; I could not feel my feet," Bermudez added.
But the feeling of winning her first championship made everything better.
"It's still hard to believe," she said. "I'm shaking right now. It's awesome."
CDO coach Casey Pfordt could not recall the last Dorado to win singles title.
"It's been quite a few years," she said with a laugh. — Daniel Gaona, 2011
- Updated
Boys track athlete of the yearÂ
Name:Â Dylan SouzaÂ
School:Â Catalina FoothillsÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys track and fieldÂ
From the archives:Â Catalina Foothills anchor Dylan Souza knew where to make his move.
During the Division II boys 4x800 relay final at Mesa Community College on Wednesday night, the senior lifted his team to a state championship over last year's winner, Flowing Wells.
Souza made his move in the final two turns to pass the Caballeros' Lindon Claridge and help his team - which included Rex Woodbury, Mike Whetzel and Max Warneke - claim the race.
"I told my team that if they could get the baton to me within three seconds of Flowing Wells, I could probably catch up," said Souza, whose team won the event in 7 minutes 55.69 seconds.
"We really respect Flowing Wells. They've been beating us throughout our high school careers, and there was so much pressure on this race to beat them."
Flowing Wells took the lead from the start when Aren Maxwell gave his team a 2 1/2-second lead on the first handoff.
"Our plan was to get a little bit of a bigger lead," said Claridge, who helped the team finish in 7:57.86. "We knew (Foothills) had a good, strong anchor. I was trying to get a bigger lead so I could finish it off, but (Souza) caught up, and it just fell apart at that point."
Souza also anchored the 4x400 relay team, which included Siraaj Ghori, Nick Chronister and David Wolfarth.
That unit took home the state title in 3:19.89, nearly three seconds ahead of Flowing Wells' time of 3:22.13. — Ash Friederich, 2011
- Updated
Girls track athlete of the yearÂ
Name:Â Jaide StepterÂ
School:Â Canyon del OroÂ
Year in school:Â JuniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls track and fieldÂ
From the archives:Â Jaide Stepter won three state titles Saturday, but the Canyon del Oro junior was "disappointed."
She aimed to break the state 300-meter hurdles record of 42.67 seconds at Saturday's state championship meet at Mesa Community College.
Instead, she settled for victories in the 100 and 300 hurdles, and in the 200.
"I'm disappointed but not really," Stepter said after easily winning the Division II 300 hurdles in 43.40. She started the day by winning the 100-meter hurdles in 14.62. She ended it with the 200 win in 24.99
"I'm really excited with how I've done today," she added. "It would be great to be a champion three years in a row, so that's my goal for next year." — Daniel Gaona, 2011
- Updated
Boys volleyball player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Ryan GrahamÂ
School:Â CatalinaÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys volleyballÂ
From the archives:Â Heather Moore-Martin didn't want her Catalina volleyball team to just win a state championship Saturday afternoon. She wanted it to dominate.
The Trojans didn't drop a set to a team from Arizona all regular season and Moore-Martin wanted to send her eight seniors out on the right note. Consider it done.
Second-seeded Catalina beat No. 1 Catalina Foothills in straight sets (25-22, 25-12, 25-13) at Amphitheater to claim its second straight 2A-4A state championship.
"We wanted to leave a mark on Tucson volleyball and I feel like we've really done that," Moore-Martin said. "We've dominated all season."
It took the Trojans a little time to establish that authority Saturday. Foothills kept the match close in the opening set, knotting the score at 22-all.
Catalina earned the final three points of the setand never looked back.
The Trojans opened the second set on a 13-4 run and won the set by 13 points. The third was more of the same with the Trojans using a 12-4 run to win the the set 25-13.
"Even though most of us have played for a state championship before, we definitely had some nerves early on," said senior Ryan Graham, who had nine kills. "We just had to get them out and start playing our game."
Foothills coach David Thistle, who saw his team lose to the Trojans for the third time this season, said it was important to limit Catalina's runs. The Falcons were able to do that in the first set, but not the final two.
"They're really, really good and they turned it on," Thistle said. "It looked like it was tough for us to find energy in the second and third."
Tyler Foo led the Falcons with eight kills and nine digs.
The Trojans finished the season with a 29-2 mark. Over the last two seasons, they are 52-5with a pair of state titles.
Their only two losses this year came to a pair of schools from California in a midseason tournament.
"It's sweeter the second time," said senior Josh DeYoung, who finished with 11 kills and eight blocks. "There's a lot of relief off our shoulders. It was almost like we had to win."
And they did. — Daniel Berk, 2011
- Updated
Click the photo below to check out more athletes of the year in our "High School Reunion" series.Â
- Updated
2010 girls volleyball player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Michaela ChristiaansenÂ
School:Â Ironwood RidgeÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls volleyballÂ
From the archives:Â Top-seeded Ironwood Ridge lost in the 5A-II state semifinals to No. 5 Scottsdale Desert Mountain on Saturday in a five-set thriller at North Canyon High School.
The 16-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-22, 15-7 loss sent the Nighthawks home one win shy of the state championship game for the fourth year in a row.
"Desert Mountain is a hard-hitting and powerful team," Ironwood Ridge coach Bill Lang said. "One of our goals was to neutralize their power from the service line to get them out of their rhythm and then do some things to harass their hitters to make sure we got them out of system."
Lang said the Nighthawks were able to accomplish that for the first three sets before everything rolled in the Wolves' favor.
Ironwood Ridge won the first set and appeared to be in control. However, Desert Mountain rebounded in the second set. The Wolves went on a 9-1 run to wipe out a 9-3 Nighthawks' lead and never trailed.
With the teams tied at 12 in the third set, the Nighthawks took off on a 13-8 run to win the set.
Ironwood Ridge fell behind 18-12 in the fourth set but mounted a comeback. It went on an 8-0 run to take a two-point lead and come within five points of winning the match. After tying the score at 22, Desert Mountain closed out the set with three straight points.
The Wolves carried their momentum to a 6-0 lead in the final set. Senior Michaela Christiaansen had a couple kills and tried pull Ironwood Ridge back but it was too late.
Lang doesn't want the loss to ruin a 34-10 season.
"We won our fourth straight region championship, we finished in the gold division of all three tournaments, we played in and we beat a lot of good teams along the way," Lang said.
Christiaansen totaled 29 kills, 13 digs and three aces while senior Morgan Eaton had six kills, three digs, two blocks and one assist. It was the third trip to the semifinals for both.
"It was a great three years and I've learned a lot," Christiaansen said. "We fought hard but it just didn't work out how we wanted it to." — Daniel Gaona, 2010
- Updated
2010 defensive football player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Blake MartinezÂ
School:Â Canyon del OroÂ
Year in school:Â JuniorÂ
Sport:Â FootballÂ
From the archives: CDO's star junior linebacker led the 13-1 Dorados with 129 tackles and also caught 10 touchdown passes. — Greg Hansen, 2010
- Updated
2010 offensive football player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Ka'Deem CareyÂ
School:Â Canyon del OroÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â FootballÂ
From the archives:Â I'm not a fan of goodbyes. Never have been, never will be.
To this day, when I have to leave my mom and dad, I usually just mumble something and act like I'm tough.
With that in mind, I'm going to say goodbye to Canyon del Oro's Ka'Deem Carey.
It won't be easy.
This is my first year in Tucson, so how can it be so tough to say goodbye to someone I barely know?
Easy. You appreciate players you may never see again.
And Tucson, we may never see another football player like Ka'Deem Carey, our pick for the Southern Arizona offensive player of the year.
He really is that good.
Even when he was at 70 percent, which he was for most of this past season, Ka'Deem dominated opposing teams with his speed, smarts and toughness.
The senior did it all in his four years at Canyon del Oro.
Carey didn't have the blinding speed that a lot of elite high school running backs have, but no one ever caught him when he was healthy. He was steps ahead of the defenders mentally, knowing when to make cuts and how to get around them.
And if that didn't work? He'd run right over you.
He's also a clutch performer: With his team trailing by two touchdowns and just over two minutes left against Cienega in the state semifinals, it was Carey's time to shine.
Boy, did he ever. The Dream scored two touchdowns and CDO won by four points to advance to another state title game.
He finished his career with 5,702 rushing yards, the most ever by a Southern Arizona player.
He had 82 career rushing touchdowns and a few more courtesy of kick returns.
"He's the best football player I've ever been around," CDO coach Dusty Peace said.
"The things he does on the field are things people dream about being able to do.
"He's amazing."
It's time for Carey to move on. He's committed to Arizona, but has official visits set up for Arizona State and USC.
Carey won't dominate the prep gridiron next year.
That responsibility will shift to one of his teammates, junior Blake Martinez.
The Star's defensive player of the year, Martinez will take over for Carey next year as the dominant player in Southern Arizona.
From the middle linebacker position, Martinez totaled 129 total tackles and nine sacks in 2010. He had eight solo tackles in the first half of the state championship game against Scottsdale Saguaro.
He was also the Dorados' go-to receiver with team-highs in catches (24), yards (555) and touchdowns (10).
If he continues to get better and improves during his senior season, he and Carey could cross paths again in college.
At 6 feet 2 inches and 233 pounds, Martinez already has the size to play at the next level. But he's not just a big body. He's an athlete.
He uses that big frame to make plays on both sides of the ball.
He also has a nonstop motor. Despite playing both ways, the guy never looks tired.
He'll be the attraction at CDO and all over Southern Arizona next season, which means I get to watch him for one more season and appreciate his abilities, the same way I did with Carey.
That leads me to what I've been avoiding.
Goodbye, Ka'Deem. Good luck. — Daniel Berk, 2010
- Updated
2010 girls cross country runner of the yearÂ
Name:Â Aeoleone BristowÂ
School:Â Rio RicoÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls cross countryÂ
From the archives:Â A two-time defending 4A-II state champion, Bristow placed second and lost to a former 3A runner with whom she now shares a division.
Chinle junior Rolonda Jumbo finished in 18:34.55 for her third consecutive title. Bristow (18:48.69) was followed by Sabino senior Haley Stenquist (18:59.71).
While disappointed to finish her high school career without a third title, Bristow said she appreciated the quality competition.
"I kind of blanked out in the beginning ... and I let her pull away," Bristow said. "(Jumbo) did awesome and I spent most of the race trying to catch back up to her. She knows when to turn it on." — Michael J. Craven, 2010
More like this...
Offensive football player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Ka'Deem CareyÂ
School:Â Canyon del OroÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â FootballÂ
From the archives:Â I'm not a fan of goodbyes. Never have been, never will be.
To this day, when I have to leave my mom and dad, I usually just mumble something and act like I'm tough.
With that in mind, I'm going to say goodbye to Canyon del Oro's Ka'Deem Carey.
It won't be easy.
This is my first year in Tucson, so how can it be so tough to say goodbye to someone I barely know?
Easy. You appreciate players you may never see again.
And Tucson, we may never see another football player like Ka'Deem Carey, our pick for the Southern Arizona offensive player of the year.
He really is that good.
Even when he was at 70 percent, which he was for most of this past season, Ka'Deem dominated opposing teams with his speed, smarts and toughness.
The senior did it all in his four years at Canyon del Oro.
Carey didn't have the blinding speed that a lot of elite high school running backs have, but no one ever caught him when he was healthy. He was steps ahead of the defenders mentally, knowing when to make cuts and how to get around them.
And if that didn't work? He'd run right over you.
He's also a clutch performer: With his team trailing by two touchdowns and just over two minutes left against Cienega in the state semifinals, it was Carey's time to shine.
Boy, did he ever. The Dream scored two touchdowns and CDO won by four points to advance to another state title game.
He finished his career with 5,702 rushing yards, the most ever by a Southern Arizona player.
He had 82 career rushing touchdowns and a few more courtesy of kick returns.
"He's the best football player I've ever been around," CDO coach Dusty Peace said.
"The things he does on the field are things people dream about being able to do.
"He's amazing."
It's time for Carey to move on. He's committed to Arizona, but has official visits set up for Arizona State and USC.
Carey won't dominate the prep gridiron next year.
That responsibility will shift to one of his teammates, junior Blake Martinez.
The Star's defensive player of the year, Martinez will take over for Carey next year as the dominant player in Southern Arizona.
From the middle linebacker position, Martinez totaled 129 total tackles and nine sacks in 2010. He had eight solo tackles in the first half of the state championship game against Scottsdale Saguaro.
He was also the Dorados' go-to receiver with team-highs in catches (24), yards (555) and touchdowns (10).
If he continues to get better and improves during his senior season, he and Carey could cross paths again in college.
At 6 feet 2 inches and 233 pounds, Martinez already has the size to play at the next level. But he's not just a big body. He's an athlete.
He uses that big frame to make plays on both sides of the ball.
He also has a nonstop motor. Despite playing both ways, the guy never looks tired.
He'll be the attraction at CDO and all over Southern Arizona next season, which means I get to watch him for one more season and appreciate his abilities, the same way I did with Carey.
That leads me to what I've been avoiding.
Goodbye, Ka'Deem. Good luck. — Daniel Berk, 2010
Defensive football player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Blake MartinezÂ
School:Â Canyon del OroÂ
Year in school:Â JuniorÂ
Sport:Â FootballÂ
From the archives: CDO's star junior linebacker led the 13-1 Dorados with 129 tackles and also caught 10 touchdown passes. — Greg Hansen, 2010
Girls volleyball player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Michaela ChristiaansenÂ
School:Â Ironwood RidgeÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls volleyballÂ
From the archives:Â Top-seeded Ironwood Ridge lost in the 5A-II state semifinals to No. 5 Scottsdale Desert Mountain on Saturday in a five-set thriller at North Canyon High School.
The 16-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-22, 15-7 loss sent the Nighthawks home one win shy of the state championship game for the fourth year in a row.
"Desert Mountain is a hard-hitting and powerful team," Ironwood Ridge coach Bill Lang said. "One of our goals was to neutralize their power from the service line to get them out of their rhythm and then do some things to harass their hitters to make sure we got them out of system."
Lang said the Nighthawks were able to accomplish that for the first three sets before everything rolled in the Wolves' favor.
Ironwood Ridge won the first set and appeared to be in control. However, Desert Mountain rebounded in the second set. The Wolves went on a 9-1 run to wipe out a 9-3 Nighthawks' lead and never trailed.
With the teams tied at 12 in the third set, the Nighthawks took off on a 13-8 run to win the set.
Ironwood Ridge fell behind 18-12 in the fourth set but mounted a comeback. It went on an 8-0 run to take a two-point lead and come within five points of winning the match. After tying the score at 22, Desert Mountain closed out the set with three straight points.
The Wolves carried their momentum to a 6-0 lead in the final set. Senior Michaela Christiaansen had a couple kills and tried pull Ironwood Ridge back but it was too late.
Lang doesn't want the loss to ruin a 34-10 season.
"We won our fourth straight region championship, we finished in the gold division of all three tournaments, we played in and we beat a lot of good teams along the way," Lang said.
Christiaansen totaled 29 kills, 13 digs and three aces while senior Morgan Eaton had six kills, three digs, two blocks and one assist. It was the third trip to the semifinals for both.
"It was a great three years and I've learned a lot," Christiaansen said. "We fought hard but it just didn't work out how we wanted it to." — Daniel Gaona, 2010
Boys cross country runner of the yearÂ
Name: Alejandro MontañoÂ
School:Â CatalinaÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys cross countryÂ
From the archives: Catalina's Alejandro Montaño has been one of fastest runners in Arizona for two years and finished his high school career on Saturday with no individual state cross country titles.
The reason: For the second consecutive season, Montaño shared a division with the state's best runner.
Last year it was a Flagstaff Sinagua runner who set a Cave Creek Golf Course record. On Saturday, it was Tuba City's Billy Orman who set a new course record in 15 minutes 3.32 seconds to top Montaño (15:47.72).
Orman won a 3A title last year, but Tuba City was grouped into Division III this year in accordance with the AIA's new realignment. Montaño's Trojans used to be 4A-II.
"It is a little weird how it has happened this way," Montaño admitted. "Every single time, I always get grouped with someone so good."
More than anything, Montaño said he was disappointed in his race. He stayed with Orman up to the two-mile mark, then began to fade.
"He kept putting little surges on me and every time he did, I kept coming back and coming back," Montaño said. "But at the two-mile, I just couldn't keep going. I ran out of gas." — Michael J. Craven, 2010
Girls cross country runner of the yearÂ
Name:Â Aeoleone BristowÂ
School:Â Rio RicoÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls cross countryÂ
From the archives:Â A two-time defending 4A-II state champion, Bristow placed second and lost to a former 3A runner with whom she now shares a division.
Chinle junior Rolonda Jumbo finished in 18:34.55 for her third consecutive title. Bristow (18:48.69) was followed by Sabino senior Haley Stenquist (18:59.71).
While disappointed to finish her high school career without a third title, Bristow said she appreciated the quality competition.
"I kind of blanked out in the beginning ... and I let her pull away," Bristow said. "(Jumbo) did awesome and I spent most of the race trying to catch back up to her. She knows when to turn it on." — Michael J. Craven, 2010
Boys golfer of the yearÂ
Name:Â Gentry HicksÂ
School:Â Canyon del OroÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys golfÂ
From the archives: A senior at CDO, Hicks had a meaningful senior golf season, winning the Division II state championship with a 50-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole, and earning a scholarship from the Utah Utes. — Greg Hansen, 2010
Girls golfer of the yearÂ
Name:Â Laura JabczenskiÂ
School:Â Catalina FoothillsÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls golfÂ
From the archives: Winning her second consecutive state golf championship, Jabczenski, a senior at Catalina Foothills, became just the second Tucsonan to do so, joining Sabino's Willie Wood in 1978-79. The Falcons, under coach Mark Polich, repeated as state champions, the first-ever for a Southern Arizona girls team. — Greg Hansen, 2010
Boys swimmer of the yearÂ
Name:Â Cole PuchiÂ
School:Â Catalina FoothillsÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys swimming and divingÂ
From the archives: Cole Puchi of Foothills finished second in the 50 free at 21.31. — Al Bravo, 2010
Girls swimmer of the yearÂ
Name:Â LeighAnne OliverÂ
School:Â SabinoÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls swimming and divingÂ
From the archives: LeighAnne Oliver of Sabino was second in the 500 and second in the 100 breast stroke, while Anlise Chiamentti of Foothills was third in the 500. — Al Bravo, 2010
Boys basketball player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Lester MedfordÂ
School:Â AmphitheaterÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys basketballÂ
From the archives:Â As Amphitheater's Tim Derksen made his way off the court Saturday following his team's 87-77 win over Tempe High School in the 4A-II state championship game, the junior couldn't help but think about the last time he walked off the floor after a state final.
"After we lost to Santa Rita (in the 2010 title game), we were crushed," Derksen said of last year's 86-84 loss to the Eagles.
"For us, this season started the second last season ended. We were committed to working as hard as possible for the next 365 days to get back here. That loss gave us fire the entire season. Every practice, every game," Derksen."
Point taken.
Amphi (29-2) won its first basketball state championship and capped its brilliant 2010-11 season in typical Panthers fashion on the Jobing.com Arena floor.
Defensively, Amphi put on a full-court press against the Buffaloes from the opening tip and forced more than 25 turnovers.
Offensively, the Panthers quickly pushed the ball up the court every time they had the chance.
"That's Amphi basketball," senior guard Domineik Banks said.
"That's how we play. Everyone knows it, but not everyone can stop it."
The Buffaloes did a decent job of stopping it right away, trailing just 20-17 after the first quarter.
Over the next five minutes, everything changed.
Amphi went on a 21-5 run to take a 41-22 lead right before halftime.
"It's inevitable with our style of play, our style of defense, that the other team is going to get tired, and we're going to be able to make our move," Amphi coach Ben Hurley said.
"That's what happened in the second quarter, I think. We just hit our stride and they started to get a little tired."
The Panthers were able to do the majority of their damage without much help from their leading scorer, senior Lester Medford. The 5-foot-11-inch point guard scored two points in the first half and had three fouls at the break.
It didn't matter.
Junior reserve guard Tony Lillard hit four three-pointers in the first half and finished with 19 points. Banks had four points, five assists and five steals in the first half.
Derksen had 14 in the first and finished with 26 and 12 rebounds. Junior big man Charles Benson also contributed with 12 points.
"I've been trying to tell people all year it's not just me and Lester," Derksen said. "It's the entire team. If one of us struggles or something, we have five or six other guys that can come in and pick it up.
"I think that's why we're so good."
What it all added up to was Amphi's first basketball state championship since the school opened in 1939. The Panthers had appeared in just two title games, 2010 and 1949.
"The Amphitheater community deserves this," Hurley said. "There have been some great teams that have come through Amphi and we're the first to win a championship. It's very, very special."
Jordan Baker, a Pepperdine signee, finished with a game-high 36 points for Tempe. He scored 14 in the fourth quarter once the game was out of hand. — Daniel Berk, 2011
Girls basketball player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Jamee SwanÂ
School:Â MaranaÂ
Year in school:Â JuniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls basketballÂ
From the archives:Â Just three hours after being in a car accident, Marana High School junior Jamee Swan seemed unfazed and performed like the regular dominating basketball player she is.
Swan scored 28 points to lead the No. 7-seeded Tigers to a last-minute 40-37 win over No. 10 Sabino in the first round of the 4A-I state playoffs.
It was the first playoff win since 2008 for Marana, which will play at Glendale Apollo in a quarterfinal game Friday at 7 p.m.
A truck Swan was driving was involved in a collision around 4 p.m. Swan said she suffered a bruised leg, and her friend in the truck had to have stitches.
"The truck was totaled," said Marana coach Diane Swan, also Jamee's mother.
Composing herself, Jamee Swan helped Marana stay in control until the fourth quarter, when the Tigers (17-6) fell behind the visiting Sabercats late.
But with 10.9 seconds left, Swan hit two free throws on the bonus to put the Tigers up by three.
Sabino junior Carly Cathy attempted to tie it with a three, but Swan got in her way to cause a turnover. Marana's Amber Mendoza grabbed the loose ball, and the Tigers' student section poured onto the court as time ran out.
It was a roller-coaster fourth quarter for Marana after Cathy opened with a three-pointer to give Sabino a 28-27 lead with 6:50 left.
Thirty seconds later, Swan responded with a layup to regain the lead. Then Anna Heaton hit a jumper to give the Sabercats a 30-29 lead.
Swan hit another layup to put Marana up 31-30, but Cathy answered with a three to give Sabino a 33-31 advantage with 5:26 left.
Marana senior Alyssa Ruiz tied the game at 33 with her first basket of the game at the 4:31 mark - a shot Swan called a changing moment.
"Once she hit that, I knew we had the game," Swan said about Ruiz.
With 2:35 left, Swan swatted away a layup by Sabino's C.C. Erwin, and the Marana student section erupted.
Sabino (21-9) took a 35-33 lead 44 seconds later after senior Lizzy Miller hit a pair of free throws. Ruiz answered with a tying layup. Miller hit a layup with 0:46 left to give Sabino a 37-35 lead, but Swan wasn't done yet.
After Ruiz missed a three, Swan leaped for the rebound, hit a layup and was fouled. She converted the free throw to put the Tigers up 38-37 with 0:34 left, and Marana held on to win. — Daniel Gaona, 2011
Boys soccer player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Kyle BakewellÂ
School:Â Salpointe CatholicÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys soccerÂ
From the archives: Bakewell led the Lancers in the regular season with 15 goals. — Daniel Berk, 2011
Girls soccer player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Camie BarberaÂ
School:Â Ironwood RidgeÂ
Year in school:Â JuniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls soccerÂ
From the archives: Camie Barbera remains unstoppable. The Ironwood Ridge star has scored 14 goals and has eight assists. Her sister, Abbey, is also a threat, and with the duo on the field at the same time, the Nighthawks are all but locked in to win the 5A Southern Region. — Star staff, 2011
Wrestler of the yearÂ
Name:Â Kory DeBerryÂ
School:Â SunnysideÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â WrestlingÂ
From the archives:Â Kory DeBerry joined an elite club Friday night, and Sunnyside High School won its 14th straight state wrestling championship.
DeBerry became the 25th wrestler in Arizona history to capture four individual state titles.
It was a bittersweet feeling for DeBerry after he roared in celebration at Tim's Toyota Center. It was his final match as a high school wrestler.
But he will continue his career at Arizona State next year, along with brother Kyle and fellow senior Lucio Murillo.
Father Bobby DeBerry, the longtime Sunnyside coach, said Kory told him he didn't want it to be over after winning.
"It was tough emotionally," Bobby DeBerry said. "The win, and his last match with me as his coach. ... He told me he didn't want it to be over. But it's time to start something new."
The elder DeBerry said Kyle was in attendance to watch his brother. Kyle was a big factor in Kory's four-year success, Bobby DeBerry said.
After Kory was able to digest his accomplishment, he asked an awkward question.
While receiving his medal, he looked at one of the team's assistant's and asked, "Do I have any blood on my face?"
The answer was "no," and DeBerry then made his way to the podium.
Kory is not familiar with losing. He finished his senior season 38-0, defeating Mesa's Edgar Verdi 6-2 in the 152-pound Division I championship match.
Sunnyside totaled 124.5 team points to easily register the team title.
Bobby DeBerry said this was one of the toughest to accomplish.
Kory DeBerry wasn't the only winner from Sunnyside.
Cedric Gonzalez also captured a state title at 171 pounds, defeating Tyler Cattey from Gilbert.
Murillo and Raul Moraga each took second in their respective classes, 125 and 130. — Daniel Gaona, 2011
Baseball player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Robby PearsonÂ
School:Â CatalinaÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â BaseballÂ
From the archives:Â Catalina's Robby Pearson led his team to a state championship. He hit .542 with seven home runs and 38 RBIs.
He was also a star on the mound, picking up six wins with a 2.11 ERA.
He earned two complete- game wins in the 4A-II state tournament and struck out the final six batters he faced in the Trojans' semifinal win over powerhouse Phoenix Greenway.
Is Pearson the top college or pro prospect in Southern Arizona? No. That's Salpointe Catholic's Joe Serrano, who almost certainly will be selected in this week's Major League Baseball amateur draft.
The Arkansas-bound slugger set a Southern Arizona record with 69 RBIs and hit .541 with 11 homers.
He also played every inning at shortstop for the Lancers, who went 1-2 in the 5A-I state tournament.
But Pearson's value to his team was unmatched. He pitched, hit and fielded his team to its first state championship since 1967.
This season, he was the best player around. — Daniel Berk, 2011
Boys tennis player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Carlos BermudezÂ
School:Â Palo VerdeÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys tennisÂ
From the archives:Â Carlos Bermudez, a senior at Palo Verde and two-time defending state champion, lost to Gilbert Campo Verde's Dominic Patrick 7-5, 7-3 in the boys Division II final.
"I thought I was over hitting a little bit," Bermudez said. "I was going for too much."
Patrick said he didn't expect to beat Bermudez, calling him "pure aggressive," but he still felt he had the best shot to take him down. — Daniel Gaona, 2011
Girls tennis player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Rita BermudezÂ
School:Â Canyon del OroÂ
Year in school:Â JuniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls tennisÂ
From the archives:Â Canyon del Oro's Rita Bermudez won her first singles state title Monday, while her brother Carlos from Palo Verde fell just short of his third straight championship.
Rita Bermudez, a junior, won the girls Division II championship with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Aleeza Kanner from Phoenix Sunnyslope. The first set was close and lasted nearly 90 minutes, but Bermudez locked it down in the second set.
"I think my match before tired me out," she said of beating Catalina Foothills' Rachana Bhat 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals earlier at Paseo Racquet Center.
"I was really tired; I could not feel my feet," Bermudez added.
But the feeling of winning her first championship made everything better.
"It's still hard to believe," she said. "I'm shaking right now. It's awesome."
CDO coach Casey Pfordt could not recall the last Dorado to win singles title.
"It's been quite a few years," she said with a laugh. — Daniel Gaona, 2011
Boys track athlete of the yearÂ
Name:Â Dylan SouzaÂ
School:Â Catalina FoothillsÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys track and fieldÂ
From the archives:Â Catalina Foothills anchor Dylan Souza knew where to make his move.
During the Division II boys 4x800 relay final at Mesa Community College on Wednesday night, the senior lifted his team to a state championship over last year's winner, Flowing Wells.
Souza made his move in the final two turns to pass the Caballeros' Lindon Claridge and help his team - which included Rex Woodbury, Mike Whetzel and Max Warneke - claim the race.
"I told my team that if they could get the baton to me within three seconds of Flowing Wells, I could probably catch up," said Souza, whose team won the event in 7 minutes 55.69 seconds.
"We really respect Flowing Wells. They've been beating us throughout our high school careers, and there was so much pressure on this race to beat them."
Flowing Wells took the lead from the start when Aren Maxwell gave his team a 2 1/2-second lead on the first handoff.
"Our plan was to get a little bit of a bigger lead," said Claridge, who helped the team finish in 7:57.86. "We knew (Foothills) had a good, strong anchor. I was trying to get a bigger lead so I could finish it off, but (Souza) caught up, and it just fell apart at that point."
Souza also anchored the 4x400 relay team, which included Siraaj Ghori, Nick Chronister and David Wolfarth.
That unit took home the state title in 3:19.89, nearly three seconds ahead of Flowing Wells' time of 3:22.13. — Ash Friederich, 2011
Girls track athlete of the yearÂ
Name:Â Jaide StepterÂ
School:Â Canyon del OroÂ
Year in school:Â JuniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls track and fieldÂ
From the archives:Â Jaide Stepter won three state titles Saturday, but the Canyon del Oro junior was "disappointed."
She aimed to break the state 300-meter hurdles record of 42.67 seconds at Saturday's state championship meet at Mesa Community College.
Instead, she settled for victories in the 100 and 300 hurdles, and in the 200.
"I'm disappointed but not really," Stepter said after easily winning the Division II 300 hurdles in 43.40. She started the day by winning the 100-meter hurdles in 14.62. She ended it with the 200 win in 24.99
"I'm really excited with how I've done today," she added. "It would be great to be a champion three years in a row, so that's my goal for next year." — Daniel Gaona, 2011
Boys volleyball player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Ryan GrahamÂ
School:Â CatalinaÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Boys volleyballÂ
From the archives:Â Heather Moore-Martin didn't want her Catalina volleyball team to just win a state championship Saturday afternoon. She wanted it to dominate.
The Trojans didn't drop a set to a team from Arizona all regular season and Moore-Martin wanted to send her eight seniors out on the right note. Consider it done.
Second-seeded Catalina beat No. 1 Catalina Foothills in straight sets (25-22, 25-12, 25-13) at Amphitheater to claim its second straight 2A-4A state championship.
"We wanted to leave a mark on Tucson volleyball and I feel like we've really done that," Moore-Martin said. "We've dominated all season."
It took the Trojans a little time to establish that authority Saturday. Foothills kept the match close in the opening set, knotting the score at 22-all.
Catalina earned the final three points of the setand never looked back.
The Trojans opened the second set on a 13-4 run and won the set by 13 points. The third was more of the same with the Trojans using a 12-4 run to win the the set 25-13.
"Even though most of us have played for a state championship before, we definitely had some nerves early on," said senior Ryan Graham, who had nine kills. "We just had to get them out and start playing our game."
Foothills coach David Thistle, who saw his team lose to the Trojans for the third time this season, said it was important to limit Catalina's runs. The Falcons were able to do that in the first set, but not the final two.
"They're really, really good and they turned it on," Thistle said. "It looked like it was tough for us to find energy in the second and third."
Tyler Foo led the Falcons with eight kills and nine digs.
The Trojans finished the season with a 29-2 mark. Over the last two seasons, they are 52-5with a pair of state titles.
Their only two losses this year came to a pair of schools from California in a midseason tournament.
"It's sweeter the second time," said senior Josh DeYoung, who finished with 11 kills and eight blocks. "There's a lot of relief off our shoulders. It was almost like we had to win."
And they did. — Daniel Berk, 2011
2010 girls volleyball player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Michaela ChristiaansenÂ
School:Â Ironwood RidgeÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls volleyballÂ
From the archives:Â Top-seeded Ironwood Ridge lost in the 5A-II state semifinals to No. 5 Scottsdale Desert Mountain on Saturday in a five-set thriller at North Canyon High School.
The 16-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-22, 15-7 loss sent the Nighthawks home one win shy of the state championship game for the fourth year in a row.
"Desert Mountain is a hard-hitting and powerful team," Ironwood Ridge coach Bill Lang said. "One of our goals was to neutralize their power from the service line to get them out of their rhythm and then do some things to harass their hitters to make sure we got them out of system."
Lang said the Nighthawks were able to accomplish that for the first three sets before everything rolled in the Wolves' favor.
Ironwood Ridge won the first set and appeared to be in control. However, Desert Mountain rebounded in the second set. The Wolves went on a 9-1 run to wipe out a 9-3 Nighthawks' lead and never trailed.
With the teams tied at 12 in the third set, the Nighthawks took off on a 13-8 run to win the set.
Ironwood Ridge fell behind 18-12 in the fourth set but mounted a comeback. It went on an 8-0 run to take a two-point lead and come within five points of winning the match. After tying the score at 22, Desert Mountain closed out the set with three straight points.
The Wolves carried their momentum to a 6-0 lead in the final set. Senior Michaela Christiaansen had a couple kills and tried pull Ironwood Ridge back but it was too late.
Lang doesn't want the loss to ruin a 34-10 season.
"We won our fourth straight region championship, we finished in the gold division of all three tournaments, we played in and we beat a lot of good teams along the way," Lang said.
Christiaansen totaled 29 kills, 13 digs and three aces while senior Morgan Eaton had six kills, three digs, two blocks and one assist. It was the third trip to the semifinals for both.
"It was a great three years and I've learned a lot," Christiaansen said. "We fought hard but it just didn't work out how we wanted it to." — Daniel Gaona, 2010
2010 defensive football player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Blake MartinezÂ
School:Â Canyon del OroÂ
Year in school:Â JuniorÂ
Sport:Â FootballÂ
From the archives: CDO's star junior linebacker led the 13-1 Dorados with 129 tackles and also caught 10 touchdown passes. — Greg Hansen, 2010
2010 offensive football player of the yearÂ
Name:Â Ka'Deem CareyÂ
School:Â Canyon del OroÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â FootballÂ
From the archives:Â I'm not a fan of goodbyes. Never have been, never will be.
To this day, when I have to leave my mom and dad, I usually just mumble something and act like I'm tough.
With that in mind, I'm going to say goodbye to Canyon del Oro's Ka'Deem Carey.
It won't be easy.
This is my first year in Tucson, so how can it be so tough to say goodbye to someone I barely know?
Easy. You appreciate players you may never see again.
And Tucson, we may never see another football player like Ka'Deem Carey, our pick for the Southern Arizona offensive player of the year.
He really is that good.
Even when he was at 70 percent, which he was for most of this past season, Ka'Deem dominated opposing teams with his speed, smarts and toughness.
The senior did it all in his four years at Canyon del Oro.
Carey didn't have the blinding speed that a lot of elite high school running backs have, but no one ever caught him when he was healthy. He was steps ahead of the defenders mentally, knowing when to make cuts and how to get around them.
And if that didn't work? He'd run right over you.
He's also a clutch performer: With his team trailing by two touchdowns and just over two minutes left against Cienega in the state semifinals, it was Carey's time to shine.
Boy, did he ever. The Dream scored two touchdowns and CDO won by four points to advance to another state title game.
He finished his career with 5,702 rushing yards, the most ever by a Southern Arizona player.
He had 82 career rushing touchdowns and a few more courtesy of kick returns.
"He's the best football player I've ever been around," CDO coach Dusty Peace said.
"The things he does on the field are things people dream about being able to do.
"He's amazing."
It's time for Carey to move on. He's committed to Arizona, but has official visits set up for Arizona State and USC.
Carey won't dominate the prep gridiron next year.
That responsibility will shift to one of his teammates, junior Blake Martinez.
The Star's defensive player of the year, Martinez will take over for Carey next year as the dominant player in Southern Arizona.
From the middle linebacker position, Martinez totaled 129 total tackles and nine sacks in 2010. He had eight solo tackles in the first half of the state championship game against Scottsdale Saguaro.
He was also the Dorados' go-to receiver with team-highs in catches (24), yards (555) and touchdowns (10).
If he continues to get better and improves during his senior season, he and Carey could cross paths again in college.
At 6 feet 2 inches and 233 pounds, Martinez already has the size to play at the next level. But he's not just a big body. He's an athlete.
He uses that big frame to make plays on both sides of the ball.
He also has a nonstop motor. Despite playing both ways, the guy never looks tired.
He'll be the attraction at CDO and all over Southern Arizona next season, which means I get to watch him for one more season and appreciate his abilities, the same way I did with Carey.
That leads me to what I've been avoiding.
Goodbye, Ka'Deem. Good luck. — Daniel Berk, 2010
2010 girls cross country runner of the yearÂ
Name:Â Aeoleone BristowÂ
School:Â Rio RicoÂ
Year in school:Â SeniorÂ
Sport:Â Girls cross countryÂ
From the archives:Â A two-time defending 4A-II state champion, Bristow placed second and lost to a former 3A runner with whom she now shares a division.
Chinle junior Rolonda Jumbo finished in 18:34.55 for her third consecutive title. Bristow (18:48.69) was followed by Sabino senior Haley Stenquist (18:59.71).
While disappointed to finish her high school career without a third title, Bristow said she appreciated the quality competition.
"I kind of blanked out in the beginning ... and I let her pull away," Bristow said. "(Jumbo) did awesome and I spent most of the race trying to catch back up to her. She knows when to turn it on." — Michael J. Craven, 2010
More like this...
Most Popular
-
Arizona's Medicaid, AHCCCS, undergoes huge changes
-
Vacant Tucson stores could transform into new housing -
This mother-daughter duo is taking on Tucson one breakfast burrito at a time
-
Pima County official: Nanos angry she gave FBI info in Guthrie case
-
Tucson's west side faces months-long street closure
