Meet the Arizona Daily Star's 11 spring High School Student-Athletes of the Week

Read more about their athletic and academic journeys below. (Athletes are listed in order of publication date.)

RINCON/UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL

Vikram Narendran

We kicked off our spring High School Student-Athlete of the Week segment by highlighting University High School’s star tennis player, Vikram Narendran, who would go on to win the singles state tennis tournament this spring for the third year in a row. The senior's win at this year’s state tournament made him “one of the most decorated tennis players in the TUSD history,” according to the school district. And as of last week, Narendran was the No. 1 boys tennis player in the state. When he’s not competing in tennis, he plays piano for the Tucson Music Teachers Association’s piano ensemble.

“He's literally a college player already playing in high school,” said Bronson Cudgel, Rincon/University boys’ tennis coach. “The sacrifices that he's made and his maturity level going from a freshman to a senior and how you conduct yourself, and the things that you do, your mannerisms and all that, he just seems like a mature adult now. He doesn't seem like a freshman boy that I'm coaching. He seems like a man standing next to me who's going to be successful.”

Sport(s): Boys tennis

GPA: 4.0

Future plans: Take a gap year to play more tennis and then go to college to study finance.

Vikram fun fact: He enjoys fishing at Rose Canyon Lake on Mount Lemmon.

Full story: tuc.life/vikram 

CATALINA FOOTHILLS HIGH SCHOOL

Katie McNulty

Catalina Foothills senior Katie McNulty kicked off the spring track and field season with two first-place finishes. She would go on to end the season with six first-place finishes this year. During her junior year, she snagged 15 gold medal finishes, including two state championship titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. When she’s not in school, she volunteers with the National Charity League.

“Katie is probably one of the most driven athletes or individuals that I think I've met,” said Blake Hinson, Foothills’ track and field head coach. “She already knows the answers to most questions you're going to ask her. It's really easy to coach Katie and it’s because she is so good. It kind of makes everybody a little nervous having to coach her because she's a superstar. We want to make sure that we do everything right by Katie. … As a coach, it's really just been a gift, because at a lot of places you don't get to coach athletes like her. There's tons and tons of high school coaches who will coach for 30 years and they'll never have an athlete of that caliber. So, it really is a gift. And I'm grateful that she is in our program.”

Sport(s): Track and field, cross country

GPA: 4.0

Future plans: Attend Rice University, where she will major in mathematics and compete in cross country and track and field.

Katie fun fact: Her favorite place to run in Tucson is Sabino Canyon.

Full story: tuc.life/katie 

SUNNYSIDE HIGH SCHOOL

Ashley Rosthenhausler

Sunnyside senior Ashley Rosthenhausler hails from a well-known Southern Arizona sports family, with many of her relatives becoming standout baseball players in the community. But since joining the Blue Devils four years ago, she’s made a name for herself as one of the top softball players in Southern Arizona. Rosthenhausler ended her high school softball career with a 2.78 ERA, 300 strikeouts and 94 RBIs.

“Unbelievable hitter — a scary hitter,” said Ozzy Carbajal, Sunnyside’s softball coach. “She can change the whole complex of a game with one swing. She's very coachable, takes criticism the way it's supposed to be taken and learns from it.”

Sport(s): Softball

GPA: 4.0

Future plans: Study early childhood development and play softball at New Mexico Highlands University. She plans to become an occupational therapist and work with children with special needs.

Ashley fun fact: Her go-to Dutch Bros order is a Golden Eagle Chai.

Full story: tuc.life/ashley 

MICA MOUNTAIN HIGH SCHOOL

Andrew Evans

Mica Mountain senior Andrew Evans led the varsity boys volleyball team to a 12-0 start this spring. At the time of publication, Evans had recorded 100 kills. Since then, he’s boosted that number to 344 kills, a stat he’s now ranked No. 120 in the U.S. for. He also logged 138 digs and 49 serving aces. With Evans in tow, the Thunderbolts went an overall 22-3 this season. Aside from volleyball, Evans is a dedicated cello player.

“With Andrew, he's just got that natural ability that everybody just watches him, even if they don't know who he is,” said Jane DeVries, Mica Mountain’s boys volleyball head coach. “He starts playing, he turns heads and it's not anything that he's trying to show, though; he just does it. And the fact that he can do so many different things and he doesn't complain, he doesn't ask questions, he just does it. And just the fact that, even with his hitting, there's balls where I'll get on my setter in a heartbeat, I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ And he's like, ‘It's OK. I'll make it work.’ And he just puts it into play. He's just that kid and he wants to make everybody else look good.”

Sport(s): Boys volleyball

GPA: 4.0

Future plans: Go on a two-year mission through his church and eventually play collegiate volleyball and study aerospace engineering.

Andrew fun fact: His favorite song to play on the cello is “The Swan.”

Full story: tuc.life/andrewevans 

TANQUE VERDE HIGH SCHOOL

Rocco Haggard

Tanque Verde senior Rocco Haggard took the Hawks to new heights this season, including a postseason run in the 3A baseball tournament. As he ends his high school baseball career this spring, Haggard finished with an overall 3.13 ERA and 87 strikeouts. This season, he also recorded 54 RBIs and 46 hits. He’s currently ranked No. 18 in the U.S. for RBIs. When it’s not baseball season, Haggard is the starting quarterback for the school’s football team and also plays on the varsity basketball team.

“He’s smart, he’s intelligent,” said Tom Belter, Tanque Verde’s head baseball coach. “It’s been a joy watching Rocco and the other seniors on the team over the four years. I would like to see him get some opportunities (to play collegiate sports).”

Sport(s): Baseball, football and basketball

GPA: 4.0

Future plans: Study sports management.

Rocco fun fact: As a lifelong Cubs fan, his dream is to play at Wrigley Field.

Full story: tuc.life/rocco 

CHOLLA HIGH SCHOOL

Paloma Campos

Cholla junior Paloma Campos took the Chargers’ tennis program to a whole new level this season. She helped lead the girls tennis team to a 7-0 start and ultimately finished with an overall 10-4 record, finished above .500 for the first time since the AIA launched its current website in 2011-12. As an individual, Campos finished her junior year with a 25-3 record. Outside of school, she also plays the piano, which she’s done for almost a decade.

“She’s improved a lot, like every year she's improved, so she's on that upward trajectory,” said Bernardo Jimenez, Cholla’s head girls tennis coach. “She's lost a couple matches, but I mean, she's pretty much beat everybody she's supposed to beat, according to me.”

Sport(s): Girls tennis

GPA: N/A

Future plans: Finish her Bachelor’s in business and then go to the International Baptist College & Seminary in Chandler.

Paloma fun fact: Her favorite sport aside from tennis is figure skating.

Full story: tuc.life/paloma 

WALDEN GROVE HIGH SCHOOL

Maddie & Natalie Holzer

Walden Grove seniors Maddie and Natalie Holzer were the third set of twins we’ve highlighted this academic year. But their duo bond isn’t the only thing that made them stand out this spring. The pitcher-catcher tandem has remained at the core of rebuilding team culture on Walden Grove's softball team after losing a few seniors last year. As a pitcher, Maddie recorded 121 strikeouts in the last two seasons. While younger sister Natalie led the team in numerous areas this season, including home runs (three), hits (28), RBIs (18), doubles (seven) and triples (two). She also has a .431 batting average and a .506 on-base percentage. Outside of the field, the sisters help coach and mentor the next generation of youth softball players in Green Valley. Both sisters are headed to Utah State University this fall.

“As freshmen, they came in and made an immediate impact,” said Rene Valdez, Walden Grove’s head softball coach. “And when you’re talking about sisters who are a pitcher and a catcher, two elite roles on a team, that allows you to kind of build a team around those two things.”

Sport(s): Softball

GPA: 4.0 

Maddie's future plans: Study criminal psychology.

Natalie's future plans: Study Constitutional Law at Utah State to practice law in front of the Supreme Court Justices one day.

Maddie fun fact: She enjoys reading World War II and Holocaust books.

Natalie fun fact: Her dream LEGO set is the Berk village from “How to Train Your Dragon.”

Full story: tuc.life/maddienatalie 

CANYON DEL ORO HIGH SCHOOL

Francisco Rivero Jr.

Canyon del Oro senior Francisco Rivero Jr. is a standout baseball player among the Dorados. Rivero is tied for third in the conference with six home runs and currently has 34 RBIs. And last fall, he was ranked as the No. 3 catcher and No. 11 overall high school prospect in the state by Perfect Game. But playing for CDO wasn’t always in his plans. Check out Michael Lev’s full story linked below to find out how Rivero became one of the top players at CDO and what’s next for the future University of Arizona baseball player.

“He came in literally the week before the season started,” said Jason Hisey, Dorados’ head baseball coach. “Obviously, he was one of our best players, so it kind of shuffled the deck for us. But because he was so good and because he worked so hard, I think it made it easier for everybody to accept.”

Sport(s): Baseball

GPA: N/A

Future plans: Attend the MLB Draft Combine

Francisco fun fact: He likes to eat Turbos before a game.

Full story: tuc.life/francisco 

IRONWOOD RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL

Kallie George

Ironwood Ridge sophomore Kallie George made an immediate impact by joining the volleyball team last year. As an indoor volleyball player, George is one of the top players in Southern Arizona as an outside hitter and has 770 kills, 523 digs and 438 points in her two-year career at Ironwood Ridge. She was second on the team with 455 kills this past season. She also plays club beach volleyball with RPM Sand, one of the top beach volleyball club programs in the state. During this year’s beach volleyball state tournament, George and teammate Marcella Landers finished second in the pairs championship.

“Her competitiveness, her work ethic and her ability to read, those are the three things that separate her from a lot of good players,” said Bill Lang, Ironwood Ridge’s beach volleyball coach. “We know she's just going to get better. We know she's good. When you come to a beach match, you're going to point at her. When you come to an indoor match, you're going to point at her.

“What I want her to do now is make everyone around her better. Those players are rare. They don't happen all the time. ... Kallie is clearly one of our best players, but can she make everyone else better? That's my goal for her as she gets ready for her junior and senior campaign.”

Sport(s): Beach volleyball and indoor volleyball

GPA: 4.4

Future plans: Study law and become a lawyer.

Kallie fun fact: Her dream beach volleyball partner is Kerri Walsh Jennings.

Full story: tuc.life/kallie 

PUSCH RIDGE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY

Mark Stypa

We concluded the spring High School Student-Athlete of the Week segment with Pusch Ridge junior Mark Stypa. Last season, Stypa helped lead his team to its first state golf championship in program history. Although the Lions didn’t secure the first-place win this season, they still finished in second. Stypa took home the individual state title this year by shooting a 67 on each day of the two-day tournament for a total of 134. He defeated the runner-up by one stroke.

“He's definitely full of integrity,” said Byron Johns, Pusch Ridge’s head golf coach. “I would say faith is important to him. I would say family is important to him. I would say school is important to him and then golf. And so I think he's got his priorities in the right place.”

Sport(s): Golf

GPA: 3.8

Future plans: Play golf collegiately and professionally.

Mark fun fact: He enjoys offroading near Pepper Sauce Cave and Mount Lemmon in his Jeep.

Full story: tuc.life/mark