|
Catholic high school teams take home nine state championships
By Greg Crawford, news@catholicsun.org
January 1, 2009
This fall Catholic high schools took home nine state titles, repeating most of their accomplishments from just a year ago.
While some of the faces may be different, the tradition of schools like Brophy, Xavier, Seton and even relative newcomer Notre Dame continued to hold up.
For Brophy it was a 21st straight boys’ swimming title. And for Xavier, it was an 11th straight girls’ golf title as well as 10 in a row for swimming and back-to-back state titles in volleyball and cross-country.
“Every year (we have) new faces, but they do the same thing,” said Sr. Lynn Winsor, BVM, Xavier College Preparatory athletic director. “We have that great tradition and they all join in on that. Whether it’s 1974 or 2008 we have the same philosophy and the same friendships remain.”
New students rise to meet the tradition of excellence, she said.
“We talk about that standard to uphold and it’s interesting how they jump into it and say, ‘We’re going to do it,’” Sr. Lynn said. “I don’t think they’re ever afraid.”
Adding to that tradition is Notre Dame Preparatory, which won back-to-back state titles in football and boys’ golf, and Seton Catholic High School, which had a second straight trip to the finals of the state volleyball tournament.
Brophy swimming
Winning all but two events, Brophy College Preparatory’s swim team continued to dominate Arizona with its 21st straight state title and 29th in the last 30 years. Junior John Wojciechowski continued to set records, breaking his own 100 butterfly time of 48.33 set in the prelims of state with a mark of 47.87 in the finals.
“I guess we do feel the expectations, but every year we get new kids that come into the system as freshmen and sophomores and they step up,” said Coach Pat O’Neill. “The success is just pure hard work on these kids’ part. They swim all year round.”
That hard work paid off as runner-up Desert Vista became the first team to score more than 300 points (302) and not win a state title.
Brophy used all its firepower to win, and finished with five record-breaking swims. Senior Alex Lendrum tied a state record in the 200 individual medley at 1:49.41 and set the 500 freestyle record at 4:27.67. Lendrum was also part of two more state records as part of the 200-medley relay (1:32.45) and the 400 freestyle relay (3:05.12). Lendrum anchored the state-record 400 free relay.
Sophomore Brian Stevens added to the state gold medals, one as part of that 400 relay, plus individual wins in the 200 freestyle (1:40.09) and the 100 free (46.19).
Xavier wins
Xavier held off a young Desert Vista team, winning the 400 freestyle relay and taking home its 10th consecutive state championship. Xavier scored 396 points to Desert Vista’s 259, and junior Haley Krakoski was the swimmer of the meet, winning the 50 and 100 freestyles. “I expect to see her in the Olympics,” Sr. Lynn said.
Krakoski anchored the 400 relay and edged Dobson High School junior Traycie Swartz in the 100 freestyle at 49.64 seconds.
Xavier also won in volleyball, taking home its second consecutive Class 5A Division I girls’ title, its third in the past four seasons, despite coming in as a number 4 seed and having been defeated twice during the regular season by its opponent in the finals.
That didn’t matter as Xavier (36-3) beat number 2 seed Phoenix Desert Vista 25-22, 25-23, 25-15 in the finals.
Xavier beat a number 1 seed for the second year in a row. Last year they won as a sixth seed.
After beating Red Mountain and Basha in the opening two rounds, Xavier needed four games to win its match against top-seeded Corona del Sol in the semi-finals, 25-16, 16-25, 25-19 and 27-25.
The title was the eighth in the program’s history.
The Gatorade Company, in partnership with ESPN RISE Magazine, named junior Stephanie Preach as its 2008-09 Gatorade Arizona Volleyball Player of the Year.
In cross country, Xavier got its fifth state title led by overall winner junior Jessica Tonn. She finished the race in 17 minutes, 50.9 seconds, more than a minute better than runner-up and teammate Sarah Penney. But Tonn was also the only girl in any class to finish in less than 18 minutes.
The Xavier Gators also repeated as team champions, finishing with 87 points, ahead of Mesa Mountain View with 95 points.
For Sr. Lynn Winsor and the Xavier golf team, it was business as usual with an 11th state title. The golf team scored a 586 total to capture its 27th state title overall, beating the Hamilton team by 28 strokes.
Xavier dominated the field, sweeping the top three positions for low medalist with Katerina Ruzickova, 142, Kaira Martin, 143, and Kimberly Kim, 144.
A new Scottsdale tradition
In 4A Division II golf, it was Notre Dame sweeping the boys’ and girls’ titles.
Nicholas Losole III shot a final-round 68, leading Notre Dame to the 4A-II state golf championship. He also earned medalist honors last year. The Saints finished second in 2005 and 2006.
Despite having only been around for seven years, this was the program’s fourth state title in boys’ golf. Seton rallied to hold on to second.
Notre Dame’s Evan Markley shot a two-day 150 to take third and Brian Blanchard tied for fourth with a 154.
For the girls it was Jackie Chang leading the way to a 100-stroke victory at 643.
Chang shot a two-day 139, besting the second-place golfer by 25 strokes. Notre Dame’s Mary Heppener was third with a 166, Anna Hughes shot a 170 for seventh place and Kathlin Ardell finished in ninth place with a 179.
In football, Notre Dame has proven there is no team better over the last two seasons, going 27-1 and winning back-to-back state titles. Despite an average margin of victory of 31.2 points, the Saints had a tough time in the state finals against the Tucson Santa Rita team.
But in the end it was the dominant running game led by Andrew Stutz and Patrick Foley that combined for 354 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Notre Dame won 30-26. The victory capped an undefeated season, 14-0, extending the team’s 23-game winning streak.
Seton volleyball
After proving to be one of the top teams in 3A volleyball, Seton jumped up to 4A with ease.
The Sentinels’ won their first title in 4A, after earning 3A titles in 2003 and 2005. And last year Seton finished as the runner-up in 4A-II.
Using a mix of senior leadership with Megan Rush and Molly Barlow and some freshman firepower, Seton came back to win, 19-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-23.
“We had some key players return and had a great influx of young freshmen talent, so I think very early on our goal was to win state,” said Coach James Felton. “This was one of the best teams I’ve ever been a part of as far as chemistry.”
Seton finished the season 40-4 and was co-region champs with Arcadia.
It was an early season loss to Arcadia that Felton said was the beginning of the team’s focus on state. The next day they traveled to California for a tournament.
“We did really well, finished third and beat some good California teams,” Felton said. “We also really came together as a team, bonded, and had a really good time both on the court and off. After that we played at a high level the rest of the season.”
And in their next two meetings, Seton beat Arcadia, including one in the semi-finals of the state tournament.
|
