AIA Division 1 State Championships

Highlights

Girls

The Chandler High School girls dominated the team championships with 224.5 points and the help of multiple State Champions.  Hannah Carson won the discus and shot put and finished 2nd in the high jump; Junior Jasmine Todd (still recovering from a season long injury) won the triple and long jumps and finished 3rd in the 100 dash; Freshman Ky Westbrook took the 100 and 200 dash and Sophomore, Sherrelle Jordan won the 100 hurdles and finished 7th in the 300 hurdles. 

The Chandler girls also won the 4x100 and 4x400 relay events.  The team had plenty of depth as the girls swept the top 2 or 3 in several events.

Alexis Roberts (So) had a 2nd place finish in both the 200 and the 400.  Tope Williams (Fr) placed in the 100 and 200 dash. Imani Adams (Fr) and Dominique Jackson (So) both placed in the 400 with Adams finishing 4th.  Makaila Flannigan (So) finished 3rd in the 100 hurdles , 2nd in the 300 hurdles and 3rd in the long jump.  Alexis Clay (Sr) earned points by placing 6th in the 100 hurdles, 2nd in the long jump and 3rd in the triple jump.  Jasmine Bartee (So) finished 5th in the high jump, Haley Bowser (Sr) took 2nd in the pole vault, Bacall Sterling (Jr) landed 2nd in the triple jump, Bianca Finn (Fr) finished 3rd in the shot put and 4th in the discus with Raven Anderson (Sr)  6th in the shot put, Kylene Knutsen (Jr) finished 2nd in the discus with Tori Williams (Jr) in 8th.

Hamilton had a strong showing with performances from Destiny Lund who won the 400 dash in 55.85.  Victoria McArthur took the 300 hurdles and freshman Ashlee Moore jumped an impressive 5-10 in the high jump for a US#3 mark.  Moore and Hanna Carson both cleared 5-8 and on her final jump, Moore cleared the 5-10 mark.

Xavier College Prep also had an impressive showing with Sarah Fakler (So), Daylee Burr (Sr), Breanna Perrone (Jr) and Shelby Brown (Fr) taking the top 4 spots in the 3200 meter run.  Fakler held the lead the entire race while her teammates held back until the final 200 where they sprinted to the finish.  Fakler also won the 1600 meter run in 5:54.39.

Lindsay Pew (Mountain View) jumped 12-5 in the pole vault for the State Championship, Yasmine Yacut (Sr., Desert Vista) returned to win her 2nd 800 State Championship in 2:14.19 and Highland upset favorite Xavier College Prep in the 4x800 Meter Relay finishing in 9:22.51.

Boys

The Brophy College Prep boys earned the State Champion title by staying focused all week with some outstanding performances from Tommy Williams, who won the 800 meter run in 1:55.48 and finished 3rd in both the 1600 and 3200 meter run, Will Firth, who finished 2nd in both the 1600 in 4:1543 and the 3200 and sophomore Devon Allen who earned two 2nd place finishes in the 200 dash and 110 hurldes and one 3rd place finish in the 100 dash.  Allen also placed 4th in the 400 meter dash.

Also contributing to the team score were James Harper (Jr) with a 6th place finish in the high jump and Josh Dennard (Sr) with a 7th place finish in the long jump.

Brophy College Prep also finished 6th in the 4x100 meter relay and 5th in the 4x800 meter relay.

Other outstanding performances came from junior Trae Armstrong (Deer Valley) who won the 100 dash, 200 dash and 400 dash.  His 47.91 finish in the 400 meter dash ranks him #1 in Arizona.

Sophomore Bernie Montoya doubled in both the 1600 and the 3200 with a 4:12.01 in the 1600 (running with one shoe on and the other one gone) and a 9:24.06 in the 3200.

Cameron Taylor also came away from the State Meet with 2 titles.  Taylor won the 110 hurdles in 13.81 with the 4th fastest time in Arizona history.  Later in the evening he won the 300 hurdles in 37.05 for an AZ#3 all time mark just missing the state record of 37.01.

Other State Champions wer Jeremy Tuttle (Sr, Buena) in the discus throw; Brandon Pineda (Sr., Tolleson Union) in the shot put; Benjamin Ngonomo (Sr., Casa Grande) in the Triple Jump; Just N Thymes (Jr., Hamilton) in the long jump; Michael Okonkwo (Sr., Chandler) in the high jump and Garrett Starkey (Jr., Basha) in the pole vault.

Mesa Mtn View boys won the 4x800; Deer Valley won the 4x400 and South Mountain won the 4x100.

AIA Division 2 State Championships

Highlights

Girls

Canyon del Oro won the girls team championship with help from three time State Champion junior, Jaide Stepter.  Stepter won both the 100 and 300 hurdles and the 200 meter dash.  She ran a 43.40 in the 300 hurdles for the 5th fastest time in Arizona history.  Stepter holds the 2nd fastest Arizona All-Time mark in the 300 hurdles in 43.10.  She ran the time early season.

Canyon del Oro also got help from April Steward in the 800 and 1600 meter runs,  Taylor Stewart in the 3200 meter run, Brittany Jones in the 300 hurdles and the long jump, Domin Mannheim and Kathryn L'Heureau in the pole vault, Kamiren Humphrey in the long jump and triple jump,  Kalyn Humphrey in the long jump and Rachel Hubbard in the Shot Put.

Canyon del Oro girls also placed 2nd inthe 4x400 relay and 4th in the 4x800 relay.

NAU bound Kylee Kieser (Sr., Marcos de Niza) won the 1600 meter dash with an 8 second PR of 5:04.66 and finished 2nd in the 3200.  Kylee also anchored the winning 4x800 meter relay.

Promis Amukamara (Sr., Apollo) became the State Champion in the 100 meter dash.  Promise was recently named Gatorade Player of the year in Basketball for the 2011 season and will be playing basketball for the Sun Devils.

Abbey Barbera (Jr., Ironwood Ridge) won the 400 meter dash in 46.68.

Cornell bound Tess Berghoff (Sr., Arcadia) won the girls 800 meter run in 2:18.06 and helped her team to the Championship win in the 4x400 relay.  Tess also has the 2nd fastest 800 time in the state at 2:13.38.  

Kayla Freeman (Sr., Greenway) won the 3200 meter run with a nice PR of 11:04.41.  Kayla's sister Shayla finished 3rd in the 3200 with a 30 second PR.

The girls of Independence High won the 4x100 meter relay in 48.43.

Other Championship Winners include Kinsey Minter from Cactus with a win in the high jump; Ashley Groves from Cienega in the pole vault; Brianna Rodriquez, also from Cienega, in the long jump; Shakayla McEddy, from Catalina Foothills , in the triple jump; Jamee Swan from Marana in the Shot Put and Alexus Dale from Apollo in the discus throw.

Boys

The Queen Creek boys won the State Championship with help from pole vault State Champion, Greg Peterson and 300 hurdle State Champion Colton Lock, who also placed in the 110 hurdles.  Todd Kirchner also added points with his finishes in the 100 meter dash (6), the 200 meter dash (5) and the 400 meter dash (2).  Other contributers to the team title were Jamison Vernon with a 3rd place finish in the 110 hurdles; Tanner Williams and Jake Hamblin with a 5th  and 6th place finish in the high jump and Calvin Memmott with a 7th place finish in the pole vault.   

The Queen Creek boys also took 3rd in the 4x400 meter relay.

Daniel Wong (Sr. Canyon del Oro) had a breakthough year with top finishes in the 1600 and the 3200.  Wong became a two time State Champion in both events without coming close to his top seeded times of 4:16.90 in the 1600 and 9:04.62 in the 3200 (ranked 2nd in Arizona).  Wong also finished 3rd in the 800 meter run.

Top Arizona 800 runner Dylan Souza (Sr., Catalna Foothills) won the 800 meter run in 1:56.30.  His fastest time this season is 1:53.40.

Jose Rojas (Sr., Nogales) became a two time State Champion by winning the shot put and the discus with a PR of 162-02 in the discus.

Probably the most anticipated race in the Division 2 boys section was the 800 meter run with a match-up between Arizona top seed, and returning State Champion, Dylan Hambright and 2nd seed Brian Canavan (Sr., Notre Dame).   Todd Kirchner (Sr., Queen Creek) and Gabe Alvarez (Sr., Millennium) were also in the mix with seed times under 50 seconds.  Hambright had a seed of 48.00 coming into the meet and was hoping to drop under his seed time in the finals. 

It was not to be.  Hambright came down with the flu and had to scratch the State Meet  (journal coming tomorrow).

Canavan started running track as a junior and with only two years under his belt, he has improved quickly.  Finishing 2nd to Hambright at the State Meet in 2010 he has raced him several times this year with a 2nd place finish each time, coming within .01 of Hambright at the Queen Creek Invitational in April.   He was ready for another matchup.

 Canavan won the State Meet in 48.73 with Kirchner finishing 2nd in 49.32.

Other State Champions were Martwon Weaver (Sr., Marcos De Niza) in the 100 dash; Jontrell Wooten (So., Washington) in the 200 dash; Lenzo Urreiztieta (Sr., Canyon del Oro) in the 110 hurdles;  Jared Roth (Jr., Amphitheater) in the High Jump; Jamil Williams (Jr., Agua Fria) in the long jump and Craig Mattox (Sr., Thunderbird) in the triple jump.

AIA Division 3 State Championships

Highlights

Girls

The Higley girls won the Team State Championships with help from Kenesha Coleman and Darreyl Woodson.   Coleman won the State Title in the 100 hurdles and placed 2nd in both the 100 and 200 meter dash.  Woodson finished 2nd in the long jump, 3rd in the 100 dash and 4th in the 200 meter dash.  Also adding points to the team total were Simone Ellsworth with a 3 place finish in the long jump and Courtney Jackson in the triple jump.

The Higley girls also won the 4x100 and the 4x400 meter relays. 

Junior Jasmin Pratt (Estrella Foothills) turned in a solid performance with 3 State Titles in the 100, 200 and 400 dash.  She made it look easy racing some heats into a strong headwind.

Rachel Orr (Sr., Thatcher) won the high jump with a US#3 jump of 5-10.

Nneeka Lankster (Sr., Santa Cruz) won two state titles in the shot put and the discus throw.

Ashley Kealamakia (Sr., Liberty) won the 800 meter run in 2:13.80.

Haley Stenquist (Sr., Sabino) is another athlete who had a breakout year with her sub 11 minute 3200 and a near 5 minute 1600.  Stenquist won the 1600 meter run in 5:04.75 and finished 3rd in the 1600.

Rolonda Jumbo (Jr., Chinle) came back this season determined to run PR's and she did.  She won the 3200 meter run in 10:50.13 and finished 3rd in the 1600.

Other State Champion Winners were Torey Braly (Jr., Mingius) in the 300 hurdles; Courtney Hageman (Sr., Mingus) in the pole vault;  Jerissa Cooper (Jr., Coolidge) in the long jump and Melissa Castillo (Sr., Douglas) in the triple jump.

Rio Rico girls won State Title in the 4x800 meter relay

Boys

It goes without saying, the race of the night was Billy Orman's 3200 record breaking run after his almost record breaking 1600.   See articles.

Billy's teammate Matthew Murray (Jr) won the State Championship in the 800 meter run before heading to the stands to videotape Orman's historic runs!

There were 2 points separating the 1st and 3rd place teams.  Florence won the team title with 66 points followed by Higley with 65 and Liberty with 64.

Florence had no state champions but they had plenty of scoring athletes.  Robert Lewis (Jr) placed in the 100 (2nd) and the 200 (2nd) along with Deshaun Davis (Jr) who also placed in the 100 (5th) and the 200 (4th).   Ron Stegner (Sr) finishe 5th in the 400 and Ricky Sauceda (Sr) placed 8th in the 110 hurdles.  Jermaine Woods (Sr) landed in 5th in the triple jump an 5th in the long jump while Allan Jones (Jr) took 8th in the discus throw.

The Florence boys also finished 2nd in the 4x100 meter relay and 6th in the 4x400 meter relay.

For Higley,  Thomas Moronta (Sr) won the State Title in both the 100 and 200 dash.  Dimitri Jones (Sr) won the long jump, finished 2nd in the high jump and 8th in the 400 dash.  Michael Strnad (Jr) finished 3rd in the 100 and the 200.  Higley also won the 4x100 meter relay. 

Other State Champions include; Josh Weeks (Jr., Show Low) in the 400;  Alfonso Mejia (Jr., Douglas) in the 300 hurdles; Shane Nelson (Sr., Liberty) in the high jump; Daneil Patterson (Sr., Show Low) in the pole vault;  Kevein McDonald (Sr., Seton Catholic) in the shot put and Jacob McBride (Sr., Safford) in the discus throw.

The Liberty boys won the 4x400 meter relay and the Rio Rico boys won the 4x800 meter relay.

AIA Division 4 State Championships

Highlights

Girls

Tempe Prep won both the boys and girls team titles ending Valley Christian's 15 straight consecutive girls titles.

Helping Tempe Prep to the team victory were senior Kayla Beene who won the State Title in the girls 400 meter dash, finished 3rd in the 200 meter dash and 5th in the shot put;  Claire Horvath (So) with a 2nd place finish in both the 100 and 200 meter dash and Emily Hedberg (Jr) who finished 5th in both the 800 and 1600 and 3rd in the 3200.  Also adding to the total points were senior Claire Ballor in the 200; Sara Prokop (Jr)  in the 100 hurdles, the long jump and the triple jump; Annie Ortiz (Sr) in the 300 hurdles; Camille Zimmerman (Fr) in the high jump; Kaitlyn Woltz (Jr) in the shot put and Marie Bryant (Fr) in the discus throw.

Tempe Prep also finished 2nd in both the 4x100 and the 4x800 relays and 5th in the 4x400 relay.

Cheryl Montague (Sr., Academy of Tucson) won two State Championships in the 100 and 200 meter dash. 

Shayla Hancock (Jr., Pima) also won two State Championships in both the shot put and the discus.

Another double State Champion was Courtney Samudio (Sr., Northwest Christian) who won the long jump and the triple jump.

Ashton Wolf (Sr., Valley Christian) won the 800 meter run and finished 2nd in the 400 meter dash.
 

The 1600 meter run was a nail biter as both Northand Prep sophomore Keven Griffen and Veritas Prep junior Catherine Zabilski sprinted the final 100 for a photos finish.  Keven Griffen won the title with a 5:36.13 followed by Zabilski in 5:36.90.

Zablinski went on to win the 3200 in 12:14.43.

Other State Champions were; ReBeca Ames (Sr., Benson) in the 100 meter hurdles; Sydney Tassielli (Jr., Valley Christian) in the 300 meter hurdles; Bethany Unkefer (Sr., Arizona Lutheran) in the high jump and Chandler Fraley (Jr., Valley Christian) in the Pole Vault.

Pusch Ridge Christian won the 4x100 relay; Valley Christian won the 4x400 meter relay and Scottsdale Christian won the 4x800 meter relay.

Boys

Pau Tonneson (Sr., Tempe Prep) had three wins in the field events and a 2nd place finish in the 110 hurdles to help Tempe Prep win the boys State Championship Title.  Tonneson won the High Jump, the Long Jump and the Triple Jump.  Max Weise (Sr) placed 4th the discus, the long jump and the triple jump. Rocky Brittain (Sr) also helped the team with a 4th place finish in the 200 dash, a 7th place finish in the 100 dash and a 3rd place finish in the 400 dash.  Tempe Prep also had athletes placing in a few other events with Travis Rizich (Sr) and Ryan Gould (Sr) in the 110 hurdles and Joseph Bryan (Jr)  in the discus.

Tempe Prep also placed 5th in the 4x100 meter relay.

Arizona Lutheran freshman Josh Hoskingon won the  3200 meter run sprinting the last 200 meters to beat older brother David Hoskinson (Jr) who led the race and paced the group for 7 1/2 laps.   David finished 3rd just over 10 minutes with Josh finishing in 9:56.72 followed by 2nd place finisher Nico Montanez (St. Augustine) in 9:59.72.

David Hoskinson won the 1600 meter run in 4:31.36 with younger brother Josh finishing 4th.

Senior Rey Peterson from St. Johns won both the 100 and 200 meter dash for two state titles.

Caleb Fraley (Sr., Valley Christian) won both the 100 and 300 meter hurdles.

Also winning State Titles were Hunter McShanag (So., Northwest Christian) in the 400 meter dash;  Emilio Martinez-White (Sr., St. Augustine) in the 800 meter run;  KJ Gould (Sr., Scottdale Christian) in the shot put;  Matt Summerset (Sr., Desert Christian) in the discus throw and