VarsityXtra

Given the enormous budget cuts in Higley, Gilbert and everywhere else, Jennifer Burks knows she may be walking into an ulcer, but that was no reason to shy away from becoming Higley’s new athletic director.

Besides, she already knew what was coming. Burks has been at the school since it opened in 2001. She was the boys and girls cross country track coach for the past eight years (eventually the job was split and she was the girls’ coach), led the track program last year, an assistant track coach for four years prior and golf coach for one year.

Burks replaces Anthony Malaj, who’s moving to the Higley district office  to help with maintenance and operations of the district’s buildings and facilities.

Phoenix Xavier junior Jessica Tonn became the third Gator to be named Gatorade Arizona Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Tonn won the 800-meter run with a time of 2.14.84 seconds, won the 1600-meter run in 5:01.30 and won the 3200-meter run in 10:56.93 at this year’s 5A Division I state championship meet. The 5-foot-6 junior distance runner also anchored the winning 4×800-meter relay squad at the state meet.

She was also the cross country runner of the year in fall and carries a weighted 4.18 grade point average.

Tonn automatically becomes a finalist for the national track athlete of the year which will be decided later this month.

Apologies for not seeing this last week, but here’s an interesting case from Tucson which centers around Salpointe Catholic student Steven Erly, who is suing the Arizona Interscholastic Association for the right to have another year of athletic eligibility.

According to the story, Erly contracted a disease which evolved into Rheumatic Fever. It basically cost him two years of high school (at least full-time) and has caused disabilities.

He turns 19 years old in early July, and the AIA rule is no person who turns 19 before Sept. 1 is allowed to participate in high school sports.

The AIA schools originally passed the age 19 restriction.  Should this be an exception?  Or would this open a can of worms?

I’ll post an update as soon one is available.

Art Wagner can’t get away from athletics, and since he was approved by the Higley school board as the new district athletic director last Thursday, he’s no longer trying to do so.

Wagner spent 15 years at Tempe McClintock in a variety of roles, the last four of those years as the school’s athletic director (2004-2008). He moved to Phoenix Mountain Pointe to be the school’s registrar for the 2008-2009 school year.

Wagner essentially replaces Brent Rincon, who left the position two years ago to become Chandler Basha’s athletic director. The district had a part-time fill in the interim during this school year.

“The (Tempe Union District) has been so good for so long,” Wagner said. “This is the kind of the job I’ve always wanted, I can’t lie, and the opportunity became available. Higley has a little leg up because they’re still growing and have enrollment coming in. At least they’re on the positive side of that. There’s a good (school) board and superintendent, and if I didn’t think I could get support I wouldn’t have gone for this.”

Wagner’s first official day is July 1. He had Lasik eye surgery last Friday but said he expects to be fully healed later this week.

The Arizona Coaches Association All-Star softball games are at the Gilbert Mesquite High School softball field on Wednesday night.

The 4A game is at 6 p.m. followed by the 5A game at 8 p.m.

5A North

Camelback: Cereana Guzman, Danielle Touhey; Centennial: Jaimi Ladd, Maddy January, Alyssa Gibson, Gabbi Luciani;  Corona del Sol: Vanessa Alvarez, Jamie Pollak;  Deer Valley: Jacqui Kennelly, Chrissy Tyler; Sunrise Mountain: Jamie LaBovick, Bridgette DelPonte;  Xavier: Tess Casey, Mel Aphayrath, Erica Grady.

Coaches: Bart Underwood (Centennial), Jeep Ray (Corona del Sol), Carl Bakemeier (Deer Valley), Rusty Peterson (Centennial)

5A South

Red Mountain: Kayla Ensminger; Buena: Ariel Morbeck, Shannel Blackshear; St. Mary’s: Andrea Gomez, Molly Smith; Desert Mountain: Alex Landon; Mesquite: Kendall Kritzik, Christina Ledesma; Dobson: Katie Doyle, Kelsey Clarke, Mel Becker; Cibola: Jackie Newbourn, Ariel Olea; Mountain View: Kharissa Renoth, Jenny Ramsaier, Lisa Tarnowski; Gilbert: Bailey Blake.

Coaches: Rich Hamilton (Red Mountain), Bill Roberts (Mountain View), Wayne Hill (Dobson)

4A North

Paradise Valley: Kristy Kellogg, Kristina Butcher, Krista Rosiewicz; Sandra Day O’Connor: Terah Blackwell; Bradshaw Mountain: Jessica Burkhart, Shawn Haese; Raymond Kellis: Jessica Temple; Peoria: Tanya Eckles; Saguaro: Jenifer Pease;  Chaparral: Caitlin Melnychenko; Moon Valley: Adelyne Ross; Tempe: Claire Morton; Sunnyslope: Nora Maschue; Cactus Shadows: Tia Jorde; Copper Canyon: Jessica Flores.

Coach: Janet Jensen (Bradshaw Mountain)

4A South

Greenway: Jamie Frandrup, Brittany Lewis, Nicole French; Queen Creek: Jamie Kottcamp, Davina Keller, Meagan Hoopes; Seton Catholic: Landry Davis, Carissa Reisinger; Santa Rita: Lianna Zamora, Sellena Urias, Rosemary Anderson; Catalina Foothills: Stephanie Carrasusa; Millennium: Rachel Riefkohl, Abby Tappen; Notre Dame: Madison Williams; Sahuaro: Hanna Parish; Desert View: Pam Acedo, Sabeana Romero.

Coach: Katie Bundy (Queen Creek)

Tempe Corona del Sol is the recipient of the Blue Cup Award given to an area high school that demonstrates excellence in activities, athletics and academics.

The school has a cumulative grade point average of 3.56 among all students who also participate in AIA-sanctioned sports and activities. There are also a large collection of student-athletes who mentor fourth graders at nearby Brisas Elementary School as part of educational and anti-bullying seminars.

It’s super-hangover Sunday, where the goosebumps still linger for those who capped this high school sports season - or their careers - with a state championship, state title appearance, tournament appearance, whatever you define as success.

For those who must live with the agony of defeat, the latest life lesson’s learned. It’s often a cruel, unfair world.

In the last 48 hours there were state track records which nearly fell (again), and a Valley Christian program which made itself a national topic.

Corona del Sol baseball team was too good, controversy flew around Hamilton’s Cory Bernard, a Desert Ridge-Horizon showdown that (eventually) became everything a state championship game should include.

There was a Basha-Red Mountain softball game to remember and Seton Catholic did just fine without its coach.

Mountain Pointe remained the most dominant volleyball program in the state, and surprising Gilbert was the last school which stood in the Pride’s way.

For all this and more, thank the athletes, coaches and fans.

Don’t forget to include the AIA in all this. Rarely does the governing body get complimented these days on its operations, but a host of people worked extremely long hours (even longer than reporters and photographers) as neary a dozen tournaments were flawlessly exectured.

Remember this: When this crazed country went psycho on itself because of the swine flu, and Texas and Alabama shut down their school sports/activities for weeks, the AIA saw safety and health come first, but didn’t panic and go running for the civil defense bunkers when it heard a sneeze.

The powers-at-be were proactive, not panicked.

So be glad we’re not going another two or three weeks into summer, and let the emotions of this weekend linger. You’ll understand and appreciate being on the other side when that time comes.

Clouded by a mad scramble to get some sort of semi-coherent recap of Friday night’s 5A Division I softball state championship madness (it was actually written in pitch-black darkness since all the lights at Rose Mofford were turned off), some bits of randomness remained:

–The lasting image from this classic for Mesa Red Mountain might be of senior Kayla Ensminger still on third base in a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the seventh inning. She would have easily scored the winning run had she seen the ball rolling through the infield. But she never saw the ball, realized what could have happened and was livid with herself, though she wisely stayed at third base when she realized what happened.

What can you do?

The lasting image of Ensminger should be of her temporarily saving the season by hitting that two-out double into the gap, and, even more impressive, going 5-for-5 against possibly the best Class 5A pitcher in the state (Basha’s Sam Parlich).  It’s a near guarantee nobody has gotten four hits (let alone five) off Parlich in this lifetime.

That was her final high school game, and though she won a championship as a freshman in 2006, that’s a painful way for her and injured teammate Lucy Aubrecht to end their terrific high school careers.

–Fewer than 10 minutes after winning the title, several Basha parents and fans still groused about the umpiring.

Most of that venom surrounded the balls and strikes, a call that ruled Desiree Mejia out after she hit herself with the batted ball, and a reversal when Theresa Asta was hit by a pitch on a two-strike bunt attempt.

(The last one got coach Scott Hoffmeyer kicked out of the game for saying something to the umpire. He must have said something because it was extra innings of a state championship game, and, from my vantage point, Hoffmeyer wasn’t screaming or overly demonstrative in his protest).

Hoffmeyer wanted to hang around the dugout, but AIA officials stepped in and made him stand out of his players’ sights, so he took up a spot down the right field corner and watched the rest of the game.

As for the Basha bobos who were more hellbent about being  “victims” of some umpiring conspiracy than of winning a state title, not to mention what a horrible example such persons of authority demonstrated to the kids, shame on me for being surprised by this.

–Basha leadoff hitter Sierra Rodriguez had three hits, scored twice, started two double plays at second base and robbed Red Mountain of another hit with a diving stab at a grounder. She’s a junior.

–This could happen again next year. Parlich is the only Basha starter to graduate, and while that’s an enormous loss of pitching and hitting, freshman Kailey Regester had a good season as the No. 2 pitcher.

The Lions lose Ensminger and Aubrecht, but we’ve already seen they can reach the championship game without one of those two.

–Classiest participants of the night:

1.  Basha catcher Desiree Mejia, who couldn’t stop talking about how good an overall game it was and how well Red Mountain played.

2.  Red Mountain coach Rich Hamilton.  He always is.

Seton Catholic softball coach Jerry Mullin has four state championships (2002 through 2005 when the Sentinels were a 3A school) but only one daughter who’s about to graduate college.

Family comes before fastballs, so the Sentinels will try to win their first 4A-II title and dethrone defending champion Phoenix Greenway late Friday afternoon without their skipper.

Mullin left the team Wednesday and flew to Knoxville, Tenn., to watch his daughter, Meghan, play in her final NCAA Tournament for the University of Nebraska.

Meghan is a co-captain this season and the outfielder is a three-year leadoff hitter for the Huskers.

Fourteen-year assistant Gary Davis has run the Sentinel show this week in place of Mullin.

….either Basha or Red Mountain.

(How’s that for sitting firmly on the fence?)

Actually, it’ll be a fun Friday (Seton Catholic faces Phoenix Greenway in the 4A-II title game in a few hours, and the Sentinels absolutely want payback for Greenway ending Seton’s 2008 season in the semifinals).

Allow me to save everyone time and effort by telling the masses exactly what’s going to happen between the Bears and Lions come  8:07 p.m.

Here’s one amateur viewer’s breakdown:

Pitching: Sam Parlich (Basha) and Mel Willadsen (Red Mountain) are two of the top three East Valley pitchers in 5A-I. The ASU-bound Parlich has been dominant the past two seasons because of her velocity and riseball, and seemed to have found a second gear in Game 2 against St. Mary’s in Wednesday’s semifinals.  She was roughed up early in last year’s state championship game against Corona del Sol, but found her groove in the middle innings and won.

Willadsen, a junior, has been as good or better than Parlich during this tournament. Though not as unhittable as Parlich can be, Willadsen gets strikeouts when she needs them, and she constantly moves the ball back and forth around the strike zone with pristine location.  This will be her first appearance under the largest spotlight.

If push comes to shove, freshman Kailey Regester would replace Parlich and Ashley Sunderhaus would replace Willadsen. Regester has pitched more and had an excellent season, but it would be an emergency scenario only for Red Mountain because the Lions don’t want to move Sunderhaus away from shortstop in what’s been a re-tooled defense.   Advantage: Basha (barely)

Hitting: Parlich has received most of the headlines and she is their best hitter, able to go to all fields with power and can run.  But she’s not alone, and the home run threat and deep lineup has separated the Bears from the pack for most of the season.  They have a top-notch leadoff hitter in Sierra Rodriguez; Desiree Mejia is a power threat at catcher; and shortstop Darlene Valles - who hit the game-deciding grand slam in last year’s title game - has come through in the clutch a couple more times in this tournament.

Red Mountain has done well enough to get by, especially since their best hitter has been out for the past six weeks because of a knee injury (Lucy Aubrecht). Willadsen has emerged as the team’s best overall hitter, and the Lions are good at “small ball,” moving runners over and bunting. Hitting was a question mark coming into this tournament given their struggles to score in the past two state tournaments (though most of those semifinal losses came against Dallas Escobedo).  For both teams, a relative lack of familiarity is to the pitcher’s favor.  Advantage: Basha.

Defense: They’ve both been a cut above with the leather, especially Red Mountain, which brought up a couple players from JV earlier in the season when Aubrecht was lost for the season. Caylee Price has been a solid catcher and clutch hitter for the Lions this month, and the Lions infield has been nearly flawless all tournament. ‘D’ has been their prized possession.

Basha is strong up the middle. Mejia has a strong arm behind the plate and Valles might have made a season-saving play at shortstop when she ran into foul ground with her back to the infield and made  a running catch near the fence late in Game 2 against St. Mary’s.

For each team, you can count the number of errors this tournament on one hand.    Advantage: Red Mountain.

History: Red Mountain defeated Basha, 3-0, during Red Mountain’s season-opening tournament in late February, but that game is so far-removed and meaningless now, it probably wasn’t worth the mention in this space.  Too late.

Prediction: Basha 3, Red Mountain 2