Each player must pay $270 for the five-day trip, which begins on July 20. But this year, that money is harder to come by.

“We have quite a few kids in this day and time that are working to help mom and dad pay house bills,” coach Kelley Moore said. “We’re trying like crazy not to let the economy dictate what we do.”

The coaching staff is looking for help from Mesa High alumni to help send a few kids who couldn’t otherwise afford it.

“We’re just asking for as much help as we can get,” Moore said.

Those interested in helping can reach Moore directly at (623) 326-6147 or klmoore@mpsaz.org.

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Lamb, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior, won the triple jump (leap of 52 feet, 6 1.4 inches) and the long jump (24-1 1/4) helping Chandler to a runner-up finish at state.  Lamb is set to attend Texas Tech this fall to compete in track and later, possibly football.  Lamb also captured the award in 2007.

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Tallman takes over for Jon Watson, who resigned in May to become head baseball coach at Poston Butte in the Florence school district. Tallman posted a 46-41 record in three seasons at North Canyon. The Rattlers did not lost a region game in two years and qualified for the state tournament the last two years.  North Canyon was 21-8 this past season.

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- Running back/linebacker Ramon Abreu was offered a scholarship on Saturday from San Diego State. He was offered by Arizona State earlier this month. Abreu will likely be a cornerback in college.

- Wide receiver Justin Rodriguez is getting major interest from a variety of colleges, including Nebraska, ASU, Arizona, Colorado State, Colorado and San Diego State. Once he shows his academics are in order, the offers should start rolling in.

- Former linebacker Anthony Rose was one of the first Arizona State commitments last year, but he didn’t qualify academically. Rose will play at Glendale Community College this season, and if he can get his grades up, ASU will honor his scholarship, Lopez said.

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Chandler Basha beat Chandler Hamilton in the finals two weeks ago, and Phoenix Brophy knocked off Tempe Marcos de Niza this past weekend.

The Arizona squads had to beat some tough California competition to make the finals.  Marcos de Niza advanced past an Oceanside team which has won five straight Division II state titles.

“The (California college) coaches were saying we’re definitely going to get out there” to recruit in Arizona, Marcos de Niza coach Roy Lopez said.

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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.

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Demassa will work with the Lions defense. He’s also joined the teaching staff at Red Mountain.

Red Mountain retained offensive coordinator Rodger Schenks, added former Mesa Mountain View offensive line coach Jerry Wheeler and could add former Mountain View and Gilbert High coach Jesse Parker to its defensive staff.  Parker has helped out the program on defense this spring and summer, but has yet to commit for this fall, when practice officially begins Aug. 3.

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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.

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The Sabercats return just three starters and will rely on a host of sophomores and juniors.

While last year’s team knew what he wanted in practice, Sanders has to spend much more energy explaining things this year.

“They were on auto-pilot most of the time,” Sanders said of the 2008 team. “Those kids had it so wired, they knew what I wanted. These kids are all wide-eyed puppies. They’ll be big dogs some day, but right now they’re pups.”

While the personnel has changed, the goals remain the same. The Sabercats have won the past three 4A-I titles and have a winning streak off 33 games.

It’s not lost on the players filling the shoes of the departed players.

“They know (the winning streak) won’t last forever, but they don’t want it to end on their watch,” Sanders said.

Every skill position player from last year will need to be replaced.

At quarterback, there is a position battle between Teddy Ruben – brother of former Saguaro quarterback and  Gatorade Player of the Year Tim Ruben – and Kyle Faunce, a transfer from Indiana.

D.J. Foster is just a sophomore, but will be counted on to make plays, likely at wide receiver.

Like in past years, Saguaro’s strength will be in the trenches. Linemen Jordan McDonald, Kody Innes and Cyrus Hobbi all have scholarship offers already.

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