Desert Mountain High School teams hoisted state championship trophies last month in 5A softball and Division 1 girls and boys team tennis and girls doubles!  And Saguaro was the state runner-up in 4A baseball.  The 2022-2023 school year was a GREAT one for SUSD high school athletics!  

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Congratulations to the student athletes from Chaparral and Desert Mountain High School who qualified and participated in the AIA State Track and Field Championships last month at Mesa Community College!  They ran, jumped and threw in 4x800 meter relays; 100 and 300 meter hurdles; 100 meter dash; 800, 1600 and 3200 meter runs; high, long and triple jumps; discus and javelin.

Chaparral seniors Clare Palin and Anthony Meng, in particular, delivered outstanding performances.  Clare won the girls state triple jump event, jumping 39-05.25 feet, and finished second in the long jump with a jump of 19-04.75 feet.  Anthony finished second in the boys high jump with a vault of 6-08.00.

Scottsdale Unified School District offers athletic opportunities for our student athletes at all five SUSD high schools this summer.  These are skill development camps, as well as strength and conditioning.  Camps are running throughout June and July.  For a list of our camps, click here.  If you have specific questions regarding a sports camp, please email the contact person listed. The directions to register are below:

Registration Portal: touchbase.susd.org

Username: Student’s SUSD ID #

Password: Student’s last name (first letter capitalized)

Click the student’s name when signed in

Choose – Items At All Schools (this ensures that you can see the class, even if the student does not attend that school)

Choose – The high school where the class is located

Choose – Athletic Camps

Choose – Summer Athletic Camps

Read more at The SUSD Source

SUSD Athletics offers a wide variety of sports camps through our Community Education Department each summer.   Click here to find out the dates, times, locations and cost.  If you have specific questions about a camp, contact information is provided.  

Registration instructions:

Registration Portal: touchbase.susd.org

Username: Student’s SUSD ID #

Password: Student’s last name (first letter capitalized)

Click the student’s name when signed in

Choose – Items At All Schools (this is to ensure they can see the class even if they do not attend that school)

Choose – the high school where the class is located

Choose – Athletic Camps
Choose – Summer Athletic Camps

Then select either May/June or July option.

We look forward to helping your students develop their athletic skills over the summer … and have fun doing so!

Our middle school “trackletes” gathered at the Coronado High School stadium last week for their last jumps, throws and dashes.  Thank you to all of 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade students who joined their schools’ teams this spring!  We hope to see them again next year.  And thank you, coaches, for putting so much time and heart into training our student athletes! 

Girls Tennis:

Congratulations to the dynamic duo of Tessa Wachtel (L) and Julia Frazier (R) from Desert Mountain High School who won the state Division I doubles championship on Monday.  Their 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory over Xavier Prep should help inspire the entire Wolves girls tennis team, which will play Hamilton HS May 5 at high noon at Scottsdale Ranch Park Tennis Center in state team semifinals competition.  Go Wolves!

Update:  The #1 Desert Mountain girls team faces #3 Desert Vista for the state team title at 11 a.m., on May 6 at Paseo Racquet Center, 6268 W Thunderbird Rd, Glendale.  GO WOLVES!!!!

Update #2:  The Desert Mountain girls team shut out Desert Vista and are state champions!

Well done, also, to Desert Mountain’s Chae Rin Youn, who made it to the quarterfinals in state singles play.

Over in Division II, the #4 Arcadia High School girls team continues to roll.  It will take on #1 Catalina Foothills May 5)at Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale in the state semifinals. 

Update:  Arcadia fell to Catalina Foothills, which takes on #2 AZ College Prep May 6 in the finals.

In Div. 2 singles play, Saguaro’s Rianna Muntean who convincingly won two matches before being eliminated in the state quarterfinals by the #1 player in the state from Canyon View HS, Zaria McGinty, the eventual state champion.

Boys Tennis:
Over on the boys side, Desert Mountain’s Trevor Rein lost a tough three-setter in the Division 1 singles state championship to Lincoln Baldonado of Mountain Ridge HS.  Trevor, the #3 player in all of Arizona, made the Wolves proud, nonetheless, putting up a great fight against #1 Lincoln, pushing him to a third set tiebreaker, 4-6, 6-4, 10-7.

The Wolves #2 doubles team of Jeronimo Ledesma and Daniel Yuke also made it to the state championship match, falling to the #1 team from Brophy Prep.

The Desert Mountain boys team is waiting to find out who it plays May 5 at Scottsdale Ranch Park in the state semifinals of team play.  The Chaparral boys team is also in the running for a state semifinals berth.

Update:  Chaparral fell to Brophy Prep 5-1 on May 3.

#3 Desert Mountain takes on #1 Brophy Prep in the state title match May 6 at 11 a.m. at Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale,  6268 W Thunderbird Rd. GO WOLVES!!

Update #2:  The Desert Mountain boys team downed Brophy 5-1 and are the Division I state champs!

Softball:
In softball, #2 Desert Mountain has made it to the third round of 5A competition.  On May 6, the girls will take on #11 Ironwood Ridge at 11:30 a.m. at the Papago Sports Complex in Phoenix.

#8 Chaparral was eliminated in the first round by #9 Casteel.

Update:  Desert Mountain shut out Ironwood Ridge 4-0 and are waiting to find out who they play in the state semifinal May 11 at 5:30 p.m. at Papago.

Update #2:  Desert Mountain takes on #5 Campo Verde in the state semifinals on May 11 at 5:30 p.m. at Papago.

Update #3:  The Lady Wolves take on #1 Willow Canyon in the 5A state championship game on May 15, having won a nailbiter over Campo Verde, 1-0 .  Game time Monday: 5:30 p.m. @ ASU's Farrington Stadium.

FINAL UPDATE:  5A STATE CHAMPIONS!
Final score:  Desert Mountain 4; Campo Verde 2

Over in 4A, Saguaro is 1-1 so far in post-season play and will host a loser’s bracket game against #9 Sahuarita May 4 at 4 p.m.

Update:  Saguaro downed Sahuarita 9-3 and is waiting to find out who it will play on May 9 at 5:30 p.m. at Papago Softball Complex, 1802 N. 64th St., Phoenix.  

Update #2:  Saguaro plays #5 Canyon del Oro May 9 at 5 p.m. at Papago.

Update #3:  The Sabercats fell to CDO 7-2, bringing their 2023 campaign to an end.

Baseball:
In 5A play, the Chaparral Firebirds are 1-1 so far in the state tournament, beating Centennial, but losing to Horizon.  #5 Chaparral will host #8 Cactus Shadows May 4 at 4 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament.

Update:  Chaparral defeated Cactus Shadows 5-4 and next faces #1 Catalina Foothills on May 8 at 6:30 p.m. at Diablo Stadium in Tempe.

Update #2:  Chaparral's season came to an end May 8, when the Firebirds fell 6-5 to Catalina Foothills.

In 4A, Saguaro is 2-0 so far, chalking up wins over American Leadership Academy – Queen Creek and #7 Flagstaff.  The Sabercats play #3 Sahuarita on May 3 at Diablo Stadium in Tempe.

Update:  Sahuarita downed Saguaro 11-1.  The Sabercats host Flagstaff, whom they've already defeated in the tournament, May 6 at 3:30 p.m.

Update #2:  The Sabercats shut out Flagstaff 10-0 and play Sahuarita again May 10 at 6:30 p.m. at Diablo Stadium.

Update #3:  Saguaro defeated Sahuarita 9-1 and, because of the double-elimination system, must play them again on May 11 at 6 p.m. at Diablo Stadium to get to the May 15 title game against #5 Canyon del Oro.

Update #4:  Saguaro plays for the 4A title on May 15 against CDO.  The Cats downed Sahuarita 16-1 in 5 innings to win the berth in the state championship game.  First pitch @ 7 p.m., Tempe Diablo Stadium.

FINAL UPDATE:  4A Runner-up
Final score:  Canyon del Oro 4; Saguaro 1

Track & Field
The 2023 track and field season closes out May 12-13 at the state meet at Mesa Community College, 1833 W. Southern Ave., Mesa.

Keep tabs on SUSD teams’ post-season on the AIA website, https://azpreps365.com/.

We’re pleased to report that our high school certified athletics trainers are now part of the HonorHealth system and will tend to our high school athletes across the next four school years, as well as support our sports medicine CTE program.  Read more about our new collaboration with this leading community healthcare provider here.

Arcadia High School’s Payton Connelly and Saguaro High School’s Oscar Uribe have been selected, along with two other local high school golfers, as Scottsdale’s youth ambassadors to Killarney, Ireland, through Scottsdale Sister Cities Association’s inaugural International Student Golf Exchange.  The selection of this quartet of “link-sters” was based on their golf experience, academic achievement, leadership skills and community engagement, written application and oral interview.

The students and their chaperones head to Ireland June 16^th and will be there for 10 days and will be hosted by the families of four Killarney student golfers.  The Irish students will journey to Scottsdale in late October for the reciprocal side of the golf exchange.  In both locations, the student golfers will have the opportunity to play on noteworthy golf courses, go on cultural excursions and volunteer with a host-city charitable organization.

Congratulations to SUSD Athletic Director Nathan Slater, who has been selected to serve on the Executive Board of the Arizona Interscholastic Association, or AIA.  This panel is essentially the governing board of Arizona high school athletics.  Slater, a 29-year SUSD employee, will be the first representative in the district’s history to serve in this state capacity.  He has been the 5A Conference’s president for the past three years, served as a Region Chair for 15 years and was named the 2010 4A Conference Athletic Director of the Year.  Congratulations, Mr. Slater!

Read more at The SUSD Source