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Sports Notebook...with Brian Gomez
Morgan wins third straight pole vault title

By Brian Gomez

It wasn’t the headline-grabbing finish that most people were eagerly anticipating, but Corona del Sol High School senior pole vaulter Katie Morgan doesn’t have any complaints.

Sparked by a leap of 12 feet at this month’s Class 5A state championship meet, Morgan narrowly edged teammate Beth Hualde to capture her third straight state title in the pole vault.

Hualde went 11 feet, 9 inches, but Morgan still was better, even under distress from not being able to compete on a 4x400-meter relay team that had to forfeit its spot because the pole vault hadn’t finished when it was called.

Morgan could have raced on the relay team, which included sophomore Katie Cartwright, junior Sara Adams and freshman Paige Bau, but she would have risked being too fatigued to finish the pole vault.

“It was a big mess,” said Morgan, whose first-place finish in the pole vault enabled Corona’s girls team to finish sixth. “The 4x400 was at the same time as the pole vault, so I was going back and forth, wondering if I was going to have time to run.”

The 4x400 relay team will get another chance to return to state next season if a fourth member can replace Morgan, who is headed to the University of California-Berkeley on scholarship.

“It would have been a little unfair to ask Katie to run a 400, and then come back and vault,” Corona boys and girls track and field coach Jeff Griffin said. “The other three girls were really mature about it. It was just a good thing to see kids do that for other kids.”

Morgan also contributed in the high jump, taking second with a leap of 5 feet, 4 inches. Cartwright finished second in the 300-meter hurdles.

Corona’s boys team took 15th place behind Jeff Starling, who finished second in the pole vault. Mike Pursley finished fourth in the discus, and Phil Feinberg was sixth in the high jump.

Berkey wins hurdles crown

Phoenix Horizon Honors junior Katie Berkey won the 300-meter hurdles and placed second in the 100-meter hurdles and fourth in the long jump at the 2A state championship meet. Berkey’s brother, Chris, was part of the boys 4x400 relay team that took eighth at state.

Aprende track teams shine

Under coach Cynthia Mayfield, the Aprende Middle School boys track and field team captured first place at the state championship meet and its girls squad finished second.

Catalysts on the boys team included Chris Webb, Brandon McLevain and Cameron Gibson, the high jump conference champion. The boys squad also was strong in the 4x100 relay and the sprint medley relay.

The girls 4x400 relay team, which consisted of Lindsey Dorweiler, Dawn Eckerd, Emily Whitney and Sydney Buck, came within 1 second of breaking the state record that it set last season.

Ladybugs advance to Spokane

Sparked by a 4-1 win over the ’89 Tucson Soccer Academy in the Under-15 State Championships, the Tempe-based South Bank ’89 Ladybugs White girls soccer team has advanced to next month’s Far West Regionals in Spokane, Wash.

The Ladybugs, who are led by Marcos de Niza’s Kristi Andreassen, outscored their opponents 20-2 in the tournament to capture their third state title in the past four years.

Scott headed to UA

Corona senior midfielder Shaylyn Scott has committed to play soccer next year for the University of Arizona. She’ll be joined by ’86 Sereno Golden Eagles teammates Katy Heath, Claire Bodiya and Amanda Urtuzuastegui on a squad that’s coached by Dan Tobias, the 2002 Pac-10 Coach of the Year.

Timpone signs with Lamar

Former Corona point guard Alexis Timpone, who spent the last two years at Mesa Community College, has signed with Lamar University.

Timpone averaged 11 points and 5.5 assists and earned All-Arizona Community College Athletic Conference honorable mention honors as a freshman at Mesa, but was sidelined last season with a knee injury, meaning she’ll have three years of eligibility left.

In her junior year at Corona, Timpone was the sparkplug on a team that went 31-0 and captured the 5A state championship, along with a No. 22 national ranking by USA Today. She led the Lady Aztecs to a runner-up finish as a senior, and set the 5A state record with 254 assists.

Stuebner making waves at SDSU

Former Corona basketball player Alicia Stuebner recently completed her first season as an assistant women’s crew coach at San Diego State. She rowed for four years at San Diego State before being named to the coaching staff, and still holds the school leg sled record at 1,010 pounds.

Want to join a sports camp?

Several coaches from Corona, Marcos and Chandler Seton Catholic will be putting on youth sports camps this summer. Schedules and costs are as follows:

Boys basketball, at Corona, coached by Sam Duane Jr., Sammy Duane Sr. and Andy Strom: June 14-18, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1-3 p.m., 3-5 p.m.; June 21-25, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1-3 p.m., 3-5 p.m.; June 28 to July 2, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1-3 p.m., 3-5 p.m.; July 12-16, 9-10:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., 12-1:30 p.m.; and July 19-23, 9-10:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., 12-1:30 p.m. Cost ranges from $60 to $80.

Girls basketball, at Corona, coached by Pat Reed and Dan Roberson: June 1-4, 9-11 a.m., 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; June 7-11, 9-11 a.m.; June 9-12, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; June 14-18, 9-11 a.m.; June 16-19, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; June 21-26, 9-11 a.m.; and June 23-26, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Cost ranges from $48 to $80.

Baseball: at Sethon Catholic, coached by Steve Baniewicz: June 28 to July 1, 8:30-11 a.m. Cost is $60.

Boys and girls soccer, at Kiwanis, coached by Fran Bader: July 19-23, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.; July 26-30, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.; and Aug. 2-6, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Cost is $80.

Girls volleyball, at Corona, coached by Ben Maxfield: June 1-4, 1-3 p.m., 3:30-5:30 p.m.; and June 7-11, 1-3 p.m., 3:30-5:30 p.m. At Kiwanis Recreation Center, coached by Maxfield: Aug. 2-7, 12:30-2:30 p.m. At Marcos, coached by Angie Goard: June 14-18, 12:30-2:30 p.m., 3-5 p.m.; and June 12-16, 12:30-2:30 p.m., 3-5 p.m. Cost ranges from $64 to $80.

Boys volleyball, at Kiwanis, coached by Maxfield: Aug. 2-6, 3-5 p.m. Cost is $80.

Cheerleading, at Corona, coached by Marla Vaughn: July 19-23, 1-4 p.m. Cost is $65.

To register for the sports camps, visit Kiwanis at 6111 S. All-America Way in Tempe, or log on to www.tempe.gov/pkrec/krc. For the baseball camp, contact Baniewicz at 602-451-0244. For the cheerleading camp, contact Vaughn at 480-831-1739.

Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@wranglernews.com.

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