Nov. 18, 2006

Football

Corona was knocked out by Desert Vista in the first round of playoffs, with a disappointing 42-7 loss. The Aztecs were devastated by injuries and could not find the right recipe to score on the tough Thunder defense.

“Overall, our season went really well,” senior Gavin Rodriguez said. “Until injuries hurt our team right in the most important game of the year, the playoffs.”

The Aztecs finished the season with a 7-4 overall record and share the Region Championship with Basha and Desert Vista.

Cross Country

In the region meet, the girls cross country team surprised its competition, especially Desert Vista, to take home the region title. Top runners for the girls included Frankie DiCesare, who took 5^th in 19:46. Tori Papp was 9^th, finishing in 20:01; next came Katie Kahler, 11^th in 20:05.

In the state meet held Nov. 6, the boys finished 11^th and the girls finished 8^th.

Corona’s girls cross country squad won the region title, but required the help of their sixth runner to decide a tiebreaker.

Both Corona and Mountain Pointe turned in a final score of 50.

In cross country, officials combine the scores of the top five runners for each team. Each team is allowed a sixth and seventh runner in the event of a tie.

Stephanie Snyder was Corona’s sixth runner who came in before Mountain Pointe’s sixth runner. Her performance sealed the upset for the lady Aztecs.

Frankie DiCesare was Corona’s top runner, taking fifth in 19:46. Tori Papp was close behind and finished ninth, finishing in 20:01. Katie Kahler, Christina Freeman and Katie Huch all came in just behind Papp.

The strategy to run in a pack paid off as the top five runners finished within 24 seconds of each other.

Golf

The boys golf team finished sixth place in the state tournament. Low scores included senior Jake Golembiewski and sophomore David Logston, who finished the two-day competition with an even par score.

The girls’ golf team also finished sixth in its state tournament. Low scores included sophomores Lindsey Kohl, Hailee Axelsen and Kelsey Hoyt.

Winter Sports Preview

Basketball

This year’s Aztec basketball team will have the difficult task of measuring up to the past year’s squad.

Last year’s team went all the way to the State Championship game and finished second to Mountain View. This year’s team returns two starters, seniors Phil Feinberg and Brad Carroll along with a solid supporting cast.

“The keys to success will be for everyone to play their role,” Feinberg said. “Another big thing will be rebounding. If we can rebound well as a team we should be okay.

The team’s first tournament will start Nov. 28 with the regular season to follow.

Boys Soccer

This year’s boys soccer team hopes to improve on a first-round loss in last year’s state tournament.

The 2006-2007 team will be primarily lead by the returning seniors, however there are a few young players who hope to improve the team.

“We’re going to be really good this year we have a lot of returning seniors so we have high hopes.” senior Dain Williams said.

According to Williams, the team’s goal this year is to keep improving as the season goes on and excel in the state tournament.

“The key to success this year is team cohesion,” senior Paul Schawecker said. “We don’t have any individual stars but as a synergistic unit we can accomplish way more than just one individual player,” Schawecker said.

Girls Soccer

The reigning state champions are set to defend their state title with both returning players and young talent for the upcoming season.

After finishing last year with an overtime victory against Mountain Pointe in the state finals, the Lady Aztecs see similar success for the upcoming season.

“My expectations are to do just as well as we did last year,” junior Brittany Cole said. “I know we can, we just have to work.”

While the team has many of the returning state champions coming back to play, it will be missing goalie Stephanie Phillips and senior Holly Benson, which leaves a big hole in the team’s defense and offense.

“We need to take every game one game at a time and not worry about the future,” Cole said.

Despite these losses, the team sees success in the near future and hopes to return to championship form.

“We are going to have a really good young talented team,” senior Alexa Daiutolo said.