Corona’s girls golf team took second place at the City Meet Sept. 11. Front: Julia Cuendet, Sarah Butler, Clare
Dunnahoo, Lexie Baughman, Taylor Gransen. Back: Callie Stover, Courtney Conradi, Mikaela Hatfield, Emma Lower,
coach Reed. — Photo courtesy Pat Reed
Corona’s girls golf
team, with only two
returning players at
the varsity level, may need
to count on some of its
newest members to play
well down the stretch if
they want to qualify for the
state tournament as a team
again this year.
“I think we may not
be as strong as last season
but should be okay,” said
coach Pat Reed. “The AIA
has once again changed
the state qualifying rules,
so we won’t know until we
get midway into the season
how hard it will be to
qualify as a team.”
Still, there was good
reason for optimism.
“We return two great
players from my top five
from last year—Mikaela
Hatfield and Emma
Lower,” said Reed.
“PlusTaylor Gransen and
Julia Cuendet worked
hard over the summer to be
part of the top five who play
in the away matches.”
Rounding out the top
five players is freshman
Lexie Baughman,
while sophomores Courtney Conradi and Callie
Stover, along with freshmen Sarah Butler, Clare
Dunnahoo and Elle Potts who make up the rest of
the team hoping to challenge each week for playing
spots during matches.
So far the team has won 50 percent of its dual
matches, defeating Westwood, Perry and Mountain
View but losing to Desert Vista, Dobson and
Hamilton.
Most recently the Lady Aztecs came in second
at the City Meet held at Ken McDonald Golf Course,
in Tempe, earlier this month. Lower was fourth,
Hatfield finished sixth, Gransen took ninth and
Baughman came in 10th, according to Reed.
The team was scheduled to compete at
the Aguila Invitational on Sept. 18; the Tempe
Invitational on Sept. 20 and the Prescott Invitational
Sept 26-27, where they will have an opportunity to
qualify individually and as a team for the Division I
state tournament in late October.
Corona cross country — The Aztec boys
cross country team, which ran away from its closest
competitors last season by winning all meets they
competed in and the Division I state championship,
may need some heroic effort by a few of its younger
runners to defend its championship title later this
fall.
Corona recently had a chance to see where its
team stacks up against its competition early in the
season by taking third place, behind Highland and
Mesa Mountain View, at the Chandler Invitational
held at Chandler High School.
Leading the field for the Aztecs was senior
Marcus Wheeler, one of Corona’s top three
runners last season along with Nate Rodriguez and
Ryan Norman, who both graduated in May.
Wheeler let the competition know he plans to
be a serious contender this season by winning the
Chandler Invitational with the fastest time of the day,
15:42.67, relying on his strong kick to pass Rio Rico’s
Oscar Amaya down the stretch.
Challenging Wheeler for the top spot on the
team, as well as hopefully running together in a
pack with him, could be two more seniors and a
couple of sophomores. All four competed in the
Chandler Invitational, which was organized and
scored based on grade levels.
Senior Alex Hart had the second-fastest time
among Corona’s runners, 16:32.66, finishing in
sixth place among the seniors. Hart was followed
by sophomore
Slade Sumners
(16:36.29) and Liam
Kovach(17:14.16),
who finished first
and second in the
sophomore race.
“Slade, who took
first in the sophomore
race, is one of our top
runners,” said coach
Pat Smith. “He
may have been one
of the best freshman
runners last season
in both cross country
and track, and I am
expecting him to only
get better as he gets
older.”
“Liam and Alex
run together, which
helped both of them
improve over the
summer,” said Smith.
“They have come out
this season focused
and ready to help
Corona defend our
title.”
Finishing the
Chandler Invitational
with the fifth-fastest
time was senior
Andrew Eversden
(17:25.27), who placed 18th among the senior
competitors followed by fellow senior Kairash
Ferozepurwalla (18:19.03), who came in 32nd.
Sophomore Tyler Thompson finished 8th
among the sophomores and had the next-fastest time
among Corona’s runners at 18:19.45.
“Tyler’s time and finish among the sophomores
and our team was a very pleasant surprise,” said
Smith. “I can’t wait to see how he improves over the
season.”
Junior Lucas Ykema had the eighth-fastest
time at 18:29.94 placing 27th among the junior
runners. Other top finishers for the boys freshman
team included Jack Stone, 9th place; Keegan
Markert, 14th; Lincoln Johnson, 16th; and
Wyatt Grub, 19th.
The Aztecs, who often had runners finish onetwo-
three last season, may need to adjust their
strategy to a stronger type of pack mentality this
season, but coach Smith is optimistic they will be in
the mix and have an opportunity to defend their title
when it’s time for the state meet.
The team’s next chance to show improvement
will be Sept. 20, at the Ojo Rojo Lions Invitational at
Chandler High School, followed by the Doug Conley
Invitational at Tempe High School on Sept. 27.
Corona’s girl runners comprise a more
experienced and improved team this season,
and proved it by taking second at the Chandler
Invitational with a total of 25 points, only one point
separating them from Highland, which took first.
“I was very excited about our second-place
finish at the Chandler Invitational,” said coach Ari
Rodriguez. “We had a lot of girls run their personal
bests.”
One of Corona’s 18 returning girls cross country
runners, senior Kelly Naumann, had the thirdfastest
time of the day, 19:25, finishing the senior
race in third place.
Sophomore Renee Clary had the next-fastest
time among Corona’s runners. Her time of 21:27 gave
her a sixth-place finish in the sophomore race, while
MacKenzie Harder’s 21:55 gave her a seventhplace
finish at the junior level and the third-fastest
Corona time.
Seniors Sidney Bussler (22:22), Amberly
Ricks (22:45) and Kristina Nedelkova (22:53)
finished 23rd, 26th and 29th respectively, while
junior Lorena Sandoval (24:19) was 35th.
“I was especially happy with how our freshman
class did,” said Rodriguez. “We had two freshmen,
Riley Wright and Mia Da Rosa, earn varsity
spots. Riley worked really hard this summer and it is
paying off already.”
De Rosa (22:10) finished eighth; Wright (23:38)
was 24th; and Rachel Dietz(23:46) was 26th
among the freshman level at the invitational.
“Our girls team is very self-motivated and
determined to succeed this season,” said Rodriguez.
They, too, will get a chance to prove how
their hard work in the off-season can pay off when
the Lady Aztecs compete Sept. 20 at the Ojo Rojo
Lions Invitational, followed by the Doug Conley
Invitational Sept. 27.
Marcos de Niza girls volleyball —
New varsity volleyball coach Jaime Rohme, hired
by Marcos last January, and the Lady Padres are off
to a good start with a winning 2-1 record as of Sept.
16.
Rohme was on Corona’s 1989 state
championship team and went on to play collegiately
at UCLA and the University of Arkansas. She
returned to Tempe to coach at Corona for two years
where her 2001 team were Division I State Runner-
Up. Most recently she coached at Kyrene Middle
School and at AZ East Valley Juniors volleyball club.
The Lady Padres defeated Casa Grande 3-0 on
Sept. 4 and Dobson 3-1 on Sept. 11 but lost to Perry
3-0 on Sept. 9.
The team has seven seniors, three juniors, one
sophomore and three freshmen who all play a role in
helping the team win matches.
Running the offense are two setters, senior
MacKenzie Dunnahoo with 22 assists playing in
nine sets and Tatum Rohme with 44 assists in 10
sets.
Leading in kills is junior outside hitter Aubrey
Boyles with 23 kills or 2.3 kills a set and junior
Marissa Kyman with 1.6 kills a set.
Boyles not only attacks and kills more balls than
anyone on the team, she also leads the team in solo
blocks with 11 and is credited with 14 total blocks or
4.7 blocks a match.
Junior middle blocker Aurei King-Hill has
eight solo blocks in 10 sets while senior middle
blocker Reagan Griffith has nine total blocks.
Freshman Emily Cockell is a digging machine
with close to 10 of the team’s 34 digs per match with
help from senior Marissa Lamb who has close to
seven, Rohme with over five and senior Dani Keith
with almost two digs a match.
Kyman and Lamb play significant roles in the
serve receive category averaging 14 and 11 receptions
respectively per match. Sophomore Evan Ippolito,
freshman Justice Craig and senior Tammia
Jones also step in to help pass ball to the setter
when the other team is serving.
The team has cranked up the service aces, as
well, this season already tallying 29 aces in the first
three matches with 22 alone in their match against
Casa Grande. The two youngest players, Rohme and
Cockell, have combined to serve 20 of the 29 total
aces.
Kelly Ormond and Morgan Sells help
provide senior leadership on and off the court.
The team was scheduled to play at Basha on
Sept. 17 and Maricopa at home Sept. 18 before
participating in the Westwood Tournament of
Champions Sept. 19-20.
Regular season play resumes at home against
Dysart on Sept. 22 and against Desert Mountain
Sept. 23.
On Sept. 30 the Lady Padres will start play
against opponents in their Division II Section I when
they play at Campo Verde in Gilbert, followed by two
matches at home. On Oct. 1 they play Higley and Oct.
2 Camelback.
All matches are scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
