Football
Football season is here once again, and Coach Daniel Friedman is fired up to take his team to the ultimate prize. “My expectations are to be the regional champions and to make a deep playoff run at the State Championship,” he said. The coach is not ruling out the possibility of going all the way.
This year, the team will be led by a group of seniors who have all played at the varsity level since they were sophomores. Tight End Zack Brown, Running Backs Mike Contreras and Philip Bayus, and Linebacker Taylor Reber will make up the senior leadership group. Coach Friedman also sees another group as being influential on this team, “Our Lineman will drive this team. Seniors Jacob Rodriquez, Brandon Neil, James Vanderpool, along with juniors Austin Farnlof, Vinny Paterno and Zach Labno, will play on both sides of the ball.”
To play both ways, the players have been working intensely over the summer months on both their strength and conditioning. Once again the sessions have been a grueling test, but the coach has been happy with what he has seen, “The players have worked hard in our strength and conditioning camp all summer long. We competed in passing league tournaments and big man competitions as well. I would grade us out at a B+ overall in those competitive events.”
A more than capable cast will support the senior leadership group and linemen. “I am expecting big things from our receiving corps, Anthony Bedatsky, Harrison Stewart, and Marquis Bundy. I also will also not be surprised if Isiaah Huston has a breakthrough season at defensive back.”
The Jags once again will be playing an exciting brand of football, which can be enjoyed from the stands on Friday Nights. “We would love to see the town shut-down on Friday nights and come out and watch our games,” concluded Coach Friedman.
The Jags will need all of the support that they can get at their home opener when they host the defending State Champions, Scottsdale Chaparral, on September 3rd. Be sure to look over the football schedule and clear your calendars on Friday nights so you can show your Jaguar Pride.
Boulder Creek Cross Country 2010
Boulder Creek High School is lucky to have a group of committed and passionate coaches who provide enrichment to the lives of their athletes. Nowhere is this more evident than with the Cross Country program, and Head Coach Andrea Williams, who shared the following thoughts with us regarding her upcoming season:
“I’m very excited to have twelve seniors on the team this year. The most I’ve had in the past has been five. Of this year’s seniors, eight of them have been with us in Cross Country and Track since they were freshman. Jake Felton, Lindsay Gregory, Alethia Halbig, Trinity Johnson, Maggie Kraft, Carissa Miyano, and Zach and Zane Walling have been running for the Jags since they were freshman.”
“Last season was my first season with fourth-year seniors that I had coached all four years, but the 2010 group is really where we started establishing the “team” mentality in a sport that many people think of as individual. I feel that is part of the reason that we have become successful as fast as we have. When they were freshman in the fall of 2007, I knew we had something great if they all stuck with it. Most of them did.”
“Juniors Casey Lozano and Justin Corso are returning Jags varsity runners and are coming off excellent track seasons where they represented BCHS at State track. I look for both of them to contribute to our team again this fall. As the sixth week of summer training ends and the official season start is a week away, we timed everyone in the 3,200 meters on the track on July 29th. Casey was the first to finish for the boys by 25 seconds. Casey will be one of the leaders of the pack this season; however, this team is very close in ability and that could change week to week. He is a very strong 3,200-meter runner and we now need to turn that into 3.1 miles over a variety of different terrain. Sophomores Jake Prickett and James Kuntz are back this season and competed for the Jags varsity at Region and State in 2009. In addition, sophomore newcomer Dominic Clark should be a good addition to our team as well.”
“On the girls’ side, junior Gloria Harper also returns for the varsity team. Sophomores Brooklynn Castellanos and Cierra Clement were on JV as freshman, but have both been very solid in summer training. Brooklynn really surprised me in our time trail, finishing 4th amongst the girls after not competing in track this past spring due to a foot injury.”
“I think these teams are better than our 2008 region champion teams. This year however, we will not be in a Regional meet, but rather a Sectional meet. The AIA is in a two-year process of reclassifying each sport based on the number of schools in the state that participate in that sport. Cross Country is one of the sports that will be affected by these changes during the upcoming 2010 season. We’ve had a great summer as far as voluntary training, so this will carry into the season. With the leadership of my seniors and a lot of hard work, making it to State won’t be an issue, no matter how difficult the qualifying standards. I’m looking for us to be much better than just the top half at the Sectional meet.”
“It’s hard for me to think that my huge group of freshman from the class of 2007 are already seniors. It seems like just the other day I was meeting some of them as 8th graders at BC’s “Meet the Coaches Night.” It’s a strange feeling that I can’t describe….but I do know this season will be one that I will remember. I’ve been ready for the season to start since May.”
Coach Andrea Williams
Boy’s Golf
The Boulder Creek Boys Golf Team enters the 2010 fall season full of promise. After fielding a team of predominantly underclassmen last year, the Jags will be looking to improve upon their seventh-place finish at the state championship recorded in 2009.
Returning juniors Nick Norgaard and Conrad Smith have demonstrated their improved prowess on the links during Junior Golf Association of Arizona (JGAA) events held throughout the summer. The Jaguars will also be looking to sophomores, and twin brothers, Brenden and Alec Bone, to make added contributions. Both players performed admirably last year as freshmen, and their summer JGAA results have been very solid. Brenden recently took third place in the Mesa City Junior Championship with rounds of 73 and 72. Alec finished 11th in the field of eighty players in Mesa, with rounds of 75 and 76.
Coach Jay Kopas enters his seventh year as head coach and will be looking at this nucleus of players to provide the foundation for this team, “We have some very good players who are returning after a solid season of summer junior golf. These experiences are going to help them in the high school golf season that we have in front of us. There are new qualifications this year for the State Championships in golf and I expect the boys to be able to meet them and represent us very well. We will be a very competitive team this year. ”
Kopas is referring to the changes made by the AIA to the format of the state championship and how teams are selected. “While the details have not been finalized, we will have to be on our ‘A’ game throughout the entire season to make it to the championship,” Kopas confirmed.
At the state championship, Boulder Creek will face schools such as Chandler Hamilton, who have won the past five Dtate 5A Division I, as well as other golf powerhouses such as Brophy College Prep, Tucson Salpointe, and Mesa Red Mountain. This is a challenge Kopas believes his players will be prepared for by season’s end, “We want to thank the members of the Anthem Golf and Country Club for the opportunity to use their outstanding facilities. The golf course staff has been wonderful and extremely accommodating. Our program is very fortunate to have such support. Our players are given the opportunity to prepare on demanding courses that help them develop every aspect of their game. The experience has been wonderful and the players’ results reflect the quality of the facilities at which they practice.”
It may seem a daunting task to compete against schools steeped in golf history and decorated with state titles, but the Jags have climbed to the summit in golf, capturing the 5A Division II State Championship in 2006. It may be a stretch to see them reach the very top in 2010, but don’t be surprised if they find themselves a long way up the mountain. |
