By Theresa O’Connor

With about a month of school left to go, high school sports crossed the finish line. Check out the teams as they hit the final stretch of their seasons. 

Boys’ volleyball 

The boys’ first inaugural season officially ended with their game against Basis Phoenix on April 25. Although the volleyball team didn’t win every game, the players have remained passionate for the sport. Junior Hannah Garcia, who is a stat-taker for the teams, says, “Even though some of the boys had never played volleyball before, they were able to accept correction and maintain a positive attitude when circumstances were negative.” Head Coach Natalie Rockwell also states that the team succeeded most in blocking and serving and next season, she’d like to work more on passing. Coach Rockwell says, “We need to have more trust in each other on serve receive and double down on passing technique.”

Golf 

The Tempe Prep golf team competed at the Metro Golf Invitational Tournament on May 6 and placed 5th. Sophomore William Chafey shares a highlight from the season. He says, “One of my favorite memories was our team finishing at Augusta Ranch GC.” Sophomores Jay Nergard and Noah Quiros also finished Top 20 at the DIII State Golf Championship at Omni Tucson National Golf Course from May 9-10. 

Baseball

Despite unprecedented challenges brought by a scarcity in players, with the addition of sisters Amy and Kailey Gonzalez the high school baseball team made it to playoffs.“Our season has been an interesting story of perseverance and development…every obstacle furnishes an opportunity,” Head Coach Brad Sullivan says, “Losing players early on provided opportunities for others to embrace and ultimately flourish, in brand new positions.” With a smaller team, the athletes have connected with one another which has led to their successes. Junior Gabe Ross says, “We bonded together by encouraging and helping one another not only in practice but in games.” The team won against Joseph City and advanced to play Bagdad, who were the second seed in the division. Unfortunately, the team lost but made several accomplishments. Gabe says, “It was a great season and we all had a great time. The team exceeded all my expectations this year.” 

Track and field

With many new members, the team has achieved multiple personal records and improvements. “I’ve seen my team be able to push through the pain and finish hard races even when they don’t want to,” freshman Evan Waltz says, “Our team has matured greatly since the start and we are able to see noticeable improvement in our performances.” For prospective students looking to join the track team next year, junior Samantha Sayer says, “The team is super friendly and it’s a lot of fun. Everyone jokes around with each other and it’s a great way to make friends.” Head Coach David Lane says the team has improved tremendously “with everyone hitting their PR goal for the season which everyone has just met.” On top of the improvement, many athletes on the track team also qualified for and competed at this year’s Division IV State Championship. Both the boys’ and girls’ 4×800 relay team competed at State as well as three individuals: Maeve Jastrzebski, Dayanara Gamez and Hannah Chadwick. Each athlete performed well at the tournament, including Hannah Chadwick who placed as the State Runner-Up in her 100m hurdles.