Sports

Camp Verde senior Jacy Finley is the school's 2020 female athlete of the year.

Camp Verde senior guard Jason Collier is the school's 2020 male athlete of the year.

Densmore also competed in cross country and in track and field at Mingus Union. His ability to play well in multiple sports is only one reason why Densmore is Mingus Union’s male athlete of the year for 2019-2020.

One Saturday in February, Zoey Arwine managed to accomplish something seldom seen in high school athletics: postseason competition in two sports on the same day.

"A team is more than a team. It’s a family, and having a 50-member supportive family makes all the difference when it comes down to it.”

It’s 4 a.m. on Nov. 5, 2001. An insignificant time and date for most people, but not for Steven Anderson, who’s celebrating in his living room.

In early March, Texas Rangers pitchers and catchers would frequently walk from their clubhouse to the back fields together, talking and laughing. The moments symbolized how important the relationship between pitcher and catcher is in baseball, similar to a marriage, where communication is key.

At this point, hockey players have come up with just about every creative way to manage their time while quarantined during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tucked away in the city’s center is the Findlay Toyota Center, an arena known to many for housing the NBA G League’s Northern Arizona Suns.

Tuesday, Warner signed a letter of intent to swim at Northern Arizona University. For the Mingus Union senior, NAU has “always been one of my top choice schools.”

With Gov. Doug Ducey holding off on re-opening swimming pools, one of the Verde Valley’s largest competitive swim teams is staying in communication with the City of Cottonwood about potential pool time over the summer months.

In a move that reflects a number of trends, including plummeting K-12 enrollment, the Sedona-Oak Creek School District Governing Board made a difficult decision at its May 5 teleconference meeting.

Although wrestling is thriving at the developmental level in the West, the same can’t be said of the sport at Division I universities.

Noah Daher is the grandson anyone would be proud to have.

The last time Verde Valley’s senior softball team met on the playing field was February – about a month before businesses and schools began their COVID-19 shutdowns.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has said he is open to Major League Baseball playing its games in Arizona. A precedent has been set.

One month ago, every sporting event in the nation came to a screeching halt to thwart the rapid spread of deadly COVID-19. The first to shut down were the professional leagues – and then came the biggest competition in college basketball: March Madness.

In 2004, the shocking news that Pat Tillman, a former Arizona State and Arizona Cardinals defensive standout, had been killed in action while serving with the elite Army Rangers in Afghanistan rippled through the Valley.

Despite a franchise-worst 7-27 season, the Phoenix Mercury were optimistic about the franchise’s future as the 2013 WNBA Draft approached.

Several members of Arizona State’s women’s basketball team were getting treatment in a training room at Weatherup Center in Tempe on March 12, knowing that in just four days the entire team would be watching ESPN’s Women’s NCAA Tournament Selection Special together.

Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley received headline-making news Monday night when five-star guard Josh Christopher from Mayfair High School in Lakewood, California, announced his commitment to the Sun Devil men’s basketball program.

Whether or not professional sports leagues move games to warm weather cities, plenty of high school student athletes have stepped off the field for the last time due to the COVID-19 crisis that led to school closures.

Hidden within the exploding global esports movement lies Grand Canyon’s burgeoning program, headed by athletic esports coordinator Albert Lee.

Despite the lack of organized team activities and the general uncertainty surrounding the 2020 season, Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury believes familiarity among players and staff will help the team kick it into gear once football resumes.

Sydney Wiese knew something wasn’t right.