Year in Sports: 2009-2010
By Ian C. Beck ’12 and Tyler J. Scott ’12
THE ROUNDUP
Brophy sports enjoyed another year of high performance this past school year, coming away with a couple of state championships and even more great success stories.
Football
Last fall, the Brophy varsity football team went 8-2 in the regular season but lost in the second round of the state playoffs to the Mesa Jackrabbits 13-3 on Friday, Nov. 20.
“The bar has been raised, we expect and intend to win the state championship every year,” head coach Mr. Scooter Molander said.
Mr. Molander also said that there were a lot of team leaders from this season who will graduate, including first team All-Arizona kicker Alex Garoutte ’10, receiver/kick returner Peter Kelly ’10 who Mr. Molander described as “a very good leader” and “an inspirational player” and Tommy Woodward ’10 who led the team in tackles.
“You lose key guys, we wish we could keep them around forever but that makes it challenging for us as coaches, it also is good in a way because it forces younger players to step up,” Mr. Molander said.
Those who will have to step up will be Josh Dennard ’11, Chase Knox ’12, Tyler Bruggman ’13 and several other freshmen who will be looked at during the spring workouts that start in early May.
Golf
Another fall sport, golfing, placed fourth in the state.
“We had a good season, I think we all expected in the big picture to do a little better than we did, but coming in fourth in state is never a bad season, the guys played well all year long,” said golf coach Mr. Jon Shores.
Led by senior Parker Middleton ’10, who won an AAGA tournament over the summer, and David Lowe ’11, who struggled with swing problems all season but still posted good scores, the golf team did well.
Next’s year team expects to be made up of two or three upperclassmen including Lowe and a large quantity of freshmen and sophomores.
There were four freshmen on the varsity team a year ago who figure to be leaders on next year’s squad.
Swimming
The fall also gave Brophy a state champion swimming team, for the 22nd time in a row.
The swim team won 10 of 11 events and came within 13 points of the record top score at the state meet, a record Brophy currently holds.
Of all the swimmers sent to the state tournament, all of them finished inside the top 16 and only three finished outside the top eight.
Danny Hatfield ’10, John Wojciechowski ’10 and Harrison Gibson ’10 were the team’s leaders and they will be passing the baton along to Brian Stevens ’11, Jeremy Becker ’11 and Shane Essert ’11.
Stevens and Becker both won two gold medals last year and Stevens broke a state record last season.
When asked whether or not next year’s team would be able to continue the streak of consecutive state championships, head coach Mr. Patrick O’Neill answered with “no question.”
Wrestling
As fall turned to winter, athletic competition around campus remained.
Brophy wrestling placed fifth in the state tournament, the soccer team went 14-6 but lost in the first round of the playoffs and the basketball team lost in the first round of the state tournament.
Tadeo Ruelas ’10 became just the second individual state champ in wrestling in Brophy history and five of the nine wrestlers Brophy sent to the state tournament won individual medals.
Head coach Mr. Brad Frank said the team had an inconsistent regular season but peaked at the right time.
After placing fifth as a team at the state tournament, Mr. Frank said he expects next year’s squad to place fifth or better again even without leaders Ruelas and Paul Looper ’10, both of whom graduate this year.
Soccer
After a 14-6 regular season in which they scored 38 goals and allowed just 16, the Brophy soccer team lost in the first round of the playoffs.
The team will lose all four of its captains and leading scorers Taylor Ahrensdorf ’10 and Brian Hines ’10 but the six current freshmen on the team provide a bright looking future.
Basketball
The Brophy basketball team finished 12th in the 5A-I region.
During the season, the team upset then top-ranked Mesa and beat school rival St. Mary’s and reached the state tournament, where they lost to North in the first round.
They fared slightly better in the Fiesta Region tournament, where the lasted into the second round when they lost to Hamilton.
Hockey
The Brophy hockey team made it all the way to the state championship where they lost 7-1 to Notre Dame.
It was the first time hockey made it to the championship game in Brophy history.
Spring Sports
Spring sports like lacrosse, baseball and volleyball were still ongoing at the time of The Roundup’s deadline.
Tennis won the 5AI 2010 state championship for their second consecutive state title, baseball finished their regular season with a record of 17-10 and lacrosse had a 9-1 record in-state record as of April 22.
The Brophy volleyball team had a 5-8 record as of The Roundup’s deadline and the track team wrapped up their regular season with an 81-60 win over Desert Vista Wednesday April 14.
Visit roundup.brophyprep.org for updates on the spring sports teams.
