Greg Hansen’s Top 100 Sports Figures of 2019: 100-51 – Arizona Daily Star

Look for the column and full list in Sunday’s Arizona Daily Star. 

The Mountain View High School and Pima College grad was named to the All-Big Sky Conference football team, catching 88 passes for 1,141 yards at Idaho. 

One of Salpointe Catholic High School leading defensive football players, Regina made a team-high 9 ½ sacks and contributed 47 tackles in a 10-1 season.

As a junior tight end at BYU, the Sabino High School grad caught 47 passes for 688 yards.

In his final season at Salpointe Catholic High School, Deng averaged 17 points and 7 rebounds for a 27-3 state tournament runner-up. He’s now at Pepperdine. 

Sabino High School’s softball coach put it all together in 2019, leading the Sabercats to a 23-3 record and the state championship.

In a 17-2 state championship soccer season, the Salpointe Catholic High School senior led the club with 13 goals and 10 assists.

As the Tucson Roadrunners bid for a historic season in the American Hockey League, Hill, one of the AHL’s leading goaltenders for 3 ½ seasons, had a 9-3 record before being summoned to the NHL on Dec. 20. 

The leader of Arizona’s NCAA Tournament women’s soccer team was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection, scoring 10 goals and adding eight assists, both team-highs.

Canyon del Oro High School grad hit nine home runs in 87 games for the San Diego Padres, running his career hit total to 1,999, then retired earlier this month. 

One of the top prep baseball players in Arizona, Romero hit .413 in his senior year at Canyon del Oro High School, and went 4-0 as a pitcher with a 1.04 ERA.

In his top season yet as Sahuaro’s football coach, McKee led the Cougars to a 9-3 record and the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A state tournament.

After making the Pac-12’s all-freshman team, Reese has helped the Top 25 Wildcats by averaging 14.0 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds.

As Salpointe Catholic High School won another girls state softball championship, Montano was excellent, hitting .538 with a  team-high 44 RBIs.

In his ninth year in the NFL, the former Sabino High and UA pass rusher played in five games for the Arizona Cardinals before an injury ended his season.

Arizona’s prized tennis player, a sophomore from Sweden, became the first Wildcat to reach the NCAA singles championships in 13 years, winning 10 matches as the UA’s No. 1 singles player. 

Now in his third season as Salpointe Catholic High School’s boys basketball coach, Reynolds put a 27-3 record in the books last year and started 9-0 this season, bearing down on the school’s first-ever boys state basketball title.

Tucson’s two-time Olympic swimmer, with four gold medals, helped team USA win two silver medals in relay championships and finished fifth in the 100 backstroke at the world championships.

Rocha coached Salpointe Catholic High School to back-to-back state softball championships; her Lancers have gone 62-8 the last two seasons.

Salpointe Catholic High School’s first-ever state baseball championship wouldn’t have been possible without Swanberg’s clutch pitching; he went 7-3 with 73 strikeouts.

Arizona’s able soccer coach led the Wildcats to their fifth NCAA Tournament in six years, finishing 12-7-1.

Marana’s 2017 world champion in tie-down roping won five PRCA events in 2019.

In his final season at Mountain View High School, Castillo won the state wrestling title at 132 pounds. It was his third consecutive state championship.

In Sunnyside High School’s epic run to the state soccer championship, 24-0-2, Virgen scored 22 goals.

A senior linebacker, Strong led Salpointe Catholic High School with 87 tackles as the Lancers advanced to the Open Division football championships.

The third baseman from Cienega High School and the UA made his big-league debut in September, belting two home runs for the San Diego Padres after hitting .316 at Triple-A El Paso.

Pima College’s skilled midfielder was named a second-team All-American by both the NJCAA and the United Soccer Coaches after finishing fifth in the nation with 15 assists. 

The Division I state tennis champion from Rincon/University High School, Lee is ranked No. 3 overall in Arizona and is a four-star recruit in the Class of 2021.

In her final season as Catalina Foothills High School girls tennis coach, Stevens led the Falcons to 17-1 record and 15th state championship.

As Sabino High School rolled to a state baseball championship, Snyder was excellent, posting an 8-0 record and 0.57 ERA as a dominant pitcher.

Amphitheater High School’s 2011 state basketball player of the year led Fribourg to the EuroBasket Switzerland championship, averaging 17.8 points per game.

A junior at Tucson High School, Blockburger became the top sprinter in Southern Arizona, winning state titles at 200 and 400 meters and finishing second at 100 meters and in the high jump.

A second-team All-Pac-12 golfer from Salpointe Catholic, Werbylo shot the school’s course-record 62 on the Tucson National course and then qualified for the U.S. Amateur, where he reached the final group of 32 players.

One of the leading volleyball players in the uber-talented Pac-12, Cross was a first-team all-conference selection for Dave Rubio’s Wildcats.

Cabrera led the way with 16 goals as Salpointe Catholic High School’s boys soccer team won another Class 4A state soccer championship.

Co-owner of the Tucson Sugar Skulls, Guy watched the inaugural Tucson Indoor Football League team finish 7-7 and then went to work on improving the product, hiring IFL 2018 Coach of the Year Dixie Wooten away from the Iowa Barnstormers and signing the league’s MVP, quarterback Daquan Neal, away from the same team.

As a junior at New Mexico State, the former Canyon del Oro High School catcher hit .400 with 20 home runs and 90 RBIs, making numerous All-American teams and the All-WAC first team.

One of the leading distance runners in Pima College history, Bruno, a Canyon del Oro High School graduate, finished fifth in the 1,500 and sixth in the 3,000 at the NJCAA championships.

As a standout freshman golfer at Arizona, Chang finished fourth in the difficult Pac-12 championships, finished in the top 10 in five tournaments, had a 73.5 scoring average and helped the Wildcats women finish tied for third in the NCAA finals.

Arizona’s track and field star won the Pac-12 women’s high jump and finished fifth in the NCAA championships.

Arizona’s leading pitcher, went 24-8 and was named a first-team All-American as Arizona reached the Women’s College World Series.

The Canyon del Oro High School and UA grad coached Division II Maryville University to the NCAA Division II men’s soccer quarterfinals, leading the Saints to a school-record 17-4-2 record.

Arizona’s freshman point guard has been as good as advertised and was a magnet to help the Wildcats assemble an elite recruiting class.

One of the leading football players in Arizona, the Salpointe Catholic High School senior scored 13 touchdowns, caught 21 passes for 534 yards, made 58 tackles — and then signed with Ohio State.

Not only did Delgado win the Division III state cross country championship as a Salpointe Catholic High School senior, she led her team to the No. 2 overall finish and completed her career having led the Lancers to a pair of team state titles.

Another of Arizona’s national-caliber women’s golfers, Hou was a first-team All-Pac-12 player, finishing eighth in the conference and 34th in the NCAA.

In his first season as Pima College’s baseball coach, Jacome guided the Aztecs to 36 wins, their most since 1993. Pima won 22 ACCAC games, doubling the final total of the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

Sunnyside’s wrestling coach put a second consecutive state championship in the books, outscoring second-place Mountain View High School 241-127 in Division II.

In his first season playing wide receiver, the Cienega High School product led the Arizona Wildcats with 34 receptions, 552 yards and five touchdowns.

Pima College’s accomplished women’s basketball coach produced another banner year, with 24 victories and a fifth-place finish at the NJCAA finals.

Taking over the Sabino baseball program after its 2018 state title was voided by the state’s governing board, Folsom guided the Sabercats to a 24-6 record and a Class 3A state championship.