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| Ross
Mason photo |
Cactus
Shadows golfer Nick Rowland pumps his fist in celebration
in October after the senior sank a birdie putt on the
final hole of the 4A Wells Fargo 2 Region championship
at Dove Valley Golf Course. Rowland won his second region
title with a two‑day total of 140 to beat Notre
Dame’s Austyn Karle by 1 shot.
(Click picture for full size image) |
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Year
had lots to remember
Well,
wrap it up, slap a big bow on the outside and shove it under
the bed. The high school sports season is officially over
in the North Valley and what we saw in 2005‑06 could
only mean.............athletics is on the rise from Cave
Creek to Anthem.
Of
course, Cactus Shadows was the big winner this year, racking
up five state sports championships–in
baseball, boys soccer, boys tennis, girls volleyball and
girls golf. The state title trophy was raised at the school
seven times if you count the state championships the Falcons’
dance and cheer teams won.
Coming
into the school year, the Falcons had only won three sports
championships in the school’s history, meaning they nearly
tripled the amount from last summer.
A
split in the 4A Conference certainly helped the Falcons’fortunes
in most sports this year. But a championship is a championship
no matter who the competition is.
A
similar split in the 5A helped Sandra Day O’Connor to grow
its young program, and also allowed first‑year varsity
Boulder Creek to become dominant in some sports right away.
O’Connor
earned its first state champions in individual sports like
cross country, wrestling and track. The Eagles also became
a major state player in cross country, track, football,
girls volleyball, baseball and boys basketball.
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