The
Eagles' season continued
into December when
the team traveled
to the Nike Team Nationals
Dec. 2, a meet featuring
the top 20 teams in
the nation. Entering
the talented field
as the No. 1‑ranked
team in the Southwest
Region, O'Connor placed
13th overall, leading
coach Brian Dempsey
to call it a "great
experience" for
his team.
Lindsay
Prescott, the speedy
junior who has racked
up a handful of state
honors in cross country
and track, backed
up her state championship
victory last month
with a fifth‑place
finish at the Nike
meet.
That
performance highlighted
four O'Connor runners
who finished in the
top 62, including
Camille Olson (33rd),
Jade Riley (47th)
and Aleina Eisenhauer
(62nd). Those same
four runners each
finished in the top
six individually for
the Eagles at the
5A‑Division
II Arizona state race
in early November.
Fayetteville‑Manlius,
a school from New
York, won the overall
championship at the
Nike event.
Cross
country isn't the
only sport making
waves at O'Connor
these days. The Eagles'
boys basketball team
has been moving full‑steam
ahead so far this
season.
The
Eagles entered the
week 7‑0 and
have not been held
under 80 points in
any of the games.
Plus, O'Connor has
beaten every team
but one by double‑digits.
The only one it didn't–South
Mountain–still allowed
the Eagles to drop
in 110 points.
Senior
guard Curtis Mitchell
and junior guard Ethan
Esch have followed
up solid seasons last
year with big games
for the Eagles in
2006. Both players
are shooting better
than 50 percent from
the field, giving
the team two big weapons
as the season heads
into full swing.
Speaking
of hot basketball
teams, the girls squad
at Boulder Creek has
turned some heads
with six wins in its
first seven games.
The Jaguars took hometown
Sinagua to the limit
in last week's Pepsi
Invitational championship
game, and with players
like Ashley Zeek and
Nadia Hussain hitting
their form, the Jags
won't be a pushover
in the 5A Northwest
Region this season.
And,
finally, Arizona State
hired Idaho's Dennis
Erickson to replace
Idahoan Dirk Koetter
as head coach last
week. After hearing
the news, quarterback
Rudy Carpenter pledged
to support the new
coach, adding, "I
hope he can do here
what he did at Miami."
Too
bad when somebody
mentions what Erickson
did at Miami it is
questionable whether
the reference is to
national championships
or NCAA violations,
not to mention the
Hurricanes' bad boy
image from the early
1990s.
If
discipline is what
the Devils were missing
under Koetter, they
were certainly won't
be finding it with
Erickson. Good luck,
ASU. Let's hope you
don't get what you
pay for.
