Final chapter: Arizona’s best across all sports
This is the last of a series examining the greatest high school sports dynasties in the last half-century in Arizona. This combines all sports to find the best of the best.
There have been so many incredible journeys in every sport by schools, some still going strong with no sign of dropping off.
Call it “The Final Chapter.”
10 greatest Arizona sports dynasties
No. 1 Phoenix Brophy Prep boys swimming and diving
This is the dynasty with no end in sight, maybe ever. So it seems. Last November, the Broncos captured their 32nd consecutive state championship and 42nd overall with 484 points, 199 points more than second-place Chaparral. They’ve always dominated the relays in their historic run, including taking down two more state records in November’s Division I state meet.
Current coach Daren Brubaker was swimming at Phoenix Greenway High when Brophy was rolling through titles. At the time, he didn’t know how special it was at the private Jesuit school with foundations set and followed through by those swimmers carrying the tradition for more than four decades.
From Gary Hall Jr., to Alex Righi to David Pursley to Jack Blake to Matt Milovanovic, the Broncos have never lacked firepower and depth and dominance in the pool.
“I think what’s going on is really special,” Brubaker said. “I think it’s not just only coaching but it’s the swimmer. I’d say 20 percent of this is from the coaching and 80 percent from these guys. I tell them I put them in the best position for their own personal and own team goals.’’
No. 2 Phoenix Xavier Prep girls golf This is the program that Sister Lynn Winsor built, with so many great golfers leaving their legacy on the links, starting with the late Heather Farr, who went on to play in the LPGA. The Gators have won 36 state championships and had a streak of eight consecutive titles end in November to Phoenix Pinnacle. It also ended senior Ashley Menne’s streak of three individual state titles with her runner-up finish. She was the latest in a line of highly decorated golfers to come through. Among the best that followed Farr were Grace Park and Cheyenne Woods, Tiger Woods’ niece.
The state titles began in 1980, beginning a streak of 16 championships. Xavier had another streak of 12 state titles from 1998-2009. The all-girls private school has produced 31 individual state championships with a 477-25 match record since 1974.
Winsor, the school’s athletic director and historian, is now the co-coach of the Gators, leaving a legacy unmatched by any coach in Arizona history.
“The Xavier Prep golf teams have been successful because of the wonderful team members, their supportive parents and the 100% backing of the Xavier Prep administration for all girls sports,” Sister Lynn said. “I have coached dedicated student-athletes who work on their academics, their golf skills and being a caring and fun team member.” No. 3 Tucson Sunnyside wrestling Since 1979, the Blue Devils have captured 33 state championships, led by coaches who simply passed the torch of greatness: Don Klostreich (nine state titles), Richard Sanchez (five), Bobby DeBerry (15) and Anthony Leon (four). It’s a program build on pride and grit, racking up more state titles than any team in Southern Arizona high school history. They had state championship streaks of five, eight and 14.
No. 4 Keams Canyon Hopi boys cross country
Running is cut into the Hopi fabric, a religion of sorts, with so much history, tradition and ancestry entrenched. The Hopi run to find things deep in their souls, carry on family traditions. And they run to win. They won a nationalrecord 27 straight state championships, a streak that ended in 2017. Coach Rick Baker was able to get the most out of his runners every year in faraway, remote, sacred land.
No. 5 Scottsdale Saguaro football This is a machine that began revving up in the 2000s, behind the dynamic coaching duo of head coach Mike Reardon and defensive coordinator John Sanders with a state title in 2006, the school’s second crown and first since 1995. Sanders took over the next year, leading the Sabercats to back-to-back 14-0 seasons. Sanders led the Cats to back-to-back state titles in 2010 and ‘11, before offensive coordinator Jason Mohns took over the program. He’s been there since, and led the Cats to a staterecord six consecutive state titles that only ended after the Arizona Interscholastic Association started the eightteam Open Division last year for the best of the best of the big schools that put Saguaro in that mix. But Mohns led Saguaro to the state final, playing catchup throughout in a 42-35 loss to Chandler.
No. 6 Chandler Seton Catholic girls basketball
Even though the McDonald’s AllAmerican game was never played (due to the pandemic), Karen Self earned her selection to coach the West team. Her resume spoke for itself: 11 state titles since 1997, five state runner-up finishes, more than 700 wins in her career, two trips to the national championships. Small or big school, it didn’t matter. Seton
set the standard for all schools in Arizona to strive for in girls basketball.
No. 7 Chandler girls track and field
The only thing that prevented another state title for the Wolves this spring was the coronavirus that canceled sporting events across America. Otherwise, there is no girls track and field program in state history that has had this kind of staying power over the course of the past 15 years. Entering this season, the Wolves, led by coach Eric Richardson, had won 13 of 14 state titles in the highest division with the team missing out on another title during that stretch by just seven points to Phoenix Mountain Pointe in 2015. So many great athletes, like Ky Westbrook and Hannah Carson and Jasmine Todd and Morgan Foster, came through to lead championships teams and inspire young girls to follow their lead.
No. 8 Xavier Prep swimming and diving
Of the 140 total state championships the all-girls school have won in its history for all sports combined, 28 titles were claimed in girls swimming and diving from 1973 through 2017. The Gators won 379 meets, losing only 14, since 1973. Starting in 1999, they won 14 state titles in a row. They won 26 of 28 state meets between 1985 and 2012.
No. 9 Tempe Corona del Sol boys basketball
The Aztecs became kings of the hardwood in the late 1970s, when Sam Duane was cultivating a culture that he passed onto his son Sam Jr., who really picked up the ball and ran with it during a four-year run of 6A state titles, between 2011-15, with Andrus Peat, Casey Benson, Dane Kuiper, Alex Barcello and Marvin Bagley III being the catalysts to an era that may never be seen again in the state’s highest AIA classification. When the younger Duane stepped down after the school’s fourth consecutive state title in 2015 and the 6-foot-11 Bagley left the school after his freshman year, it was the end of an era.
No. 10 Scottsdale Chaparral baseball
The house that Jerry Dawson built never really faltered since it began in the 1970s and developed into the greatest modern dynasty in Arizona high school baseball, capturing 10 state titles between 1994 and 2012. The last one was won on Dylan Cozens’ walk-off, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Brophy Prep 5-3. The number of future college and pro players coming out of Chaparral are countless.