Camelback’s all-time greatest sports figures
Phoenix Camelback Spartans
This is one of the richest sports schools in the Phoenix Union High School District that dates to the 1960s with great athletes. Some great ones, including former NFL offensive lineman Warren Wheat, former UMass head football coach Mark Whipple and Vanderbilt football coach Derek Mason didn't make the cut, but they're certainly worth mentioning. It was tough to whittle this down to five, but here they are:
No. 1 Billy Mayfair, 1984
He was regarded as one of the best junior golfers during high school (made the cover of Boys Life in 1981), mastering Papago Golf Course. It catapulted him into Arizona State greatness, becoming an All-American and winning the Haskins Award for college golf's top player in 1987, when he was U.S. Amateur champion. He went on to win five PGA events, including becoming the only man to beat Tiger Woods in a playoff, winning the 1998 Nissan Open. His best major was the 2001 The Open (British) Championship, finishing tied for third. No. 2 Gary Gentry, 1964
He was a second baseman in high school, who transformed into a pitcher at Phoenix College. He could have gone pro after his freshman year, but decided to return to PC after being taken in 1965 in the 11th round by the Baltimore Orioles in the first amateur baseball draft. He was part of a College World Series championship at Arizona State under Bobby Winkles. Then, in 1969, he made his Major League debut as a 22year-old with a lightning rod for an arm with the New York Mets. He won 13 games, becoming part of one of the most magical transformations in sports history, the Miracle Mets that won the World Series.
No. 3 Art Becker, 1961
After a stellar high school basketball career, the 6-foot-7 forward starred at Arizona State from 1961-64, where he racked up 1,284 points and 724 rebounds and entered the school's Sports Hall of Fame in 1989. He turned that into a pretty good American Basketball Association career, making two All-Stars games in 1968 and '72 and being part of the Indiana Pacers' 1970 ABA championship team. He became Mr. Scottsdale Community College, starting out as the basketball coach in 1974, before becoming the school's athletic director. He also had a twoyear stint as SCC's tennis coach. He was inducted into the SCC Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
No. 4 Kevin Miniefield, 1988
A dazzling point guard in basketball, the AIA still lists him as the single-game state record holder for most assists in a game with 22 in 1987 when he was a junior. He also set a season state record for most assists with 308 and the career assists record with 924. But his calling was football and he turned that into a great career as a cornerback at Arizona State. That led him to the NFL, where he played for the Chicago Bears from 1993-96.
No. 5 Sandra (Van Kilsdonk) Abalos, 1975
When archery was a high school sport, she was a legend competing for Hall of Fame coach Gretchen James. In 1973 and '74, she won the Arizona high school championships. In 1975, she finished second in the country and first in the intermediate division at the national tournament, setting six national records. She went on to star at ASU. In her year in college, she won the U.S. Intercollegiate Archery Championship, setting five national records, including highest score. She placed eighth in the 1976 U.S. Olympic Archery Trials. She entered the Phoenix Union High School District Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.