Champions
Local prep athletes honored at annual banquet
For the first time since 2003, a Yuma High coach won the Yuma Sun/Yuma Rotary Club Coach of the Year award. For the first time since 2014, the Female Athlete of the Year wasn’t from the same Gila Ridge family.
And, well — the Male Athlete of the Year was also a new name, but was a Yuma Catholic kid for the fourth time in five years.
Yuma High wrestling’s Jeff Welsing, Kofa junior Keiley Sharp and Yuma Catholic junior J.R. Henderson took home the top honors Monday night from the Yuma Sun/Yuma Rotary Club Annual Sports Banquet presented by the State Farm Agents of Yuma at Yuma Civic Center.
Welsing, one of three state championship-winning coaches among the group of five nominees, beat out Gila Ridge’s Corey Semler (boys soccer/football), Yuma Catholic’s Ralph Evans (boys soccer) and Jesus Quintana (girls soccer) and Cibola’s Kris Norton (cross-country/assistant track) for the top coach honor.
“It’s a huge point of pride (for Yuma High),” Welsing said. “It starts with our administration and obviously the support they gave us all year, my coaching staff that works tirelessly; it’s not just me, a lot of different people are involved.”
Welsing’s Criminals won the Division III state championship in February in epic fashion, topping Walden Grove by half a point thanks to a pin by senior heavyweight Oscar Vega in the final championship match of the night.
Welsing, who just completed his 13th season as Yuma High’s wrestling coach, is very familiar with the athletic history at Yuma High — and what made his team’s accomplishment so special.
“I mean we’ve been working the last 13-14 years to bring a successful program to Yuma High and we finally did it,” he said. “If you break down the years, it’d been 55 years since the last (Yuma High) wrestling state title, 28 years since the last (teamsport) state title (softball in 1990), we haven’t had a (Yuma Sun) Coach of the Year since 2003 (Bob Butcher). So there are just a lot of things that worked in our favor.”
Evans’ Yuma Catholic boys soccer team and Semler’s Gila Ridge boys soccer team were the other state title-winners locally this school year.
In the Female Athlete of the Year category, Sharp — who did volleyball, basketball and track for Kofa — beat out Gila Ridge junior Mia Corners, Kofa senior Chloe Garcia, Cibola senior Mori Gordon and San Luis senior Valeria Castro.
“It’s just a straightup blessing, that’s for sure,” said Sharp, who was named Yuma Sun/ Yuma Rotary Club Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year last week after winning the Division I javelin state title and placing third in the high jump.
Sharp, also an all-region volleyball selection, became the first Kofa girls athlete to win the Yuma Sun Athlete of the Year award since Sally Gastelo in 2014. The previous three years, the award went to a Weller sister from Gila Ridge — Hannah in 2016 and 2017, and Alli in 2015 (both have since gradu-
ated).
All five female nominees Monday were three-sport athletes this school year. Four of the five did volleyball, four did track and field, and three did basketball — Sharp’s sports.
“I went up against some real great nominees,” Sharp said. “Playing sports with all of them, so much respect to all those girls. We all work hard in the gym in the offseason and it shows.”
In the Male Athlete of the Year category, Henderson — who won Yuma Sun Player of the Year awards this school year as a wide receiver in football and a point guard in basketball — beat out Cibola seniors Thomas Cain and Tommy Mommer, Gila Ridge senior Koby Fike and Antelope senior Brandon Jaime.
“It was definitely exciting, definitely a surprise to me,” Henderson said. “I just thought there was a bunch of other people in the nominees that were more than deserving of it, too.”
Both being juniors, Sharp and Henderson will have the opportunity to repeat next year.
“I’m just going to try to do better than what I did this (last) year,” Henderson said. “(This summer) I’m going to try to get a lot stronger, put some weight on, but also get faster. Just try to improve on what I can.”