With no state champions, the job of picking the girls runner of the year becomes a bit harder and is open to wild speculation. Only two runners from Southern Arizona broke the 19-minute mark this year and they both did it at a sectional meet held in late October.

Canyon del Oro standout Bridgette Doucet (18:37.60) and Ironwood Ridge runner Kristin Powell (18:58.60) are both sophomores and they finished in first and second place at that Division II/Section II meet held on the Marana course.

Doucet was able to use her win and turn it into a second place finish at the state meet held one week later where she turned in the fastest time out of all Southern Arizona girls regardless of division.

Her D-II runner-up time of 19:21.87 outpaced the time put in by Rincon/UHS senior Kendra Knittel at the D-I meet held the same day on the same course (19:29.59).

Knittel and Doucet appear to be in a war of who is the best among the coaches and fans who have made pitches for both. No other runner has been part of the question (or the answer) except for Pusch Ridge runner Sarah Macdonald.

The only time the two met in an actual head-to-head race was at the Nike Southwest Desert Twilight race held in late September in Gilbert. Knittel came in a little over four seconds before Doucet that night but three other runners from Southern Arizona came in ahead of Knittel including Macdonald and Sarrah Boughan of CDO.

So, if head-to-head comes into play as the only measure of success, then both runners would be left out of the running for the top spot.

Doucet should not be penalized because she is a sophomore and Knittel should not be rewarded because she is a senior. Even though Knittel has run track for Rincon/UHS, this is her first year running cross country. The differences in graduation years becomes a nonfactor but imagine what Knittel could have done had she trained distance for four years?

To make a long story short, what happens at state should make a difference and it did for the rest of the runners battling for first, second and third team.

Only Doucet, Knittel and Macdonald came in under 20 minutes at state out of all the runners from Southern Arizona but each of the

three competed in different divisions that day.

Doucet takes the Southern Arizona Runner of the Year by a step and Knittel and Macdonald earned Performer of the Year honors for some of the best racing this past fall.

The All-Southern Arizona teams are dominated by the girls of Catalina Foothills and for good reason. Six of the top times came from the school and it is reflected below and it shows what a team effort can do.

Pusch Ridge and Catalina Foothills came in second place in their respective divisions and the difference in team time was a little over 30 seconds with Catalina Foothills getting the nod.

Eric Grossman of Catalina Foothills gets the D-I/II Coach of the Year honors and Elmer Yazzie of Pusch Ridge gets the D-III/IV honors. Grossman has been here before and is a proven coach while Yazzie is all of that plus an excellent role model for the all runners regardless of division.

Really, the First, Second and Third team can be blurred at any given time or meet, that’s how close this was.

All-Southern Arizona

Runner of the Year
Bridgette Doucet, Canyon del Oro

Division I-II Performer of the Year
Kendra Knittel, Rincon/UHS

Division III-IV Performer of the Year
Sarah Macdonald, Pusch Ridge

Division I-II Coach of the Year
Eric Grossman, Catalina Foothills

Division III-IV Coach of the Year
Elmer Yazzie, Pusch Ridge

First Team
Bridgette Doucet, Canyon del Oro
Kendra Knittel, Rincon/UHS
Sarah Macdonald, Pusch Ridge
Melanie Zibrat, Ironwood Ridge
Kristin Powell, Ironwood Ridge
Hannah Whetzel, Catalina Foothills
Carissa Lucero, Flowing Wells

Second Team
Autumn Brown, Catalina Foothills
Alessandr Vanasco, Catalina Foothills
Alex Salazar, Sahuaro
Heather Dowdall, Sahuaro
Katelyn Jenkins, Sahuaro
Rachel Clarke, Mountain View
Molly Latin, Ironwood Ridge

Third Team
Melissa Williams, Sahuarita
Sarrah Boughan, Canyon del Oro
Cayley Hensley, Pusch Ridge
Grace Johnson, Pusch Ridge
Sarah Lansey, Catalina Foothills
Anne-Sophie Beaudoin, Catalina Foothills
Eliza Petersen, Catalina Foothills

DIVISION I

Runner & Performer of the Year
Kendra Knittel, Rincon/UHS

Coach of the Year
John Radspinner, Rincon/UHS

First Team
Kendra Knittel, Rincon/UHS
Margie Moyer, Rincon/UHS
Elena Bauer, Rincon/UHS
Andrea Haller, Buena
Lauren Markee, Buena
Shelby Kogan, Buena
Shelbi Davidson, Cienega

Second Team
Sereena Giner, Rincon/UHS
Kyley McCollum, Rincon/UHS
Corinne Winsten, Rincon/UHS
Brittany Saffo, Buena
Casey Haller, Buena
Rainey Kogan, Buena
Elizabeth Deaton, Cienega

Third Team
Jennifer Zelazny, Buena
Rebecca Sherod, Buena
Jamey Kogan, Buena
Alayna Roberts, Buena
Breana Laird, Buena
Chantel Coon, Cienega
Celina Pargas, Cienega

DIVISION II

Runner of the Year
Bridgette Doucet, Canyon del Oro

Performer of the Year
Melanie Zibrat, Ironwood Ridge

Coach of the Year
Eric Grossman, Catalina Foothills

First Team
Bridgette Doucet, Canyon del Oro
Melanie Zibrat, Ironwood Ridge
Kristin Powell, Ironwood Ridge
Hannah Whetzel, Catalina Foothills
Autumn Brown, Catalina Foothills
Alessandr Vanasco, Catalina Foothills
Carissa Lucero, Flowing Wells

Second Team
Alex Salazar, Sahuaro
Heather Dowdall, Sahuaro
Katelyn Jenkins, Sahuaro
Rachel Clarke, Mountain View
Molly Latin, Ironwood Ridge
Sarrah Boughan, Canyon del Oro
Sarah Lansey, Catalina Foothills

Third Team
Anne-Sophie Beaudoin, Catalina Foothills
Eliza Petersen, Catalina Foothills
Victoria Sullivan, Catalina Foothills
Madeline Roberts, Ironwood Ridge
Ali Olson, Ironwood Ridge
Karina Kelly, Mountain View
Kiley Hancock, Mountain View

DIVISION III

Runner & Performer of the Year
Melissa Williams, Sahuarita

Coach of the Year
Joe Prince, Sahuarita

First Team
Melissa Williams, Sahuarita
Guadalupe Durazo, Sahuarita
Emily Bliven, Sahuarita
Petra Tineo, Catalina
Marielena Valencia, Rio Rico
Isabel Aguilar, Safford
Mariah Zavala, Amphi

Second Team
Mikala Burge, Safford
Trina Fox, Safford
Joie Lopez, Safford
Daniela Alvarez, Rio Rico
Edith Arvizu, Rio Rico
Emeri Melendez, Douglas
Jocelynn Sampson-Toro, Sabino

Third Team
Doris Gutierrez, Rio Rico
Emily Vega, Rio Rico
Jackie Giron, Rio Rico
Veronica Valenzuela, Catalina
Yaritza Ibarra, Catalina
Karen Leon, Catalina
Karla Loreto, Douglas

DIVISION IV

Runner & Performer of the Year
Sarah Macdonald, Pusch Ridge

Coach of the Year
Elmer Yazzie, Pusch Ridge

First Team
Sarah Macdonald, Pusch Ridge
Cayley Hensley, Pusch Ridge
Catherine Stypa, Pusch Ridge
Mali Smith, Pusch Ridge
Kaylee Bowers, Pusch Ridge
Sydney Harding, St. Augustine
Lexi Kalastro, Bisbee

Second Team
Marie Froehlke, Tanque Verde
Sara Clifford, Thatcher
Keely Breedlove, St. Gregory
Shyla Armour, Tombstone
Elle Uldrich, Pusch Ridge
Grace Johnson, Pusch Ridge
Marae Mattice, Benson

Third Team
Jessica Hamilton, Benson
Breeana Jones, Willcox
Clare Wallum, Pusch Ridge
Katrina Alderete, St. Augustine
Delaney Halvey, Pusch Ridge
Lauren Jensen, Thatcher
Alysia Birkner, Benson

2012 Boys Swim & Dive
2012 Girls Swim & Dive
2012 Golf All-Stars

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