On #520Day (May 20) a couple of weeks ago I put out a request on social media for Tucsonans to list who they believe is the top Tucson athlete who was raised and went to high school here.
The list of names returned from readers and suggestions from the AllSportsTucson.com staff numbered more than 100.
AllSportsTucson.com intends to do a series capsulizing these athletes including publishing where are they now with some quotes from them.
This list is long but it is only a fraction of the talent that has been produced in Tucson. To wit: a list of more than 100 former Tucson High School athletes can be featured alone going back to early last century.
Here is the list of the names (please let us know if we left anybody out worth mention):
Male
Abdi Abdirahman, running
David Adams, football
George Arias, baseball
Jim Arneson, football
Mark Arneson, football
Barry Bacon, football
Don Bacon, baseball
Omar Bacon, football
Mario Bates, football
Michael Bates, football
Fred Batiste, football
Joe Batiste, track
Jerry Beasley, football
Alex Bowman, auto racing
Ka’Deem Carey, football
Mark Carreon, baseball
Mike Ciasca, football
Greg Cook, basketball
Bryce Cotton, basketball
Dominick Cruz, mixed martial arts
Pat Darcy, baseball
Mike Dawson, football
Jay Dobyns, football
George Duarte, football
Shelley Duncan, baseball
Sean Elliott, basketball
Riki Ellison, football
Dave Feitl, basketball
John Fina, football
Cole Ford, football
Frank Garcia, football
Garrett Gomez, horse racing
Nick Gonzales, baseball
James Grabb, Tennis
Rich Griffith, football
J.J. Hardy, baseball
Sean Harris, football
Ron Hassey, baseball
Jon Horton, football
Jack Howell, baseball
Mark Jacobs, football
Deron Johnson, basketball
Vance Johnson, football
Jeff Kiewel, football
Sam Khalifa, baseball
Ian Kinsler, baseball
Eric Larkin, wrestling
Eddie Leon, baseball
Lafayette Lever, basketball
Marvin Lewis, football
Osia Lewis, football
Ernie McCray, basketball
Steve McLaughlin, football
Seth Mejias-Brean, baseball
Blake Martinez, football
Jon McGee, football
John Mistler, football
Robbie Moen, baseball
Randall Moore, basketball
Willie Morales, baseball
Paul Moskau, baseball
Brian Murray, football
Michael Earle “King Kong” Nolan, football
Kris O’Dowd, football
Thom Ortiz, wrestling
Tom Pagnozzi, baseball
Rodney Peete, football
Brian Poli-Dixon, football
Don Pooley, golf
Glenn Posey, football
Jim Pyers, basketball
Lathan Ransom, football
Brooks Reed, football
Reggie Robertson, football
Cleo Robinson, track
Bijan Robinson, football
Paul Robinson, football
Adam Rodriguez, baseball
Mike Saffer, football
Philo Sanchez, football
Anthony Sanders, baseball
Mike Scurlock, football
Hoagie Simmons, basketball
Fred Sims, football
Justice Summerset, football/track and field
Greg Tellam, football
Ransom Terrell, football
Eddie Urbano, wrestling
Oscar Valdez, boxing
Alex Verdugo, baseball
Jon Volpe, football
Ed Vosberg, baseball
Levi Wallace, football
Turner Washington, track and field
Willie Wood, golf
Female
Cristina Baena, golf
Heidi Bomberger, volleyball
Julie Brase-Hairgrove, basketball
Nadi Carey, basketball
Sherry Cervi, rodeo
Alexis Cortez, basketball
Sue Darling, basketball
Sybil Dosty, basketball
Whitney Dosty, basketball
Kenzie Fowler, softball
Tairia Mims-Flowers, softball
Stacey Iveson, softball
Rashida Jeffery, basketball
Molly Johnson-Belcher, softball
Bre Ladd, volleyball
Caitlyn Leverenz, swimming
Lacy Nymeyer-John, swimming
Kelly Pierce, soccer
Leticia Pineda-Boutte, softball
Paula Pyers, basketball
Cindy Rarick, golf
Allie Schadler, runner
Delaney Schnell, diving
Jaide Stepter, track and field
Kendra Strohm, tennis
Kerri Strug, gymnastics
Jamee Swan, basketball
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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