Former Catalina Foothills standout Laura Jabczenski won two state championships. One of Tucson’s best. (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)
There have been 57 medalists from Southern Arizona and Andrea Ratigan (Rincon), Laura Jabczenski (Catalina Foothills), Krystal Quihuis (Salpointe), Mike Miranda (San Manuel) and Willie Wood (Sabino) are the only golfers from Southern Arizona to win back-to-back state titles.
100s of athletes will playing this fall (and in the spring) for a shot at making this exclusive list and it all starts on Monday, Aug. 14 when the boys from Catalina Foothills and Walden Grove visit Sahuaro (Forty Niner) and Salpointe takes on Rincon/University (Dell Urich).
Southern Arizona Tournaments
The Ironwood Ridge girls will host the Nighthawk Invitational at the Omni Tucson National Golf Resort from Aug. 25-26.
The Mountain View boys will host the Southern Arizona Invitational Tournament from Sept. 8-9 at the Saddlebrooke Ranch Golf Club.
The Omni Tucson National will host all AIA golf championships this year.
Former Catalina Foothills standout Gavin Cohen won an individual title last year and he helped lead the Falcons to its second state championship. Cohen is playing for the University of Arizona this fall so there will be no repeat champions from Southern Arizona.
Former Canyon del Oro boys coach John Ruiz (6 championships) and former Catalina Foothills girls coach Mark Polich (4) are still the gold standard.
Girls Preseason All-stars
Alexandra Quihuis, Salpointe
Annabelle Huether, Salpointe
Serenity Guerrero, Sahuaro
Allison Acosta, Ironwood Ridge
Halley Hughes, Sahuaro
Maya Benita, Catalina Foothills
Hailey Tellez, Mountain View
Boys Preseason All-Stars
Dallan Graybill, Rincon/UHS
Jake Goode, Catalina Foothills
Jonathan Walters, Canyon del Oro
Jack Call, Canyon del Oro
Jack Picton, Canyon del Oro
Alex Gray, Sabino
Joseph Kennedy, Salpointe
Connor Wierman, Ironwood Ridge
Carlos Leon, Salpointe
Individual Championships by School
11: Canyon del Oro
7: Rincon/University
7: Tucson
6: Sabino
6: Sahuarita
4: Catalina Foothills
3: Palo Verde
3: San Manuel
2: Sahuaro
2: Salpointe
1: Benson
1: Buena
1: Cienega
1: Immaculate Heart
1: Nogales
1: Willcox
GIRLS MEDALISTS (12)
1967 Carolyn Rapson, Rincon (5A)
1996 Tanja Arnold, Sabino (4A)
1997 Christina Baena, Canyon del Oro (5A)
2001 Nicole de Gennaro, Palo Verde (4A)
2002 Andrea Ratigan, Rincon/UHS (4A)
2003 Andrea Ratigan, Rincon/UHS (4A)
2009 Laura Jabczenski, Catalina Foothills (4A-I)
2010 Laura Jabczenski, Catalina Foothills (D-II)
2010 Jordan Carter, Cienega (D-II)
2011 Krystal Quihuis, Salpointe (D-II)
2012 Krystal Quihuis, Salpointe (D-II)
2015 Kathryn Ottman, Sahuaro (D-II)
BOYS MEDALISTS (45)
1939 Charles Lamb, Tucson (5A)
1939 Charles Brown, Tucson (5A)
1940 Lyle Ostron, Tucson (5A)
1941 John Rudolph, Tucson (5A)
1950 Jim Warren. Tucson (5A)
1958 Bob Goana, Tucson (5A)
1959 Tom Fink, Tucson (5A)
1964 Bruce Balcom, Palo Verde (5A)
1965 Ken Engle, Rincon (5A)
1968 Mark Udall, Canyon del Oro (4A)
1974 Scott Spence, Canyon del Oro (4A)
1975 Ron Venkus, Canyon del Oro (4A)
1976 Mike Miranda, San Manuel (4A)
1977 Mike Miranda, San Manuel (4A)
1977 Dave DeSantis, Sahuaro (5A)
1978 Don Agers, Canyon del Oro (4A)
1978 Willie Wood, Sabino (5A)
1979 Willie Wood, Sabino (5A)
1979 Tom DeWitt, Canyon del Oro (4A)
1979 Mike Johnson, Sahuarita (3A)
1980 John Buttery, Canyon del Oro (4A)
1980 Paul Kruse, Sahuarita (3A)
1983 Tom McCahn, Willcox (3A)
1984 Chris Fanning, Sahuarita (3A)
1984 John Rojahn, Sahuarita (3A)
1985 Sergio Ruiz. Nogales (4A)
1985 Chris Aune, San Manuel (3A)
1987 Robbie Carr, Sahuarita (3A)
1989 Brian Kontak, Sabino (4A)
1993 Andres Ramos, Rincon/UHS (4A)
1997 Tom Rasmussen, Rincon/UHS (4A)
1998 Tom Taylor. Sahuarita (3A)
2001 Ben Kern, Palo Verde (4A)
2005 Chase Hite, Sabino (4A-I)
2006 Armando Villarreal, Rincon/UHS (4A-I)
2007 Travis Graves, Canyon del Oro (4A-I)
2009 Bill Flower, Catalina Foothills (4A-I)
2009 Joe Ryan, Benson (1A-2A)
2010 Ian Patterson, Immaculate Heart (1A-2A)
2010 Gentry Hicks, Canyon del Oro (D-II)
2010 Colin McCarty, Buena (D-I)
2011 Jaime Waltmire, Canyon del Oro (D-II)
2012 Billy Comeaux, Sabino (D-II)
2014 Chris Meyers, Canyon del Oro (D-II)
2016 Gavin Cohen, Catalina Foothills (D-II)
GIRLS TEAM CHAMPIONS
Catalina Foothills (4)
2004: 4A (Mark Polich)
2006: 4A (Mark Polich)
2009: 4A-II (Mark Polich)
2010: D-II (Mark Polich)
Sahuaro (2)
2013: D-II (Megan Hughes)
2015: D-II (Megan Hughes)
Salpointe (2)
2011: D-II (Michele Murphy)
2012: D-II (Michele Murphy)
Santa Rita
1970: 5A (Unknown)
BOYS TEAM CHAMPIONS
Canyon del Oro (9)
1968: 4A (Bob Richter)
1974: 4A (John Ruiz)
1975: 4A (John Ruiz)
1976: 4A (John Ruiz)
1978: 4A (John Ruiz)
1979: 4A (John Ruiz)
1980: 4A (John Ruiz)
2010: D-II (John Farbarik)
2011: D-II (John Farbarik)
Tucson (7)
1939: 5A (Ples Harper)
1940: 5A (Ples Harper)
1948: 5A (James Black)
1950: 5A (James Black)
1958: 5A (Harry Smith)
1959: 5A (Harry Smith)
1960: 5A (Harry Smith)
Sahuarita (5)
1979: 3A (Steve Keller)
1980: 3A (Steve Keller)
1982: 3A (Steve Keller)
1983: 3A (Steve Keller)
1984: 3A (Steve Keller)
Salpointe (4)
1965: 5A (Charles Potts)
1980: 5A (Regis Tremblay)
1981: 5A (Jim Flannery)
2004: 5A (Jim Flannery)
Rincon/UHS (3)
1993: 4A (Steve Reff)
1994: 4A (Steve Reff)
2002: 4A (Steve Morrow)
Catalina Foothills (2)
2009: 4A-I (Julie Walters)
2016: D-II (Julie Walters)
Ajo
1981: 3A (Kenny Farmer)
Buena
1970: 4A (Donald Harris)
Douglas
1983: 4A (Jim Halliday)
Ironwood Ridge
2008: 5A-II (Ryan Bais)
Flowing Wells
1982: 4A (Mark Latham)
Sabino
1986: 5A (Art Learing)
Nogales
1985: 4A (Mark Valenzuela)
FOLLOW @ANDYMORALES8 ON TWITTER!
Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014 and he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017 and he has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Contact Andy Morales at AMoralesMyTucson@yahoo.com
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