Former Catalina Foothills golf standout Reece Nilsen was named Western Athletic Conference Men’s Golfer of the Week on Wednesday. Nilsen led Grand Canyon to a third-place finish at the Orange County Collegiate Classic in his first tournament for GCU. He finished in fifth-place overall with a 2-over-par 218. Two of his three rounds came at or under par as just two of the 93 golfers in the field finished under par for the tournament.
This list will be updated all year in an effort to recognize all former local prep stars who have gone on to achieve either academic and/or athletic awards at the next level. These are not high school awards but collegiate and professional recognitions. NOT CHAMPIONSHIPS. If you are aware of anything I have missed along the way, please let me know.
Portions from news release.
We’ve recognized 16 athletes so far this year. We recognized 195 athletes in 2019.
Reece Nilsen/Golf
Catalina Foothills/Grand Canyon
WAC Men’s Golfer of the Week (4/12)
Alyssa Perez/Basketball
Marana/Pima
ACCAC Player of the Week (2/4)
Bailey Thompson/Softball
Canyon del Oro/Seattle
Preseason All-WAC Team (2/4)
Abby Doughty/Softball
Cienega/Utah Valley
Preseason All-WAC Team (2/4)
Brianna Aguilar/Softball
Salpointe/Grand Canyon
Preseason All-WAC Team (2/4)
Jake Engel/Baseball
Ironwood Ridge/Dixie State
NCBW Preseason All-American (1/30)
Kevin Jimenez/Baseball
Nogales/New Mexico State
Preseason All-WAC Team (2/5)
Nick Gonzales/Baseball
Cienega/New Mexico State
Perfect Game Preseason All-American (1/7)
NCAA Baseball Player of the Year Contender (1/15)
D1Baseball Preseason First Team All-American (1/21)
Preseason All-WAC Team (2/5)
Preseason WAC Player of the Year (2/5)
Tristan Peterson/Baseball
Canyon del Oro/New Mexico State
Perfect Game Preseason All-American (1/7)
Preseason All-WAC Team (2/5)
Spencer Packard/Baseball
Canyon del Oro/Campbell
Big South Preseason All-Conference (1/27)
Perfect Game Preseason Big South Player of the Year (1/27)
Mandy Lorenson/Softball
Ironwood Ridge/Fort Lewis
RMAC Players to Watch (1/27)
Luis Aguilar/Football
Nogales/NAU
Athlon Sports FCS Postseason All-American (1/15)
Abram Carrasco/Basketball
Cholla/Westmont
GSAC Player of the Week (1/7)
GSAC Player of the Week (1/14)
Alex Robles/Baseball
Tucson/Naranjeros de Hermosillo
Liga Mexicana del Pacifico Rookie of the Year (1/8)
Brooks Fail/Swim
Catalina Foothills/Arizona
Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week (1/8)
Jamee Swan/Basketball
Marana/Colorado
Colorado All-Decade Team (1/2)
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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014, he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017, a 2019 AZ Education News award winner and he has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. He was the first in Arizona to write about high school beach volleyball and high school girls wrestling. 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 is the Southern Arizona voting member of the Ed Doherty Award, recognizing the top football player in Arizona, and he was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Andy was named an Honorary Flowing Wells Caballero in 2019. Contact Andy Morales at amoralesmytucson@yahoo.com
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