The Daily Wildcat • B15
Year in Review • Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Highs and lows from this season in sports
GOOD
BAD
SYDNEY RICHARDSON /THE DAILY WILDCAT
GAMEDAY ANALYST Lee Corso wears Wilbur’s gear next to UA alumnus and Triple Crown winning trainer Bob Baffert during College GameDay on the UA Mall on Sept. 26, 2015. It was the second time the UA has hosted College GameDay.
BY SAUL BOOKMAN The Daily Wildcat
Wildcats in Olympics The Olympics are this summer in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, and for some UA athletes, that means an opportunity to represent their country and their university. On the swim team alone, over 30 athletes are still fighting for a spot on an Olympic roster. Senior diver Rafael Quintero will participate on behalf of his native Puerto Rico in the 10-meter platform—he is the only athlete to solidify a position as of now. Chad Idensohn, Paige Kremer, Ricky Maestri, Michael Meyer and Tjasa Oder will all be looking to grab a spot in the pool for the UA and their country. Nnenya Hailey, Pau Tonnesen and Sage Watson are trying to secure a spot through track and field. That isn’t even mentioning a host of former UA athletes that may try to compete in the Olympics this summer. Kevin Cordes, who specializes in the breast stroke, will also represent the UA and is the most likely to secure a medal through the games in August. College GameDay Comes to Tucson ESPN’s signature college football show, College GameDay, brought out the Wildcat faithful bright and early last September as students and fans waited for hours to fill the set background on the UA Mall. While the College GameDay visit didn’t offer Arizona much luck on the gridiron—losing to UCLA that Saturday night—the nationally televised program did shine a nice spotlight on the school and its up-and-coming football program. It was the first time since 2009 that ESPN’s football version of College GameDay had visited the school. The highlight of the College GameDay visit came when ESPN brought on UA alumnus and Triple Crown winning racehorse trainer Bob Baffert, who offered his picks on the day’s
MASTERS Bethany Erickson Connor Kelley Sarah Kosso Michael Palacioz Jennifer Shipley Sho Taniguchi H. Daniel Villa Claire Perrott
college football slate. When it came time for ESPN’s Lee Corso to predict his winner of the Arizona-UCLA contest, he brought out the Wilbur the Wildcat headgear, much to the delight of Arizona fans. Corso’s prediction didn’t mean much a few hours later, but the image of the television commentator rocking the Wilbur headgear will outlive memories of the UA’s 2015 football season. Baseball’s new beginnings Heading into its last conference home-stand of the season, the Arizona baseball program found itself nationally ranked and near the top of the Pac-12 Conference standings. Led by first-year head coach Jay Johnson, the Wildcats not only appear to be headed to the postseason but could possibly host a regional as a national seed. Few thought Johnson would have the program rolling this quickly after taking over for national championship winning head coach Andy Lopez. Johnson, formerly the head coach at Nevada, has relied on a strong pitching staff and some solid batting to get the Wildcats back to national prominence. Senior pitcher Nathan Bannister quickly developed into Arizona’s ace this season. Through 14 appearances, Bannister held a 7-1 record including three complete games. Heading into Arizona’s rivalry series with ASU, he leads the team in innings pitched and strikeouts and is second in ERA behind JC Cloney. Bobby Dalbec and Kevin Dinkel came out of the bullpen to provide the Wildcats key lateinning outs. Zach Gibbons led the offensive attack with a batting average that hovered near .400 for most of the season, while Ryan Aguilar gave the Wildcats some power with six homers. Arizona concludes its regular season with series against Oregon, Abilene Christian and Hawaii, before entering postseason play.
BACHELORS Kelechi Abarikwu Jaime Aguirre Alexis Aiman Jeffrey Alcantara Katelyn Alcantara Natalie Amine Jayson Astor Grace Augee James Babinsky Kinzer Baker Stephen Barney Jerome Biedny III Jade Bowers Walker Bowman V Sterling Boyns Jonathon Brace
Peyton Brown Daisy Canchola Miranda Castillo Jacqueline Chau Zhaoren Chen Sarah Cho Taryn Courtney John Crossman Gabrielle Douglas Kendall Dunn Jessi Duran Tayler Dykes Idara Ekpoh Spencer Escobedo Janella Eshiet Zackary Esling Bradley Evans Mackenzie Everson Nicolas Fajardo Tiffany Feller Regan Fitzgerald Jordan Fitzpatrick Emily Fox Lorenzo Fusaro Jr
TYLER BAKER/THE DAILY WILDCAT
ARIZONA QUARTERBACK Anu Solomon (12) walks off the field after receiving an injury during a game against UCLA at Arizona Stadium on Sept. 26, 2015. The Wildcats fell to UCLA 56-30.
UCLA blowout ESPN College GameDay in Tucson was expected to be a competitive showdown between two Pac-12 forces. The Bruins, however, had plans of their own. UCLA quickly dominated the game leading 42-14 at the half. Arizona had three turnovers, while the Bruins had zero. The ironic part was that UCLA totaled 497 offensive yards while Arizona racked up 468. Not much of a significant difference. The final score, though, was 56-30. Even Lee Corso picked Arizona to stage the upset. The stadium was packed with College GameDay hype. The broadcasting started early at the break of dawn. Students filled the mall with clever signs and flooded the background of the College GameDay set. The Wildcats, however, did not capitalize on the opportunity. Anu Solomon was knocked out early in the second quarter with a concussion, leaving Jerrard Randall at the helm. On top of the disappointing game results, ZonaZoo cleared out by the start of the second quarter. Maybe this was because of the early GameDay wake up call, or simply because of the scoreboard. Either way, it put UCLA on top to start its Pac-12 play. Men’s golf not delivering To say Arizona men’s golf struggled this year would be putting it lightly. Only two men, Kolton Lapa and Jordan Gumberg, placed in the top 10 in any tournament this season. No other Wildcat even placed in the top 20 until Jake Kreuz broke through in the Pac-12 Championship. The struggles for the men’s golf program were eased a bit by Gumberg’s win at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic last month, breaking a five-year drought in the winner’s circle.
Samantha Gallegos Collin Gilchrist Catherine Gillett Ryan Grady Davis Harrison Nicholas Havey Shannon Higgins Shelby Hoglund Ana Islas Scott Jauch Anjanique Johnson Jazmin Jurkiewicz Christopher Karl Jennifer Kennard Max Klahr Koustubh Kondapalli Irena Krstic Katarina Krstic Deidre Kruckenberg Spencer Lee Jordan Levine Amy Lenz Jacob Likens Thomas Lincoln III Jessie Marman Alaina Martinez Evan May
The future would appear to have promise as Gumberg and Kreuz rank in the top three of nearly every statistical category for the men. The sophomore duo will look to improve on a decent foundation next season. Still, the team’s performance has left a lot to be desired. Kolton Lapa appeared to break through earlier in the year and seemed poised to lead the Wildcats down the stretch, but it never played out. He never sniffed a top-10 finish after ending up in ninth place at the National Invitational Tournament. Lapa finished the season in less than favorable fashion at the Pac-12 Championships by placing at No. 72 out of 72 golfers. Women’s tennis lack of depth The Arizona women’s tennis program never managed to get into a groove on the court this season, finishing the year with a 12-11 record including a 0-7 defeat to rival ASU to end the season. Under head coach Vicky Maes, the ladies lacked the top-to-bottom depth needed to compete in a conference filled with national heavyweights. The team went 1-8 in Pac-12 play. If there was a bright spot for the program, it was the play of senior Shayne Austin and junior Lauren Marker, who both qualified for the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships. The tournament begins on May 25 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Austin and Marker, who are ranked as the No. 28 duo nationally, will be one of 32 doubles teams competing. The duo finished with an impressive 15-5 regular season record. Marker will also compete in the 64-person singles bracket. She was named to the AllPac-12 First Team earlier this month.
Angelica McCarron Kevin McClain Andrew McClellan Ivan Mendez Emily Michael Jordon Mikelaitis Clemente Morales III Karla Murrieta Briana Nash Cali Nash Matthew Nichols Hayley Owen Karina Paredes Jenna Parker Erik Pastor Sara Patterson Nicole Paulat Justin Reid Adriana Rivera Maximilian Rodriguez Alejandro Romero Giana Sayegh Samantha Schuster Nicole Schwalbe Tyler Schwenke Hojin Seo Emily Sheen
— Follow Saul Bookman @DailyWildcat
Austin Sills-Trausch Kelli Sobieski Kambrea Soltero Ryan Starr Derek Stutesman Hannah Sullivan Wesley Sutton Kevon Thompson John Travis Jackqueline Trujillo Obumneke Ugbor Sarah Vallejo Alina Vigil Salvatore Vitale Mitchell Wagner Jennifer Wainwright Nyla Wambold Nichelle White Nicholas Widner Elizabeth Willis Aaron Wilson Andrew Wilson Jasmine Wilson Madison Wisler Richard Ybarra Zufan Yegezu