Xavier College Prep’s 2014 fall sports season is almost
here.
The Gators have been busy having tryouts and practices for
golf, volleyball, badminton, swimming and diving, cross country and freshman
tennis.
Here is a quick look at how the girls are progressing . . .
Golf
The Xavier crew shoots for 32 – 32 state championships since
1979, and fourth in a row.
Coached by athletic director Sr. Lynn Winsor and Tui
Selvaratnam, the Gators have plenty of talent returning in 2014, led by 2013
second-place finisher Madison Kerley, Alisa Snyder and Rebecca Redhorse. All
are seniors.
Selvaratnam said the team had 11 players come out. The goal
is to have everybody play in at least seven of the 11 matches (there also are
invitationals). The team had 12-14 players last year.
Kerley spent most of her summer playing in area and national
tournaments and attempting to qualify for other national events. She plays a
lot at Forest Highlands, near her family’s summer home in Flagstaff.
“We’re looking forward to another good year,’’ Kerley said.
Snyder has been working on her short game (chipping, etc.).
“That’s the most important part for me,’’ she said.
Kerley has committed to ASU and Snyder still is waiting to
decide.
Redhorse, who is looking at Dartmouth and Southern Illinois,
constantly aims for consistency.
Because the girls are so busy with golf and school
activities, she and Sr. Lynn emphasize the maintenance of good health and
nutrition, and expect the girls to do well academically.
The Gators play their home matches at Phoenix Country Club
or Camelback Golf Club. First match is Aug. 27 against Scottsdale Chaparral and
Phoenix North Canyon at PCC.
Volleyball
Lamar-Renee Bryant, in her second season as the Gators’
varsity coach, hopes to lead her team to a second straight Division I
championship. The Gators won it all in 2013 by defeating Chandler Hamilton in
the finals and highly regarded rival Phoenix Horizon in the semifinals.
The Gators lost six key seniors, but appear to have enough
talent to make another run.
At the top of the list is junior outside hitter Khalia
Lanier, who was The Arizona Republic’s
Big Schools Player of the Year. She already has made a college commitment to
USC. The 6-foot-3 has pure power, and is learning to add finesse to her
repertoire.
Bryant had about 50 girls try out for the freshman team.
Some were asked to work out with the varsity, and most everyone will be divided
among the varsity, junior-varsity and freshman teams.
The freshmen played in Vestar Hall and the varsity in the
upgraded gymnasium. It received a new coat of paint, the floor was improved,
and there is a new, modernized version of the “Ali’’ Gator mascot overlooking
the courts.
Bryant is asking her players to be flexible and versatile.
“We’re looking for the attitude, the willingness to do
anything,’’ she said. “Most of them have played club ball, so they’re already
familiar with such things as what setters and outside hitters do.’’
Lanier is tall and the Gators have decent height but are not
super tall as was Horizon in recent seasons, with six or seven players at 6
feet or taller. But as the Gators proved last season, you don’t have to be the
tallest team to win a championship.
When the varsity began practice, the girls gathered in a big
circle for a team prayer. Then they had conditioning drills, running across the
gym floor in one direction, then skipping back.
The Gators (all three levels) open the season Sept. 2 at
home against Peoria Centennial. The freshmen play at 4 p.m., the JV at 5 and
varsity at 6.
Badminton
Trying to sort out the best among 57 players trying out was
quite a challenge for coach Nancy Meyer, who led Xavier to the state title last
season.The team usually carries about a dozen players, perhaps as many as 18.
The Gators worked strictly on singles, not doubles. Doubles
is something to which the players must become accustomed during the season when
their strengths are better known.
“You have to build the right chemistry,’’ Meyer said.
She will need some depth because one of her top seniors,
Baani Khurana, is out for about six weeks with an injury.
Meyer is looking for good athletes. Don’t laugh -- you have
to be a good athlete to succeed in this sport.
“We look for agility, quickness, good hands, good footwork
and a good flow to their game,’’ Meyer said.
Xavier opens its season Aug. 27 against Chaparral at home.
Swimming and diving
Kelley Conrad, a coach at the Scottsdale Aquatic Club, has
taken over the program and is optimistic that the Gators can challenge for the
Division I crown. Xavier finished second to Phoenix Desert Vista in 2013.
The Gators have been practicing at the beautiful new pool at
next-door Phoenix Brophy College Preparatory. The two teams use adjacent pools
and will have their home meets there.
“Things have been going really well,’’ Conrad said. “I have
enjoyed myself. We have great expectations. The girls have responded really
well and have been respectful.’’
There are about 35 swimmers and a handful of divers taking
to the water.
“We’ve asked them to work hard, and they’re doing that,’’
Conrad said.The team appears to be somewhat balanced in terms of class standing.
It’s a bit early to tell whether the Gators will be stronger
in the longer events or in the sprints.
“That’s to be determined,’’ Conrad said.
The Gators have always relied on balance. That is why they
have won 27 titles, the most recent in 2012.
The first meet of the season will be Sept. 4 at Brophy
against Phoenix Mountain Pointe.Cross country
Can you imagine going out for a long run at 5 a.m.? For the
Xavier Gators, it is commonplace in the preseason and early in the season.
The Gators are led by Dave Van Sickle, in his 25th
year as coach. They were Division runner-up to Phoenix Desert Vista last
season.
“You’ve got to try to beat the heat,’’ said Van Sickle, who
also coaches the XCP track and field team.
The girls run two miles as a warm-up, come back to the track
on the Brophy Sports Campus, go five miles on the track, followed by a “cool
down’’ of two more miles.
Proper hydration is extremely important.
“We tell them about it until we are blue in the face,’’ Van
Sickle said.
The coach added that his team has some very good leaders
this season in seniors Lauren Kinzle, Sierra Brown and Shannon Molvin, and a
few promising freshmen.
The old dual meets are now a thing of the past, and most
teams compete in “invitationals.’’
This season, the Gators will run in the Peaks Invitational
in Flagstaff (Sept. 6), the Woodbridge Classic in Irvine, Calif. (Sept. 20),
the Doug Conley at Rollins Hills Golf Course in Tempe (Sept. 27), the Desert
Twilight at Grande Sports World in Casa Grande (Oct. 3), and the Rattler Invitational
in Marana (Oct. 18).
Freshman tennisYou have to start somewhere, and coach Laurie Martin welcomed about 70 players to this year’s first workout on Aug. 18.
Martin, who also coaches the varsity team in the spring,
said most girls who come out have not played before. That’s OK.
It is a no-cut program.
“We are passionate about the girls at this grass-roots level
and we want them to be passionate about the sport,’’ Martin said. “We want them
to think about playing this sport (most of them recreationally) for the rest of
their lives. We want them to see progress and feel good about themselves.’’
Martin said she does want her players to be in decent
condition.
Teams are divided into 10 “color groups’’ with six or seven
players on each team. Teams will play two or three times per week, and the
season does not last long, until the middle of October.
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