Greg Hansen's Top 100 Sports Figures of 2018: 100-81
100. Adin Hill
As the Tucson Roadrunners won the Pacific Division, Hill, a goalie, was ranked No. 5 in the American Hockey League goalie statistics, and has shuttled between Tucson and the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes this season.
99. Zak Mohamed and Sam Lossou
Rincon’s dominating soccer twosome combined to score 35 goals in a 13-4-2 season, and this year had 22 goals combined after a 10-2 start.
98. Breezy Hayward and Kaitlyn Anderson
As Cienega High School rolled to another state softball championship, Hayward, a freshman with 54 RBI and a .513 batting average, and Anderson, a senior with a .467 batting average and 11 home runs, led the way.
97. Devyn Cross
In her junior year at Arizona, the middle blocker was selected to the AVCA All-America honorable mention team.
96. Addison Mort
As The Gregory School rolled to the state boys basketball championship, going 27-4 in Class 1A, Mort averaged 26 points and eight rebounds a game.
95. Alex Lopez and Jordan Lopez
The Walden Grove High School twins combined for 4,509 yards from scrimmage in an 8-3 season; Alex, the quarterback, passed for 2,655 yards and 29 touchdowns and rushed for 624 more. Jordan, a junior receiver, caught 54 passes for 1,230 yards and 12 touchdowns.
94. Kalista Kakou
One of the state’s leading high school soccer players, Kakou helped Salpointe win the 2018 Class 4A state championship and then signed to play collegiately at Eastern Washington.
93. Cole Altherr
Altherr was a top two-way player for Catalina Foothills High School's baseball team, hitting .348 with 15 extra-base hits and going 5-1 as a pitcher.
92. Nils Roth
Pima College’s freshman goalkeeper led the NJCAA in goals-against average as the Aztecs won the men’s soccer national title.
91. Kylee Martin
Pima College’s standout soccer player, a Sahuaro High School grad, was a first-team All-ACCAC selection.
90. Matt Grevers
The four-time Olympic swimming gold medalist, a volunteer coach on the UA swimming staff, finished second in the 100 backstroke at the USA finals.
89. Carlie Scupin
In her first two seasons at Tucson High, Scupin, a first baseman, has hit 24 home runs; her sophomore softball season was her best, producing a .619 batting average.
88. Mackenzie McRee
Not only did the freshman golfer from Salpointe Catholic qualify to compete in the Drive, Chip and Putt competition on the week of the Masters, she won the state Division II girls golf title.
87. Rashaad Henderson
Flowing Wells’ senior running back gained 1,366 yards, scored 23 touchdowns and made 43 tackles for Mark Brunenkant’s 8-3 Caballeros.
86. Abram Carrasco
The Cholla High School grad averaged 16.6 points per game on Pima College’s national basketball runnerup team, and is now leading the team with a 20.1 points-per-game average this season.
85. Greg Wenneborg and Chad Harrison
Pima College’s veteran track and cross country coaches produced five NJCAA All-Americans at the national finals: 800 meter runner Collin Dylla, pole vaulter Tony Chavez, high jumper Cameron Crandall, long jumper Anahiramar Lopez and high jumper Megan Schiffmacher.
84. Majok Deng
Salpointe Catholic’s senior basketball standout led the Lancers to the state championship game as a junior. Now a senior committed to Pepperdine, Deng averaged 17.9 points per game in his first 11 games.
83. Yu-Sang Hou
Arizona’s sophomore golfer, a vital part of the NCAA championship, was the Pac-12’s November golfer of the month, and finished in the top 20 of six tournaments.
82. Cesar Salazar
As a junior catcher at Arizona, the Sahuaro High School grad was an All-Pac-12 first-team catcher, hitting .339.
81. Abdi Abdirahman
Abdirahman, who turns 42 on New Year's Day, was 15th in the Boston Marathon and fifth in the Doha Half-Marathon.
Greg Hansen's Top 100 Sports Figures of 2018: 80-61
80. Mark Chandler
One of the top prep baseball coaches in Tucson history, Chandler produced his first state championship, directing Sabino High School to a 28-4 record and the Class 3A state title.
79. Amy Rocha
Salpointe’s softball coach guided the Lancers to the state championship, 32-4 overall, and has won 105 games in four seasons on the job.
78. Felecity Willis
The former UA softball and basketball two-sport athlete has become one of the West’s leading women’s basketball referees, working her sixth season in the Mountain West, Big Sky, WCC and WAC conferences.
77. Terrell Hayward
Cienega High School's versatile football standout rushed for 636 yards, caught passes for 763 yards, made 32 tackles and scored 17 touchdowns.
76. Matt Bushman
Not only did the former Sabino High School tight end start as a BYU sophomore, he has now caught 74 passes for 979 yards in two years for the Cougars, including a game-changing touchdown in a victory over Arizona.
75. Justin Wright
In his senior year at Arizona, Wright won the men’s 200 butterfly in the USA Championships, qualifying for the USA National team. He was fifth in the 200 fly for the Wildcats at the NCAA finals.
74. Aari McDonald
Few basketball players in UA history got off to the kind of start the sophomore transfer from Washington did. She averaged 23.7 points through 10 games; her 39 points against Loyola Marymount tied the Wildcats' single-game scoring record.
73. Manny Quiroz
Sunnyside’s senior soccer all-star has scored 44 goals (and counting) the last two seasons.
72. Mike Urbanski
Salpointe Catholic’s accomplished cross country coach piloted the Lancers girls to their second state championship in three years.
71. Kaskile Zawadi
In PCC’s burst to the NJCAA men’s soccer championship, Zawadi — a sophomore defender from Cholla High School — was selected to the All-America second team.
70. Jada Talley
69. Rick Schantz
One of the leading names in Tucson soccer history became Phoenix Rising’s interim head coach during the USL season, led the Rising to a 12-7-1 record and then guided it to the USL title game. Schantz, a former FC Tucson coach, was then named permanent head coach .
68. Cory Petska
67. Tony Amato
Arizona’s soccer coach reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row, going 13-6-2 overall.
66. Derik Hall
Hall became an all-WSFL first-team defensive back as a Pima College sophomore. The former Sahuaro High School standout made 83 tackles, fourth in the league.
65. Kristie Stevens
Stevens coached Catalina Foothills’ girls tennis team to a 17-0 record and her 12th state championship.
64. Isaiah Murphy
Murphy averaged 15.9 points per game for Pima College’s basketball team, guiding the Aztecs to 31 victories and a No. 2 finish in the NJCAA.
63. Delaney Schnell
The freshman diver from Tucson High was the Pac-12 freshman Diver of the Year, finishing sixth in the NCAA 1-meter diving championships.
62. Casey O’Brien
Sunnyside High School's soccer coach has gone 27-4-2 the last two seasons, and the Blue Devils were ranked No. 1 in the state through Dec. 20.
61. Diana Montano
In Salpointe Catholic’s state championship softball season, Montano, a junior, drove in a team-high 64 runs and hit .450 with eight home runs.
Greg Hansen's Top 100 Sports Figures of 2018: 60-41
60. Ian Kinsler
Winning a World Series as Boston’s second baseman the last half of the season, the CDO grad hit 14 home runs and was awarded his second career Gold Glove.
59. Taylor McQuillin
Arizona’s pitching ace won 28 games, had a 1.67 ERA and was third in the Pac-12 with 287 strikeouts.
58. Adia Barnes
Rebuilding Arizona’s women’s basketball program, Barnes produced the nation’s No. 4 overall recruiting class and guided her team to nine consecutive wins in November and December.
57. Nick Quintana
Arizona’s all-Pac-12 third baseman hit .313 with 14 home runs and 55 RBIs as a sophomore.
56. Trenton Bourguet
Marana High School's senior quarterback passed for 2,460 yards, giving him a Tucson prep career record of 7,612 yards, with 89 career touchdown passes.
55. Jesse Ybarra and Anthony Leon
Ybarra, a junior ranked No. 12 in the nation, has won back-to-back state wrestling championships and accepted a scholarship offer to Iowa. Head coach Anthony Leon piloted the Blue Devils to yet another state title.
54. Tim Derksen
After opening his EuroLeague career in Spain, the former Amphitheater High state player of the year was leading the Slovakian league with 18.9 points per game.
53. Steve Botkin
Sahuaro High School's enduring girls basketball coach won his 500th game at the school. No other girls coach in Tucson prep basketball history has even 400.
52. Bernard Lagat
51. Umajesty Williams
A freshman, Arizona’s school-record holder at 400 meters finished second in the Pac-12 finals and then capped the meet in a dazzling comeback in the 400 relays, giving Arizona its first-ever championship in the event.
50. Nick Gonzales
After a strong prep season at Cienega High School, Gonzales became the starting second baseman for New Mexico State’s WAC champions, hitting a team-high .347. He was named the WAC Freshman of the Year.
49. Shelley Duncan
48. Jim Monaco
Even though his school chose to eliminate its football program beginning in 2019, Monaco persevered, coaching Pima College to a 6-4 record, the Heart of Texas Bowl and a No. 20 ranking in the NJCAA. He was recently named the school's athletic director.
47. Alyssa Thompson
In her final season at Arizona, the Salpointe Catholic grad finished third in the Pac-12 long jump and third in the Pac-12 heptathlon, and was one of 12 conference student-athletes selected as a Postgraduate Scholarship recipient.
46. Brent Strom
Houston’s accomplished pitching coach, a longtime Tucson resident, helped the Astros reach the American League Championship Series after winning the AL West Division.
45. Javier Holguin, Alex Rangel, Gabe Mendoza
Pima College’s assistant men’s soccer coaches not only helped the Aztecs win the national championship, but were chosen as the staff of the year by the United Soccer Coaches of America.
44. Neysia Howard
Howard swept the 100 and 200 meters at the state championships and was part of Tucson High’s state-title-winning 4x100 relay team. She is now a freshman at Arizona.
43. Bill Leith
The director of both the Kino Baseball League and the Sun Belt College Baseball League experienced the most productive season yet in the sixth year of his vast organization.
42. Eric Tatham
Cienega’s able softball coach piloted the Bobcats to their third state title in four years, finishing 29-6.
41. Kate Bruno
In her sophomore season at Pima College, Bruno, from Canyon del Oro High School, won the ACCAC and Region championships in cross country and finished ninth in the NJCAA, backing up her spring finish of No. 9 in the NJCAA 1,500 meter finals.