Greg Hansen's Top 100 Sports Figures of 2018: 100-81
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Greg Hansen
Columnist
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Star columnist Greg Hansen counts down the most prominent sports figures in Southern Arizona from 2018. Find out who makes the cut.
100. Adin Hill
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Arizona Coyotes goalie Adin Hill makes a save in the third period against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. Arizona beat Minnesota 4-3.
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
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Rincon boys soccer coach Roxanne Taylor exchanges phone info with forward Sam Lossou after the Rangers notched a 1-0 home win, Taylor’s 401st, against Desert View on Tuesday.
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
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Cienega's Kaitlyn Anderson drops a sacrifice bunt to move a runner to third base during second inning action against Mountain View in round 2 of the Class 5A state softball playoffs at Cienega High School in Vail, AZ. on Tuesday, May 2, 2017. Photo by Ron Medvescek / Arizona Daily Star.
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
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Devyn Cross says that during the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament loss to Missouri, “I could have personally been more engaged rather than stuck in my head the whole time.”
In her junior year at Arizona, the middle blocker was selected to the AVCA All-America honorable mention team.
96. Addison Mort
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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
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“They definitely work really, really well together,” Walden Grove coach Corey Noble says of Alex, left, 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
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Salpointe Catholic's Kalista Kakou, left, and Jacuelina Valenzuela (3) celebrate the Lancers' 3-0 voctory over Flagstaff in the girl's 4A state soccer championship game on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018, in Gilbert, Ariz.
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
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Catalina Foothills pitcher Cole Altherr delivers a pitch against St. Mary's during the third inning of their State 4A Championship semifinal baseball game at Tempe Diablo Stadium on Wednesday, May 9, 2018, in Tempe, Ariz.
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
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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
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Kylee Martin
Pima College’s standout soccer player, a Sahuaro High School grad, was a first-team All-ACCAC selection.
90. Matt Grevers
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United States' Matt Grevers, Caeleb Remel Dressel and Lilly King, from left, celebrate after winning the gold medal in the mixed medley relay during the swimming competitions of the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, July 26, 2017.
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
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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
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Mackenzie McRee grew up playing golf and watching the Masters with her dad, Jim 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
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Flowing Wells' Rashaad Henderson (23) manages to out run Mountain View's Branden Devoy (8) in the third quarter of their football game at Flowing Wells High School, Friday, October 26, 2018, Tucson, Ariz.
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
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Abram Carrasco, right, has already reached the 1,000-point mark.
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
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Chad Harrison, left, is Pima College's head coach.
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
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Salpointe Catholic's Majok Deng, left, drives to the basket past Buckeye Union's Otis Frazier during the second half of the boy's 4A state semifinal game on Feb. 23, 2018, in Phoenix.
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
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Arizona's Yu-Sang Hou watches her shot from the first tee during the final round of the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships in Stillwater, Okla., Wednesday, May 23, 2018. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
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
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Arizona catcher Cesar Salazar (12) cuts off the throw home as Oregon State outfielder Jack Anderson (29) scores during the sixth inning of the University of Arizona Wildcats vs. No. 5 Oregon State University Beavers college baseball game on April 6, 2018, at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Ariz.
As a junior catcher at Arizona, the Sahuaro High School grad was an All-Pac-12 first-team catcher, hitting .339.
81. Abdi Abdirahman
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Abdi Abdirahman, of Tucson, took home bronze in the 2016 New York City Marathon and was the first American to finish the race.
Abdirahman, who turns 42 on New Year's Day, was 15th in the Boston Marathon and fifth in the Doha Half-Marathon.
Greg Hansen
Columnist
