AZ athletes bask in ASU basketball spotlight
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A handful of former local high school athletes are sitting on ASU men's and women's basketball rosters, enjoying the ride to national prominence for both programs.
The Nov. 17 regional cover of the Sports Illustrated College Basketball Preview features Sun Devils Briann January and James Harden. Harden is an All-America candidate who averaged 17.8 pts last year as a freshman, and January is a projected WNBA draft pick. SI ranks the men's squad 16th nationally, and the women 15th.
The men's team, which opened its season with a convincing 80-64 win over Mississippi State, has included a quartet of home-grown players in its building plans for the future of a program that won 21 games last season, if you include a couple in the pre-season NIT. Ty Abbott is a sophomore guard from Desert Visa HS, Trent Anderson is a redshirt freshman from Ironwood Ridge HS that plays forward, and Taylor Rohde and Stephen Rogers are stepping right from high school onto the college hardwood this year. Both freshmen are forwards, Rohde from Pinnacle HS and Rogers from Mountain View HS.
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Ironwood Ridge, Shadow Mtn top the Doug Conley
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 There was no lack of drama at this year's Doug Conley Invitational cross country event over the weekend.
Tucson Ironwood Ridge HS edged out defending champion Xavier Prep HS, 107-109, on the girls' side, while the Shadow Mountain HS boys team also held off last years' defending champion, Rio Rico HS, for a 129-133 win.
The annual event, held at Tempe's Kiwanis Park, invites the top 20 cross country teams from around the state, regardless of class or division. Selections are based on a coaches' poll. There were 174 runners in the field this year, the 36th annual Conley, competing on the newly-designed 3.1-mile Kiwanis Park course.
Shadow Mountain had four runners finish in the top 26, including senior Cody Smith, who finished in fifth place. Four of the Ironwood Ridge runners posted top-15 finishes, as Sarah Miville came in sixth with a 19:17.30 time and Kat Howard finished in 19:26:29 for an eighth-place finish.
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Free Sports Performance Combine Offered
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High school athletes will have an opportunity on Friday, Nov. 28, to get a free assessment to find out how prepared they are for the next season. Velocity Sports Performance will conduct the Combine at its Scottsdale facility, beginning at 1:30 p.m.
The Combine will include speed tests (30/40 yard sprints), vertical jump measurements, upper body power assessments, and agility tests. The testing will be done indoors on a Mondo track and artificial turf areas with electronic equipment to assure accurate and reproducible results.
Velocity Sports Performance is the largest athletic performance training organization in Scottsdale and North America. It helps athletes maximize agility, speed, flexibility, and energy systems with an emphasis on injury prevention, recovery/regeneration and nutrition.
Each participant will be required to have a parental release form filled out at Velocity on the day of the event. Warm-ups will begin at 1:30 and testing will follow immediately afterwards.
To register for this free event, open to all athletes 10 years or older, call Velocity at 480-503-8212.
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Nominate A Deserving Coach for National Award
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Do you have a favorite coach that deserves some special recognition?
You have until Nov. 30 to get your nomination in for the Double-Goal Coach Award, presented by the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), a national non-profit organization that has helped create a positive character-building youth sports environment for more than 3 million youth sports athletes since 1998.
A PCA Double-Goal Coach is someone who wants to win, AND has a second goal: to help players develop positive character traits so they can be successful in life. While winning is important, helping players learn "life lessons" is more important to this kind of coach. Does that sound like someone you know?
You can go to www.positivecoach.org to get an online form to submit your nomination. Winners will receive a commemorative certificate and an expenses-paid trip to PCA's 8th Annual National Youth Sports Awards Ceremony in April.
Award finalists will be notified in January and eventual winners will be notified in February.
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HS Athletes Invited to Fitness Challenge
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 High school athletes are being challenged to complete a series of five simple exercises, as Ikei Sports Performance searches for those 'with the heart of a champion and pride of a warrior." The winners earn the right to over $1,000 in prizes - and the satisfaction of knowing they have also participated in the fight against autism.
The company has created the "Warrior Fitness Challenge" for high school students in grades 9-12, and invites participants to challenge their friends, classmates, and teammates to see who can earn "Warrior' status. Five simple exercises are required: Pull-up, Push-up, Squat, Sit-up, and 300-yard run.
Ikei Performance is using this event to help support The Travis Laboy Foundation - Supporting Autistic Causes for Kids (S.A.C.K.). Proceeds from the Challenge will help benefit S.A.C.K.
The cost to participate is $25 per person, or $35 for two participants, and sessions are held weekly. Prizes include free personal training sessions, an autographed NFL football, Arizona Cardinals Travis Laboy jersey, Sunfare gourmet meal delivery service, and T-shirts.
To find out more about the Warrior Fitness Challenge, call 480.657.6937 or email: info@ikeiperformance.com.
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Local athletes named to national watch lists
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Former Peoria High School football stand-out Keegan Herring, now in his senior year at ASU, and Dexter Davis, a junior on the Sun Devil football squad and former player at Thunderbird High School, were named as players being considered for some of the nation's most coveted football honors.
Herring has been named a candidate for the 2008 Doak Walker Award, which is awarded annually to the nation's top running back. He is currently ranked 10th on ASU's all-time rushing list, with 2,234 yards coming into the season, and has three straight seasons of averaging more than five yards per carry.
Davis has been named to the Watch List for the 2008 Rotary Lombardi Award, which is presented annually to the nation's best football lineman or linebacker, and to the Watch List for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy for the best defensive player in college football. He has started all 26 games in his ASU career and has led the Devils in sack both seasons. Last season, he tied for third in the Pac 10 with 10.5 sacks, and also had 33 tackles - for a total of 73 tackles over two seasons.
Finalists for the Doak Walker Award will be announced on Nov. 24 and the recipient selected on Dec. 1. A list of 12 semi-finalists for the Lombardi Award is released at the end of October, with the winner announced on Dec. 10.
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MIND GAMES: Believe & you will achieve
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Prior to Super Bowl III, New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath made one of the boldest statements in the history of sports when he guaranteed victory against the powerful and heavily-favored Baltimore Colts. Namath and the Jets made good on his claim, however, and defeated the Colts in what many consider to be one of the greatest upsets of all time. Broadway Joe (as Namath was called) certainly wasn’t short on believing in his ability to achieve his goals – and neither should you.
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