Best Of Tucson®

Best High School Athletes

Various Selections

In honor of Ocean's Twelve, which, in the grand tradition of Hollywood, is a sequel to a remake, we give you this quick dozen of local kids who did great things this past year. In no particular order:

· Brandon Lopez, Cienega. UA signee led the new school into the state football playoffs, where they fell one point short of beating eventual state champion Sunnyside.

· Echo Fallon. Point guard for Catalina Foothills' Kino championship team and all-state sprinter in track.

· Sybil Dosty. Salpointe basketball center signed with mega-power Tennessee.

· Daniel Borg, Ironwood Ridge. UA football signee barely made it into state finals in discus, then threw 20 feet farther than he'd ever thrown before to win state title.

· Jessi Barnes, Green Fields. Shattered all-classes state record for three-point shooting and won back-to-back three-point titles at America West.

· Joe Sanchez, Catalina Foothills. Made all-city in football and then won the state title in shot put.

· Ashley Wallach, Catalina Foothills. Penn-bound soccer star led Falcons to the No. 1 ranking in the state.

· Peter Zimmer, who led Salpointe to a state championship in boys' tennis.

· Xavier Smith, Sunnyside. As a junior, led Blue Devils to second state football title in three years. Already signed with UA.

· Lacey Nymeyer, Mountain View. May be one of the best local swimmers ever, and that's saying a lot.

· Desiree Williams, Flowing Wells. Three-sport athlete led Cabs to state final four in softball, then signed with powerhouse Texas.

· And finally, our own Alexander Danehy from Amphi, who overcame the lack of a home track (Amphi's was under construction all season) and basically coached himself to a Kino Conference championship in the discus. And when he got on the winner's stand, Alexander, who is whiter than the British Royal Family, did the black-power salute, à la Tommie Smith in 1968.