Football, Swim, and Volleyball Reach State Championships
Poster made by StuGo to cheer on our sports.
As the cold weather slowly begins to set in, many of our fall sports are concluding their season after having qualified for their state championships. Three of our sports: football, swim, and volleyball, all finished their 2019 fall season this weekend at the state championship. Unfortunately, none of the teams won, but all three finished out on a great note.
The beginning of the great match against Blue Ridge High.
Football successfully qualified for the state championship this autumn for the first time in ACP history. This year marks two years since the team was first formed back in 2017 and after two years of unpleasant losses, ACPFB finally ended with a spectacular season. With an 8-3 win record, compared to their 1-9 record the previous season, varsity football happily surprised many students, teachers, family, and friends.
Friday, November 8th, at 7:00 P.M., in the cool forests of Pinetop, our varsity football team sadly lost to Blue Ridge High School of Pinetop-Lakeside. Despite their hard work and diligence out on the field, they lost 13-35. However, ACP football has made history by qualifying for the state championship for the first time! Congrats to our Knights on an amazing season and thank you for all your dedication and vigor in making ACPFB a force to be reckoned with.
While our football boys tackled Blue Ridge High, swim made a big splash at their state championship. After prepping extensively, the team did fairly well as a whole, with girls placing 17th out of 30 teams and boys placing 12th out of 35 teams.
Swim engaged in the preliminary rounds of the state championship last Thursday, November 6th, before excelling to the state finals. 25 athletes qualified for state: Michelle Estrada, Torri Foster, Emily Greenwod, Brisa Serrano, Wyatt Spivey, Hunter Paynich, Taylor Smith, Isaac Stowell, Brennan Sweeney, Logan Sylvester, Sianna O’Brien, Bridge Bach, Gerald Bowers, Jacob Conklin, Ryan Gray, Richard Lowther, Ian Phu, Olivia Ramos, Katherine White, Katherine Shimkus, Andrew Kang, Clarice Nguyen, Pauline Kousolas, AnaLyn Bowman, and Diego Rios. Andrew Kang broke three school records: 200 yard freestyle (1:52.40), 200 yard individual medley (2:11.52) and 100 yard freestyle (50.97). Ryan Gray also broke a record: the 100 yard backstroke (1:00.40).
The girls celebrating as they score a point against their opponents.
Up north near the Four Corners in Kayenta, Arizona, our girl’s volleyball team battled heavily on the court versus Monument Valley and Snowflake High. After beating Monument 3-1 (25-16, 14-25, 25-23, 25-14), the girls suffered a defeat against Snowflake a mere four hours later. They regrettably lost 0-3 after a very tight and stressful match (17-25, 17-25, 17-25). Despite this sad news, the girls ended their season 15-4, ranking seventh in the 3A division.
Despite the heavy losses, all three of our fall sports ended their seasons with great gusto. Way to go, Knights! Don’t forget to strive for the impossible and be extraordinary!
