In the wake of the University Interscholastic League suspending all Texas high school athletic events and canceling some tournaments until May 11 because of the swine flu, the Arizona Interscholastic Association has issued a statement on its Web site.
The release said everything will remain status quo in Arizona unless an outbreak forces schools to close or several kids/coaches/staff become infected.
AIA Assistant Executive Director Chuck Schmidt said the best they can do is keep in touch with the Arizona Department of Health and deal with whatever arises on a case-by-case basis.
RECORD UNLIKELY
It is unlikely the 100-meter dash time of Chandler Hamilton’s Ryan Milus from Friday’s Tribune Invitational will be retrieved.
Many in attendance clocked him under the state record of 10.33 seconds, but the electronic timer malfunctioned, making it unofficial.
There was hope the time could be retrieved because the software company had video of the race, but meet director Thad Gates isn’t confident that will happen.
“My timing crew did talk to the software manufacturer who could not give an explanation for the malfunction,” Gates said in an e-mail. “They are going to continue to try to retrieve the time, but the odds are not in our favor.”
RISING TIGERS
Nine weeks ago, the Gilbert high school softball team began the season on a back field at Mesa Red Mountain’s Lion Country Classic tournament loaded with expectations.
It wasn’t a pretty sight when the Tigers lost 5-2 to Gilbert Mesquite.
Tigers coach Shaundra Gutierrez repeatedly referenced how far this team was from being a polished product. Every school says that, and most of the time it’s true, but it sounded odd because nearly every player from last year’s Fiesta Region title team was back.
Gutierrez was right. On Wednesday, the Tigers avenged a loss to Mesquite a couple weeks ago in the final game of the regular season to win a second consecutive Fiesta title.
At 15-3, the Tigers are almost assured a better start to this weekend’s state tournament than the No. 8 seed they earned last season. While waiting for a few other results to come in and Thursday games to play out, it’s looking like a top-5 seed is coming.
Staff writers Kyle Odegard and Les Willsey contributed to this report.
