Mountain View senior Jenna Hudson is a captain on the No. 4-seeded Toros softball team that hosted No. 13 Skyline on Saturday to begin the state tournament. Before the Toros knocked off Basha to conclude the regular season this week, the co-captain talked about her future in medicine, her disdain for produce and an inspiring trip to the East Coast.
Class you dread the most: Pre-calculus. I love math but it’s hard.
Career aspirations: Nursing, probably pediatric. I’ve been volunteering at two hospitals.
Most embarrassing moment in sports: At nationals when …

In what Higley coach Eddy Zubey will serve as community service and maybe a little team bonding en route to spring football practice, the Knights are doing grunt work at the Special Olympics this week.
The Games are held at Mesa Community College beginning Saturday morning and running all day. The Knights roster will be on hand to help set up and take down equipment, run the starting and finishing lines and be something of a go-fer for all things in between.
The Knights will be there from 8 a.m. to 12 …

Desert Vista senior Kadie McNamara revealed on Friday that she will be attending the Air Force Academy next year.
McNamara, one of the top throwers in Arizona, is currently ranked third in the state in the discus, with a top throw of 134-feet, 7 inches, and ninth in the shot put at 38-7.

The New Orleans Saints took California defensive end and former Chandler High standout Cameron Jordan with the 24th pick in the NFL draft, looking to bolster a lackluster pass rush.
Jordan, son of former Pro Bowl player Steve Jordan, had 62 tackles, 12.5 stops for loss and 5.5 sacks while forcing three fumbles as a senior. He was a first-team Pac-10 selection last year.
New Orleans finished tied for 18th in the NFL in sacks last season and did not get consistent pressure from starting ends Will Smith …

More headaches for both the AIA and its member schools surfaced this week regarding the new computer schedules and supposed geographic realignment.
Since opponents for team sports were released earlier this month, athletic directors and their coaches were supposed to have the 2011-2012 dates for all team sports (including football) finalized on Thursday.
Unfortunately, more glitches have pushed that back to May.
Now, athletic directors and coaches are supposed to find out their schedules on May 3.
Word is several conflicts arose between locations and dates. There were also doubling-up on opponents, meaning a …

The Desert Ridge football team begins spring football practice next week. Coach Jeremy Hathcock joined the Coaches Corner to talk about how last season’s run to the championship game has affected his program, and how he will handle his quarterback situation.
Q: Has the title game run boosted the participation numbers?
A: At the younger levels it did. We have 60 freshmen still working out. Last year we had 40. For the younger kids, it really piqued their interest, and the incoming kids are all excited to be Jaguars. Everyone’s talking about …

Mitch Nay, the Hamilton baseball team’s No. 3 hitter, popped his shoulder out of place while diving for a ball on April 20 against Mountain Pointe and hasn’t played since.
He will likely miss the first round of the 5A-I state tournament on Saturday, Hamilton coach Mike Woods said.
“It’s a big loss,” he said.
Against Red Mountain on Wednesday, regular cleanup hitter Colton Frabasilio moved up to the No. 3 spot, while his brother, Jordan, took over clean-up duties.
Woods said besides Nay, there really isn’t a prototypical middle-of-the-lineup hitter among his starters, …

Desert Vista was the final baseball team to make the field of 16 last year, and the Thunder are in that exact same spot heading into the regular season finale against Brophy today. The Thunder will likely need another win to stay in, as there are multiple teams behind them within striking distance. Desert Vista started off 2-8 in power point contests but have won five of seven since, including a crucial 6-2 victory over the Broncos on Tuesday.
Red Mountain is another team that began the year slowly but has …

It’s the 23rd hour, swansong, bubble time, fat lady warming up, etc…
Whatever lame adjective/cliche you want to use, a handful of softball schools have Wednesday’s games (or need help) to squeeze into the top 16 and live to play this weekend’s state tournaments, or simply the 8/9 borderline between a home game and sitting on a bus.
Here’s a look at who’s straddling the line between tournament time and turning in uniforms this spring:
5A-I
No. 13 Skyline at No. 20 Mountain Pointe: The Coyotes got off to a fast start in power …

It’s bubble time for some East Valley baseball teams.
Heading into Tuesday’s play, Basha, Desert Vista and Red Mountain were sitting at Nos. 17 through 19, respectively, in the 5A Division I power point standings with two games remaining. Only 16 teams make the playoffs, so even a split may not be enough for any of those teams.
The schedules aren’t easy for any of them. Basha gets Mesquite (No. 3 in power points) and Mountain View (No. 6) to conclude the season. Desert Vista plays Brophy (No. 7) twice, and …