Running, Jumping & Throwing!

Adam Turner, AZ Pentathlon Record Holder—Track & Field

Adam Turner, 13, is a friendly and very polite young man. But get him onto the track and he absolutely tears it up.

Whether it’s running, jumping or throwing, Adam is amazing. In fact, he set the all-time Arizona record for the PENTATHLON last summer. What’s the pentathlon? It’s five track and field events where the athlete scores points on each event for a total overall score. “For pentathlon (you do) the hurdles first. Next is shot put, high jump, long jump and then the 1500-meter run (the mile),” Adam explains. To be successful, you need speed, strength and great hops.

For years, Adam had played football and basketball. He also has a blast skateboarding, too. Two seasons ago, a co-worker of his mom’s thought Adam should try out for her husband’s Avondale track club—the Mustangs.

“I was 11 and went to this thing called speed camp,” Adam recalls. He impressed Mustangs Coach Donald Hawkins. “I like to do a lot of events, so coach told me about the pentathlon,” he says.

His first year, he finished second at state in pentathlon for his age group and went to nationals, running in the 4x400 relay.

But last summer at the Arizona championships, Adam crushed the all-time state record in pentathlon, scoring 2,613 points. Not only was that a huge pentathlon score for Arizona, it ended up being the highest score in the country for that year!
He wants to run track in college and eventually in the Olympics!

AZ Hockey Star Is Harvard Bound!

Lyndsey Fry Hockey Right Wing Team USA Women’s U18

Lyndsey Fry has always been smart. So when it came to picking a sport, she chose to hit the ice instead of broiling in the Valley’s 100-degree heat.

“It was ‘The Mighty Ducks’ movies that got me into it! No one in my family was into hockey at all, Lyndsey shares. “The very first time I skated on ice, my dad said figure skates might be easier. I told him no way—I wanted hockey skates.” She was only 6 when she switched from roller hockey to ice hockey.

Lyndsey grew up playing with the boys, which was fine with her. “I like to hit. You can hit with boys but you can’t hit with girls. (Women’s hockey) is still a physical game, but you can’t just go out and check somebody,” Lyndsey points out. “When I first started, it was just a house league. That’s a great place to learn because all the kids were kind of at the same level.”

From Mites to Squirts to Pee Wees, Lyndsey developed into a high-scoring hockey player. Her favorite shot is the slapshot, which she can shoot over 80 mph!

For the past few years, Lyndsey has traveled a lot in pursuit of her hockey dreams. Her current team is the Colorado Select, a U19 (19 and under) AAA team up in Littleton, Colo. And she’s also honored to be part of Team USA Women’s U18, which won gold last year at the U18 World Championships in Germany and took silver at this year’s championships in Illinois. Obviously, she has her eye on playing hockey at the next Olympic Winter Games.

“I like to travel when we’re playing games, and I get to go places with my teams,” Lyndsey says. “But it gets a little tiring traveling to Colorado and back.”

At school, Lyndsey has a knack for math and maintains an amazing 4.3 GPA! She’s really excited to head off to Harvard this fall and to strap on her skates there.

Gymnasts Become Dynamite Divers

Emily Sharrer

Maddi Johnson

Tucson Diving Team

Two 11-year-olds, Emily Sharrer and Maddi Johnson, are wowing crowds—and judges—with their picture-perfect dives.

Both young divers performed well at nationals recently. And they have high hopes to make it to the World Junior Diving Championships, coming this September to their home pool—UofA’s Hillenbrand Aquatic Center!

Like many divers, they started in gymnastics. “The two sports are so similar,” Maddi points out. “The flips on the floor and the running helps you for punching on the board.”

Emily did well in gymnastics, too, but problems with her ankles took her off the balance beam into the watery world of diving two years ago!

As a long-time gymnasts, Maddi and Emily already knew the hard work and attention to detail it takes to be successful—they just applied it to diving. They practice four or five days a week, about three hours at a time—enough pool time to get pruney fingers!

Maddi recently returned from spring nationals in Minneapolis, Minn., finishing eighth on the 3-meter platform and 15th on the 1-meter springboard. “It was really cool. I loved the experience because now I know how it feels,” Maddi shares.

Last summer, Emily did well at regionals in New Mexico and went on to place 10th on the springboard and platform at the Zone Championships in Portland, Ore. This qualified her for the summer USA Diving Age Group Championships in Georgia! Even though she was very nervous, Emily dove like a true champ. On platform, Emily took a silver medal, and she finished fourth on springboard!

Emily says her diving buddies make it great for her. “Everyone around here are all my friends. I like coming to practice and just having fun and being with my friends,” she shares.

The worst part of diving for both of them is “smacking,” which they describe as slamming into the water flat on your back or stomach on a blown entry.

Both girls would love to eventually dive for the UofA and also make it to the Olympics!

A Lil’ Diving Dynamo

Phillip Mourikez U14 Blackhawks Goalie

Youth soccer is big in Arizona, and the Scottsdale Soccer 96 Blackhawks boys team DOMINATES the soccer scene here. The team is ranked first in the state and fourth in the nation. A big part of the team’s success is due to its dynamic duo of goalies.

Splitting goalkeeping duties for each game are eighth-graders Phillip Mourikez and Chase Bishov.

Phillip has been playing soccer since he was 3 or 4, but he didn’t start goalkeeping till sixth grade. “I practice every day to be the best,” he says. His team has a goalkeeper instructor, plus he works with a private coach. He likes blocking PK’s (penalty kicks) the best. And the worst part of the job for him is making mistakes.

“We try to stay focused. If we just keep no goals in the net, then we’re safe.”

For the past two years, Phillip has been honored to be part of US Youth Soccer’s Olympic Development Program. “It’s been a great experience playing with the best of each state and going to regional camp,” he notes. “It’s a great honor—you get noticed by all the regional and national coaches. And if you want to attend a college, they’ve already seen you.”

He and Chase are close friends and will be heading to Brophy High in central Phoenix next year, along with seven other Blackhawks. With all this incoming soccer talent, the players’ hopes are high for Brophy to win a state championship before their senior year!