Mesa Legend - Sports - A year to remember for Thunderbird athletics

A year to remember for Thunderbird athletics

Nick Kosmider
Mesa Legend

It was an exciting year of Mesa athletics this season with a myriad of standout performances. From fall to spring MCC athletes and teams made their mark on the 40 year tradition of Thunderbird athletics.
The women’s soccer team, led by All-American Krista Mirabelli, stormed through ACCAC competition this season. In the conference title game, MCC knocked off Paradise Valley, who was the only team to beat the Lady T-birds during the regular season, by a score of 1-0 to take the ACCAC crown.
The T-birds then won the district title game to advance to the national tournament for the fourth consecutive year. Though they did not win a national title, coach Tim Barmettler was happy with how his girls played.
“We won the Sportsmanship Award during the tournament which was an honor for these girls,” he said.
On the men’s side of the ball, MCC forward Nick Auditore led the ACCAC in scoring during the ’06 season with 20 goals and six assists.
Though it was a tough year on the gridiron this season for the MCC football team, there were certainly bright spots.
Punter Ben Nowicki was chosen as an NJCAA All-American after averaging 44.2 yards per punt for the Thunderbirds this season. Nowicki was also selected as a first-team All-American by J.C. Grid-Wire, a national newsletter that has covered junior college football for nearly 50 years.
Return specialist Rudy Flemming was also selected to the NJCAA All-American team and was a J.C. Grid-Wire honorable mention.
MCC basketball brought excitement to fans this season, as both the men’s and women’s teams made strong playoff pushes.
The women’s team, led by Danielle Rheier, whose 13.1 points per game was good enough to put her among league leaders, finished first place in the ACCAC during the regular season. But after getting by a gritty Phoenix College team in the first round of the playoffs, the Lady T-birds lost in the championship game to Chandler-Gilbert.
After a slow start due to injuries, the Mesa men’s basketball team finished the regular season winning nine consecutive games. In the first round of the playoffs, though, MCC could not overcome a determined Cochise College team and the T-birds fell to the Apaches 94-83.
The biggest story of the spring sports season has been Penny Powell’s undefeated women’s tennis team. The Lady T-birds finished the regular season a perfect 16-0 and then dismantled the competition in the regional playoffs. MCC led by Lynley Wasson, who has been unbeatable all season, is gearing up for the national championships to be held in Tucson beginning May 6.
Out of the six spots on the All-ACCAC singles team, five of them were selected from the MCC team. Wasson, Morgan Weatherby, Jennifer Mota, Ivette Cerda, and Chelsea Schultz were selected to first team for singles.
Weatherby and Mota were selected to the All-ACCAC first team for doubles, while Wasson and Brittany Guerrero were selected to the second team. All MCC singles players were undefeated in conference play this season.
This year was also marked by improvement to MCC athletic facilites. The biggest of those improvements came in the Health Improvement Center. New weight equipment was added and the facility received a new paint job.
The baseball and softball fields were in bad condition before the season began, but maintenence crews leveled both fields much to the satisfaction of MCC coaches and players.
Theo Heap Gymnasium was also repainted and a brand new scorer’s table was added.